Appeal to the Governments of the United States of America and European Union

In April of this year, United States Senator Benjamin Cardin formally asked the U.S. State Department to implement an indefinite ban on the issuance of U.S. travel visas to Russian officials involved in the illegal detention, torture and death of Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer who had worked for the Hermitage Fund, an investment fund dedicated to Russia.

In early May, the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations included in its official record a list, prepared by Senator Cardin, of 60 Russian officials, who were directly or indirectly involved in the persecution and death of Mr. Magnitsky.

We the undersigned, representatives from across Russian civil society, share Senator Cardin’s belief that “…permanently withdraw[ing] the U.S visa privileges… will send an important message to corrupt officials all over the world that the U.S. is serious about its intolerance to foreign corruption and the harm it does.”

Unfortunately, recent developments show that Russian government has not taken any meaningful steps to investigate the circumstances of the arrest, detention, torture and death of Mr. Magnitsky or the circumstances surrounding the embezzlement of 5.4 billion rubles [US$230 million] of funds from the Russian treasury, a crime discovered and reported to Russian law enforcement by Mr. Magnitsky. Moreover, no investigations have been opened in response to publicly available records that document the sudden increase in the personal wealth of two Interior Ministry officers, Artem Kuznetsov and Pavel Karpov. These two officers were not only directly involved in the arrest and death of Mr. Magnitsky, but according to Mr. Magnitsky’s testimony, they also played instrumental roles in the embezzlement of the 5.4 billion rubles.

Our public appeals to the President and the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation have produced no substantive response.

In these circumstances, we are left with no other choice but to request legal support from other states, for which we hope “human rights” are not empty words. As such,

• We appeal to the leaders of the United States to deny entry to those Russian officials who appear on Senator Cardin’s list.
• We appeal to the leaders of the European Union to deny entry to those Russian officials who appear on Senator Cardin’s list.
• We ask leaders of the United States and European Union to not think of Senator Cardin’s solely in relation to Mr. Magnitsky’s case, but to instead to make it a living document by regularly updating it with the names of those Russian officials in law enforcement, the judiciary and elsewhere who flout the law with impunity and persecute innocents.

Sincerely

Mr. Yuri Alekseevich Ryzhov, Member of the Russian Academy of Science
Mr. Sergei Adamovich Kovalev, Chairman of the Human Rights Organization, “Memorial”
Mr. Sergei Aleksandrovich Filatov, President of the Foundation for Socio-Economic and Intellectual Programs
Ms. Marietta Omarovna Chudakova, Member of the European Academy, Professor of Literature
Mr. Alexei Kirillovich Simonov, President of the State Foundation, “Glasnost Defense”
Ms. Lyudmila Mikhailovna Alekseeva, Chairman of the Moscow Helsinki Group
Mr. Vladimir Aleksandrovich Ryzhkov, Chairman of the Russian Political Party, “The Choice of Russia”
Mr. Igor Aleksandrovich Kharichev, Secretary of the Moscow Union of Writers
Priest Gleb Yakunin, Member of the Moscow Helsinki Group
Mr. Lev Aleksandrovich Ponomarev, Executive Director of the Human Rights Group
Mr. Kirill Sergeevich Kabanov, Chairman of the National Anti-Corruption Committee of Russia
Mr. Ernst Isaakovich Cherny, Executive Secretary of the Public Committee for the Protection of Scientists
Mr. Igor Borisovich Chubais, Professor of the University of Peoples’ Friendship, Member of the Editorial Board of “Posev”
Mr. Boris Pavlovich Pustyntsev, Chairman of the Human Rights Organization, “Civilian Control” займ на карту buy over the counter medicines https://zp-pdl.com https://zp-pdl.com/fast-and-easy-payday-loans-online.php займ онлайн на карту без отказа