Stop the Untouchables. Justice for Sergei Magnitsky.

Magnitsky Human Rights Sanctions Advance in Senate, Russia’s Thugs on Notice

World Affairs

Although it has never been difficult to distinguish between genuine opponents of Vladimir Putin’s regime and the bogus “opposition” tasked with imitating political pluralism, some episodes have been especially indicative. One watershed was the 2008 Georgia war, when many supposed opposition leaders supported Putin’s actions and even urged him to be more aggressive (among the few Russian politicians who spoke out against the invasion was Mikhail Kasyanov).

Another litmus test—perhaps an even more important one—is the Magnitsky Act, a US Congressional initiative which seeks to impose a visa ban and asset freeze on Russian officials involved in violating human rights. The bipartisan measure, which this week passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in a unanimous vote (after clearing the counterpart committee in the House—also unanimously—on June 7th), is named after Sergei Magnitsky, a Moscow lawyer who was arrested, tortured, and died in prison after uncovering a $230 million tax fraud scheme involving government officials. As well as those implicated in Magnitsky’s persecution and death, the bill covers officials responsible for any “extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights”, which include the “freedoms of religion, expression, association, and assembly and the rights to a fair trial and democratic elections.”

The Kremlin’s reaction has been predictable—though still astounding in its defense of murderers, swindlers, and thieves. But, for many observers, the behavior of the official “opposition” was even more eye-opening. Ivan Melnikov, the deputy speaker of the Duma and one of the leaders of the Communist Party, joined the Kremlin in defending abusers, accusing the United States of “creating an instrument…to harass Russian citizens who, for one reason or another, are not liked by the American authorities.” On the substance of the case, Melnikov asserted that “Magnitsky is not the end-all of this world”. (After all, what is the death of one man to a party that had killed millions—and not even apologized for it?) Another “opposition” heavyweight, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the leader of the ultranationalist LDPR party, went even further, accusing Russian citizens who support Western visa sanctions on Putin regime officials of “betraying the national interests of Russia.” Russia’s national interests have been defined in many ways, but the ability of crooks and murderers to vacation and keep their money abroad has, until now, never been one of them.