May bans 60 Russians over corruption scandal
Downing Street is facing a diplomatic row with the Kremlin after blacklisting 60 Russian intelligence officers and top officials linked to a corruption scandal. The home secretary, Theresa May, has sent the British embassy in Moscow names of the officials, including judges, intelligence officers and prosecutors, implicated in the torture and death of a young lawyer.
Sergei Magnitsky, 37, was beaten and died in a Moscow jail in 2009 after uncovering a corruption scheme involving tax officials and police.
The ban on officials entering Britain will anger the Kremlin when relations were starting to thaw. Ties have been strained since the radioactive poisoning of the former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko in London six years ago.
This weekend, Sergei Markov, a former adviser to President Vladimir Putin, threatened reprisals. “Russia will never recognise such a situation and will reply. That means that those officials who took part in making the decision to restrict the rights of officials to travel will have their own rights restricted,” he said.
A similar move by the United States last year provoked tit-for-tat retaliation by the Kremlin which banned some American officials from visiting the country.
Details of the blacklist have been disclosed by the immigration minister, Damian Green, in a letter to a Tory MP. Green said a list of 60 officials, including prosecutors, judges, tax inspectors, police and prison chiefs, compiled by an American congressional committee, had been sent to the British embassy in Moscow. “[It] will be considered if an entry clearance application is received from any of the named individuals,” Green wrote.
Read More →
Names and Stories from the Sergei Magnitsky Bill
Last week, Russia became a full-fledged member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), completing a 19-year “long and winding” saga that began under President Yeltsin. With Russia’s accession to the WTO, the only fellow member that remains at a trade disadvantage with Russia now is the United States, which has yet to repeal the Jackson-Vanik Amendment and officially establish permanent trade relations with Russia.
The Obama Administration welcomed Russia’s WTO accession this week and urged Congress to repeal the Jackson-Vanik amendment. Even so, there are still signs that it may not come up for a vote when Congress returns next month. The hold-up is mostly due to disagreements over the details of another bill, the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012. That bill would establish visa bans and assets freezes on individuals responsible for gross violations of human rights in Russia.
In effect, Congress is avoiding this vote and decisive action on human rights policy in Russia because it doesn’t want to “reward” the Kremlin, which continues to undermine the basic human rights of its citizens. It is still unclear whether the Magnistky Act, when passed, will include sanctions on all human rights violators globally, and it also remains unclear what criteria is used to place an individual’s name on the State Department’s visa ban list. Various types of human rights violations are already listed in the Magnitsky Act.
The following fact sheet lists all individuals affected by the lack of rule of law in Russia who are specifically named in the bill—painting a horrifying picture of unsolved murders and beatings, torture and politically motivated imprisonment in Vladimir Putin’s country.
Unsolved Murders
Read More →
Romney camp doubles down on Russia as “geopolitical foe”
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was right when he called Russia America’s “No. 1 geopolitical foe” and a Romney administration would confront Moscow on its poor record on democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, two top foreign-policy advisors to the GOP candidate said Tuesday.
“Russia is a significant geopolitical foe. Governor Romney recognizes that,” Romney advisor Rich Williamson said at a Tuesday afternoon event hosted by the Foreign Policy Initiative. “That’s not to say they are the same sort of direct military threat as they were.”
Williamson, joined on the panel by top advisor Pierre-Richard Prosper, said that the Russian government under Vladimir Putin has made strategic opposition to the West and the United States in particular a premier plank of its agenda. A Romney administration would end the Russian “reset” and confront Russia on Syria, Georgia, Iran, and several other issues, he said.
“They are our foe. They have chosen a path of confrontation, not cooperation, and I think the governor was correct in that even though there are some voices in Washington that find that uncomfortable,” he said. “So those who say, ‘Oh gosh, oh golly, Romney said they’re our geopolitical foe’ don’t understand human history. And those who think liberal ideas of engagement will bend actions also don’t understand history. We’re better to be frank and honest.”
Read More →
Get tough with Russia
Boston Herald
The Senate and House next month are expected to approve legislation aimed at punishing people involved in the beating death of a lawyer in a Russian jail cell. Passage will show Russia that, whatever the warm feelings toward Russia of the White House and the State Department, Americans are fed up with growing lawlessness in that country.
