Russian children: Pawns in Putin’s power play
In a display of callousness unusual even by Vladimir Putin’s standards, Russia eliminated the possibility of a better life for thousands of orphans last week when Putin signed into law a ban on adoptions by Americans. The law is named for Dima Yakovlev, a Russian child adopted by U.S. parents who died after being left in a truck in the heat in Herndon. That case, and 18 other cited instances of Russian adoptees who died in the care of American parents, are tragedies. But the vast majority of the nearly 60,000 adoptions by American couples over the past two decades have enabled Russian children, some with severe disabilities, to lead happy lives.
Many American commentators have described the Yakovlev act as a response to recent U.S. legislation cracking down on Russian human rights abusers. Such analysis is deeply flawed and, insofar as it is shared by U.S. policymakers, will contribute to a serious misreading of the motives and goals that drive Putin as he sets Russia’s course.
The Sergei Magnitsky Act is named after a 37-year-old lawyer who was beaten, deprived of medical attention and left to die in a Russian prison nearly a year after uncovering a massive fraud allegedly committed by officials. The people Magnitsky implicated arrested him in 2008; a year after his death, several of the same officials were promoted and awarded. Last week, Russian prosecutors dropped charges against the only person formally accused in the case, meaning that Russia is holding no one accountable for Magnitsky’s death. Instead, even though he is dead, Magnitsky is being retried in the original fraud case brought against him.
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Senate hits Russia on adoption ban
The Senate in the early hours of January 1 passed a resolution expressing disappointment in Russia’s new ban on the adoption of Russian children by American families.
Russia’s ban takes effect today, and is seen as a reaction to congressional passage of the so-called Magnitsky Act. That act calls for new sanctions against Russian officials involved in the 2009 death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who was probing fraud in the Russian government.
The Magnitsky language was part of legislation granting Russia permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) status, which President Obama signed into law on December 14.
The Senate resolution, from Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), expresses the “deep disappointment” in the adoption ban, and encourages Russia to reconsider the law.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the adoption ban into law last Friday.
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The Best and Worst Human Rights Developments of 2012
As 2012 winds down, it is time again to reflect on the year’s human rights developments. How did the world do following an eventful 2011? Unfortunately, the bad seemed to outweigh the good this year, as many authoritarians held on to power and continued upheaval in the Middle East threatened to derail any democratic progress. Internal conflicts in a number of African countries boiled over, and the bulk of the former Soviet Union appeared to be moving in the wrong direction. Meanwhile, widely hailed political achievements in countries like Burma, Egypt, and Georgia were complicated by negative twists.
Ongoing ethnic conflicts in Burma have undercut a recent democratic opening that was significant enough to allow the first visit by a U.S. president. Relatively free and competitive elections in Egypt have been overshadowed by continued unrest and authoritarian maneuvers by President Mohamed Morsi. In Georgia, what was considered a historic democratic transfer of power has been potentially jeopardized by what some regard as politically motivated prosecutions of former ruling party officials.
Though this list is far from exhaustive, the following were some of the best and worst human rights developments in 2012.
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Canada urged to take a stand in U.S.-Russia spat over corruption, adoptions
Ottawa is studying a list of 60 Russian officials who have allegedly gone unpunished over a major corruption and murder case in their home country, and now has to decide whether to ban them from Canada.
The situation places the Canadian government in the middle of a diplomatic spat between the United States and Russia that has grown to engulf the emotional issue of international adoptions. Last month, Washington moved to freeze the assets and deny visas to Russian officials who have been linked to the 2009 death of a tax-lawyer named Sergei Magnitsky. Moscow quickly retaliated, blocking all adoptions in the country involving American couples last week.
Human-rights advocates are now calling on the Harper government to follow in the footsteps of the Obama administration and bring about a form of justice for Mr. Magnitsky. He died in a Russian jail of alleged mistreatment and torture after testifying against officials in a massive tax fraud, in a case that has sparked concerns of a cover-up after no one was held to account for his death.
Liberal MP Irwin Cotler said that Ottawa should either pass legislation that mirrors the American law, or use existing powers to go after the Russian officials by denying them entry into Canada.
“We share the hopes of the Russian people for a country that is governed by the rule of law, that combats the culture of repression, impunity and corruption that the Magnitsky case highlighted,” Mr. Cotler said in an interview on Monday.
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The biggest anti-corruption story of 2012
President Obama signed into law earlier this month the Magnitsky Act. It targets travel and economic sanctions against those responsible for the jailing and death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. But the importance of the law extends far beyond that.
For decades (and with more urgency since 9/11), the United States has been looking for a legal way to punish foreign kleptocrats. The Magnitsky Act is the answer.
