A/HRC/41/CRP.1 precautions had been taken at the time of the crime, to protect against the loss of blood and other fluids in the room, therefore supporting the hypothesis according to which the murder had been planned and pre-meditated. 290. A second possibility is that the crime scenes were the objects of a thorough and “professional” cleaning immediately after the killing and thereafter. Turkish investigators have told the Special Rapporteur that they found evidence of possibly changes in pieces of carpets in the briefing room of the consulate. There is also evidence of locally recruited cleaners coming on site on 15 October, at 7:30 am, for the purpose of cleaning. On 5 October, one of the consulate cars, which allegedly had been used to transport Mr. Khashoggi’s remains, was sent for a car-wash.255 291. On 15 October, at 20:18, the Turkish investigators were finally given access to the Consulate, shadowed by Saudi officials. Turkish officials explained that the only reason they were finally given access was because of they were relentless in demand: “We had to push and push to be allowed in; there was a lot of anger management on our part.” 292. The scope and conditions of the crime scene investigation at the Consulate were not conducive to professional and thorough work. The fact that the Turkish teams were shadowed at every point by Saudi counterparts is understandable and cannot be faulted. The notion that every piece of evidence collected on site needed to be done in double, one for each of the national investigation teams, is also not under dispute. 293. What is far more concerning is the fact that the investigation of the crime scene was so sharply limited in time, that Turkish investigators were racing against time to proceed with their work, and that the scientific and forensic inquiries were limited to “swabbing”. The Saudis limited Turkish investigators to just over six hours in the Consulate and around thirteen hours in the Residence, where they also had to search the whole consular fleet. The limitations in time and in scope imposed on Turkey investigators cannot be explained by the necessity to protect the Consulate and the Consulate functions, including confidential ones, against unwarranted attention. They clearly intended to create difficulties for the Turkish investigation. Along with evidence of professional, thorough, if not forensic cleaning of the crime scenes, they prevented an effective and thorough Turkish investigation and amount to obstruction. 294. The quality of the Saudi investigation over the 10 days or so the post-execution teams were in the consulate is difficult to assess given the lack of transparency of the process, itself in violation of international standards. Still, a number of issues may be raised. 295. First, the number and range of official explanations, including by State representatives, for the disappearance first, and murder later of Mr. Khashoggi, over a short period of time, raise concerns regarding the independence and impartiality of the investigation. Mr. Khashoggi was said first to have walked out of the Consulate within an hour of his arrival, second to have been punched during his interview at the Consulate and losing his life as a result, thirdly to have been the victim of a premediated murder by rogue officials. 296. Second, a clear focus of any investigation into a murder ought to be the body of the victim. At the time of writing this report, the Saudi authorities have yet to disclose the whereabouts of the remains, despite having 11 perpetrators on trial. The Saudi prosecution publicly declared that it identified an individual who had delivered Mr. Khashoggi’s body to a local collaborator, 256 a theory disputed by the Turkish investigators. The continued disappearance of Mr. Khashoggi’s remains is an ongoing violation of international law under Article 17 of the UN Declaration on the Protection of All persons from Enforced Disappearances. As the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances notes, “the act begins at the time of the abduction and extends for the whole period of time that the crime is not complete, that is to say until the state acknowledges the detention or releases 255 256 Turkish intelligence believes that prior to 15 October, up to four attempts were made to eliminate forensic evidence from the consulate. This included re-painting of parts of the consulate and possibly re-carpeting of a room. The Special Rapporteur could not substantiate this claim. https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/mohammed-bin-salmans-aide-briefed-khashoggi-murder-teamsaudi-prosecutor 59