The Russians have threatened grave though unspecified retaliation if the provisions, likely to be part of a bill granting Russia the status of “Normal Trading Relations,” pass. Such a designation is needed to trade with Russia now that it has joined the World Trade Organization.
The provisions would deny visas to and freeze U.S. assets (if any) of 60 individuals who had a hand in the death of Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer who had represented a mutual fund investing in Russian companies. Magnitsky had exposed a ring that stole $230 million in Russian government funds, using documents of the mutual fund, for a criminal gang. His death in 2009 was never investigated as a murder, even though a local police officer wanted to and then-president Dimitri Medvedev called for a “thorough” investigation. Prosecutors said they found no wrongdoing and claimed that Magnitsky died of heart failure.
Read More →
US business hopeful Congress passes Russia trade bill in Sept
Reuters
A U.S. business group on Tuesday said they were hopeful Congress would approve a bill to upgrade U.S. trade relations with Russia after it returns from a month-long break and warned that U.S. companies would lose business if lawmakers don’t act.
Dan Flaherty, vice president at the National Foreign Trade Council, said the group was gearing up its lobbying efforts for a vote in the House of Representatives as early as Sept. 12, which it hopes will be followed by quick Senate action.
If not, U.S. exporters will be left at a significant disadvantage to competitors in Europe, Asia and elsewhere around the world after Russia formally enters the World Trade Organization on Wednesday, Flaherty said.
“Our European friends are already in the market in a major way. (Failing to approve the Russia trade bill) is an invitation for them to solidify and expand their presence in areas where we would be more competitive,” he said.
Congress is under pressure to approve “permanent normal trade relations” with Russia by repealing a Cold War provision known as the Jackson-Vanik amendment, which ties normal U.S. tariff rates for Russia to emigration issues.
The White House has judged Russia to be in compliance with Jackson-Vanik for nearly two decades, but the measure remains on the books and is at odds with WTO rules requiring members to provide each other “unconditional” normal trade relations.
Business groups, which have been working for months to win approval of PNTR, are concerned the issue could be delayed until after the November presidential and congressional elections or even into 2013, if lawmakers don’t act quickly in September.
In Geneva, WTO Director General Pascal Lamy told Reuters he was optimistic Congress would approve PNTR in the coming weeks because “if U.S. was not to do this, this probably would be a disadvantage for U.S. business.”
Flaherty told reporters he understood Republican leaders in the House of Representatives planned to bring up the Russia PNTR bill on Sept. 12 under a procedure usually reserved for non-controversial legislation.
The bill is expected to be combined with human rights legislation known as the “Magnitsky bill,” and would require a two-thirds vote for approval, instead of a simple majority, because of the expedited approval procedure, he said.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a Republican, said in early August the House was prepared to vote on PNTR and the Magnitsky bill when lawmakers return “should the Senate and President (Barack Obama) commit to support passage before the end of September.”
A spokesman for Cantor on Tuesday referred reporters to that statement and said he could not confirm that the vote had been set for Sept. 12.
A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, did not immediately respond to a query on the possibility of Senate action in September.
Bill Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council, estimated that as many as 80 House Democrats would have to join with Republicans to get to the approximately 290 votes needed for approval in that chamber.
A House vote in early September would put pressure on the Senate to take up the issue in the few legislative days left before the elections, he said. payday loan микрозайм онлайн https://zp-pdl.com/online-payday-loans-cash-advances.php https://zp-pdl.com/how-to-get-fast-payday-loan-online.php займы на карту срочно
U.S. Companies Worry About Effect of Russia Joining W.T.O.
After two decades of negotiations, Russia will finally join the World Trade Organization on Wednesday. The lower trade barriers that come along with membership will open up new opportunities for foreign companies to do business in Russia.
But American companies are guaranteed no such advantages — and may even face higher Russian tariffs than their competitors from other countries.
Because of broader policy concerns about the Kremlin’s crackdown on dissidents and its support for rogue governments, Congress has balked at the Obama administration’s request to grant Russia permanent normal trade relation status. That status is important since the W.T.O. requires that any country that seeks to benefit from it must apply the same trade rules to all member countries.
