The Saudi Arabia Human Rights and Accountability Act of 2019 would seek action from the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in regard to the role of certain individuals regarding the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi was a Saudi Arabian columnist for The Washington Post, as well as editor-in-chief of Al-Arab News Channel. Khashoggi was savagely assassinated and dismembered in Istanbul at the Saudi consulate on October 2nd, 2018 by agents on behalf of the Saudi Arabian government.

The bill seeks action from the Director of National Intelligence in numerous forms:

• The Director is ordered to submit to congressional committees a report consisting of evidence with respect to the advance knowledge and role of any current and former official of the Saudi Arabian Government and or any political figure over the ordering and tampering of evidence in the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
• A list of foreign individuals that the DNI has the utmost confidence were responsible for the death of Jamal Khashoggi.
• A list of persons that knowingly and actionably assisted or provided financial support for the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi.
• A list of individuals or groups that impeded or tampered the unsatisfactory investigation of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

Any individual involved are to be included in the unclassified portion of the report, unless the DNI decides that such a disclosure would undermine or cause damage to United States intelligence sources or threaten the national security activities of the United States of America.

Not later than thirty days after the enactment of the bill, the Secretary of State would need to submit to Congress a report that describes the extent to which members of the Government of Saudi Arabia, which will also include members of the military or security services, are completely or partially responsible for violations of internationally recognized human rights.

These will include violations of the human rights of journalists, writers, human rights defenders, and supporters of women’s rights or religious freedom.

The report would also describe violations of human rights in Saudi Arabia by members of the Government of Saudi Arabia against civil society activists.