The United Nations just issued a report into the grotesque dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi Arabia. The Saudis say that they are putting the people who committed these atrocities on trial.
However, it is just that no-one knows who is being tried. Or where. Or on what charges.
The Saudi secrecy is so great that if "international observers" selected by the Saudis attend the trial they must not write or film anything.
The New York Times describes the Saudi secrecy this way:
Although representatives of some foreign governments have been invited to attend the trial in Saudi Arabia, the report said, they have been required to commit to nondisclosure agreements, preventing them from reporting or commenting on the proceedings.
“A shadowy presence of international observers cannot, although clearly meant to, lend credibility to eminently problematic proceedings,” the report said. It argued that the presence of foreign diplomats could make them complicit in the “miscarriage of justice.”
See David D. Kirkpatrick & Nick Cumming-Bruce, Report Reveals Chilling Details Behind Murder / Saudis Called Writer a 'Sacrificial Animal,' New York Times, Thursday, June 20, 2019, p. A1 (New York Times may charge for online access).
Federal Courts in the U.S. also operate with secrecy although perhaps not quite so easily as the Saudi courts if any. Nondisclosure agreements are very popular in the U.S. as well as in Saudi Arabia , particularly with the current U.S. Federal Government. See, e.g., Dennis J. Wall, § 2:19, Post-Claims Handling Practices Issues--The Presumption of Public Access vs. Stipulated Secrecy Orders, and §§ following including 2:19.50 - 2:24 inclusive, in CATASTROPHE CLAIMS: Insurance Coverage for Natural and Man-Made Disasters (May 2019).
Is the United States secretly channeling its inner Saudi Arabia?
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