Major American exporters to Russia, like Caterpillar, Deere and General Electric, are worried about the potential impact on their business from the Congressional inaction. Across all sectors of the economy, Russia will lower import tariffs to 7 percent, from about 15 percent today, for the 155 countries in the trade organization. Although Russian officials say they do not have any immediate intention of applying discriminatory tariffs against American companies, they could legally do so at any time.
Russia was the last major economy that was not part of the trade group, and joining is expected to be a boon for Russian consumers and businesses. Exporting companies in Europe, Asia and the United States eagerly await open access to a population of 142 million people with growing incomes and an expanding middle class.
Read More →
House aims to take up trade bill in September
A leading business coalition expects the House to take up a bill that would extend normal trade ties to Russia shortly after returning from the summer break.
The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) expects the House to hold a vote Sept. 12 on a bill that combines provisions providing permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) to Russia with human-rights legislation.
“If the House acts that early in September, there should be a good bit of momentum going forward in Senate,” Bill Reinsch, NFTC’s president told reporters Tuesday, on the eve of Russia joining the World Trade Organization.
Russia completes its accession to the World Trade Organization on Wednesday but Congress didn’t repeal the 1974 Jackson-Vanik provision, which would have provided normal trade relations between the two nations, before leaving for the August recess.
“Sen. [Harry] Reid hasn’t said anything about this in a very long time, but it would be big news if the House passes it on suspension, there would be a lot of momentum,” Reinsch said.
Read More →
APEC and Pussy Riot
At first sight, there should be no reason to mention the APEC summit in Vladivostok and the Pussy Riot trial in the same sentence, let alone suggest that one could affect the other.
Yet, bizarrely, that is exactly what is happening.
While there is acknowledgement by Russia’s international partners that the workings of the country’s judicial system are a sovereign matter, in today’s highly globalized economy, no country is ever completely an island when it comes to applying the rule of law.
Whatever one thinks of the rights and wrongs of the Pussy Riot protest, the case has troubled leading domestic and international business figures alike – precisely because it has presented Russian courts as subject to pressure from the authorities.
While staging a punk protest in a place of worship would likely lead to prosecution and minor charges in many countries, the severity of the punishment meted out to these three young women is clearly due to the political overtones of the case – no matter what the prosecutors may say about its strictly “anti-religious” nature.
Read More →
This Is a Terrible Time to Be a Dictator, Mr. Putin
The Moscow Times
The Kremlin and the people are headed toward a new round of conflict starting in September.
Since President Vladimir Putin assumed office in May, several laws have been passed that will clamp down on the opposition, journalists, bloggers and nongovernmental organizations. These include an extrajudicial or administrative procedure for banning specific websites and blogs as well as granting the authorities the right to prosecute anyone who disagrees with Kremlin policy.
The law on NGOs has been one of the most controversial. If foreign-funded NGOs that are deemed by the authorities to be “politically active” fail to register as “foreign agents,” their directors and other top officials within the organizations could be subject to huge fines and prison terms.
Several leading human rights organizations have declared that they will ignore the law and will not register as foreign agents. These include the Moscow Helsinki Group headed by Lyudmila Alexeyeva and the For Human Rights movement headed by Lev Ponomaryov. Both organizations are highly respected in Russia and abroad.
Read More →
-
To learn more about what happened to Sergei Magnitsky please read below
- Sergei Magnitsky
- Why was Sergei Magnitsky arrested?
- Sergei Magnitsky’s torture and death in prison
- President’s investigation sabotaged and going nowhere
- The corrupt officers attempt to arrest 8 lawyers
- Past crimes committed by the same corrupt officers
- Petitions requesting a real investigation into Magnitsky's death
- Worldwide reaction, calls to punish those responsible for corruption and murder
- Complaints against Lt.Col. Kuznetsov
- Complaints against Major Karpov
- Cover up
- Press about Magnitsky
- Bloggers about Magnitsky
- Corrupt officers:
- Sign petition
- Citizen investigator
- Join Justice for Magnitsky group on Facebook
- Contact us
- Sergei Magnitsky