The immediate aim is to hold people in Russia accountable for what happened to Magnitsky. After he uncovered a $230 million tax fraud apparently orchestrated by mobsters and government officials, he was detained without trial. After a year in custody, he died in jail.
No one in Russia has been arrested or tried for his 2009 death or the crimes he discovered.
Without the Magnitsky Act, there were obstacles for the U.S. to punish Russians implicated in the case. The FCPA only reaches bribe payers and not bribe takers. A newer law, Presidential Proclamation 7750, enacted by George W. Bush in 2004, allows the State Department to deny U.S. visas to kleptocrats and their cronies — but only in secret, never naming those targeted. And the DOJ’s more recent Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative uses cumbersome asset forfeitures against crooked foreign leaders but doesn’t impose any punishment on the individuals themselves.
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As usual, kids paying price
Vladimir Putin saved the worst for last in 2012. It’s hard to imagine a more dispiriting end to the year than the law Mr. Putin signed last week, preventing Americans from adopting Russian orphans.
Although there have been some documented cases of adopted children being mistreated by American adoptive parents, that’s not the motive for the new Russian law.
Rather, it’s retaliation for an amendment in an American-Russian trade law – approved by Congress and signed by President Obama – that establishes visa restrictions and freezes assets of Russian officials who are believed to be involved in the death of Sergei Magnitsky.
Mr. Magnitsky, 37, a London-based lawyer for a major investment house, alleged that Russian officials had engaged in a $230 million tax fraud scheme. He was arrested in Russia in 2009 on tax evasion charges that human rights activists believe to be bogus. In prison while awaiting trial, Mr. Magnitsky was beaten and denied medical care, leading to his death. Recently a Russian court acquitted the only prison official implicated in Mr. Magnitsky’s death.
It is one thing for U.S. and Russian politicians to argue over human rights. It’s tragic that Mr. Putin has transferred the pain to tens of thousands of Russian orphans and the American families who could help those kids toward better lives.
But, as in many such disputes, the grief trickles down to the most vulnerable. займ на карту срочно без отказа займы на карту без отказа www.zp-pdl.com zp-pdl.com микрозаймы онлайн
Putin and the Children
President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed into law a ban on adoptions of Russian children by U.S. citizens, with immediate and heart-wrenching impact.
As of Tuesday, none of the 120,000 or so abandoned and orphaned Russians currently eligible for adoption will be able to find a home in the U.S. In the past two decades, over 60,000 have done so, including disabled children who can’t get the care they need in Russia.
The U.S. has been the top foreign destination, though the number of adopted Russian children had come down to 1,000 annually in recent years. The fate of some 50 children who were in the final stages of adoption is unclear. In many cases they had met and bonded with would-be parents in America and now may not be allowed to join them.
The Russian law abrogates a bilateral agreement on adoption that went into force only last month. If Moscow can’t honor this kind of treaty, it’d be good to know why the Obama Administration expects to negotiate another arms control deal with this crowd.
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US Notes Politics, Tragedy of New Russian Adoption Law
The United States says it “deeply” regrets Russia’s passage of a law ending inter-country child adoptions between the U.S. and Russia.
The State Department made the announcement Friday, hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the controversial bill into law. The State Department said American families have adopted more than 60,000 Russian children in the past 20 years. It called the new law “politically motivated” and said it would reduce adoption possibilities for children who are now under institutional care.
The State Department said it is further concerned that adoptions already underway may be stopped. It urged the Russian government to allow those legal procedures to continue.
Before Putin signed the bill into law, a U.S. adoptee from Russia, Tatyana McFadden, told VOA why she supported a petition asking Putin to veto the bill.
“My name is Tatyana McFadden, and I think it’s very important to bring this petition to the U.S. embassy because I am here to speak for others who can’t on why adoption is very important. Adoption has saved my life and changed my life forever,” she said.
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Not guilty: Court acquits official charged with Magnitsky’s death
A Russian court has acquitted the former deputy chief of the prison where lawyer Sergey Magnitsky died. A judge ruled there was not enough evidence Dmitry Kratov was guilty of negligence.
Kratov was the only official facing a trial following the death of Magnitsky who died in a Moscow prison while under investigation for tax evasion and fraud. The prosecutor also asked the court to acquit Kratov.
“Diseases revealed in Magnitsky are not related to his death. It was impossible to diagnose diseases that caused his death”, said Tverskoy Court judge Tatyana Neverova.
“Kratov’s inaction wasn’t confirmed. There was no ‘corpus delicti’ in Kratov’s action,” added the judge.
The Magnitsky case began in 2007, when British investment fund Hermitage Capital, one of the biggest foreign investors inside Russia, fell victim to a US$230 million fraud. The fund hired corporate lawyer Sergey Magnitsky, whose investigation brought forth names of officials in Russia’s Interior Ministry he believed to be involved in the scam.
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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
