Argentina 'proceeds with prosecution' against Saudi crown prince Mohammad bin Salman over Yemen war

An Argentinian prosecutor has agreed to pursue a case against Saudi Arabia‘s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, over possible war crimes in Yemen, according to Human Rights Watch.

HRW petitioned Argentina's judiciary on Monday to use a clause in its constitution to prosecute Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, who arrived in the country to attend the G20 summit in Buenos Aires.

Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of HRW’s Middle East and North Africa Division, announced on Twitter that a prosecutor has agreed to take up the case, and asked a judge to request information from Yemeni and Saudi authorities regarding alleged war crimes, and had also asked Argentina's foreign ministry whether the crown prince's diplomatic status might allow a legal proceeding to go forward.

“The Argentine judiciary, by taking steps towards a formal investigation, is sending a clear message that even powerful officials like Mohammed bin Salman are not above the law and will be scrutinised if implicated in grave international crimes," Ms Whitson said in an emailed statement to The Independent.

Ms Whitson said the country's chief prosecutor reviewed the HRW complaint and decided to hand it to another prosecutor assigned by lottery. That prosecutor is now referring the case to a judge for investigation that would include the collection of information about the conduct of the Saudi war in Yemen, which has stretched on for nearly four years.

Under Argentinian law and Geneva conventions, Prince Mohammed may enjoy immunity and special status that precludes him from prosecution.

At the very least, the case against him damages the 33-year-old's attempt to repair his image following the global uproar over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul last month, a murder allegedly linked to security operatives in his inner circle.

"A cloud of suspicion will loom over him as he tries to rebuild his shattered reputation at the G20, and world leaders would do well to think twice before posing for pictures next to someone who may come under investigation for war crimes and torture,” Ms Whitson said.

“At a minimum, it will be an embarrassment for him at a time he is trying to project normalcy,” Shibley Telhami, a professor focused on Middle East affairs at the University of Maryland, wrote on Twitter.

The crown prince landed in Buenos Aires on Wednesday for the G20 summit from Tunisia, where he was met by protesters who denounced him as a murderer for the killing of Mr Khashoggi and alleged human rights violations in Yemen.

The killing of the Washington Post columnist and critic of the crown prince, at Riyadh's consulate in Istanbul nearly two months ago, has strained Saudi Arabia's ties with the West and damaged Prince Mohammed's image abroad.

Saudi Arabia has insisted the prince had no prior knowledge of the murder.