Posts Tagged ‘act’
Congress goes after Russian officials for human rights violations
President Barack Obama is set to meet with Russian President Dmitri Medvdev on May 26 in France on the sidelines of the G-8 meetings. In advance of that meeting, Congress has unveiled a new bill to force the administration to sanction Russian officials for human rights violations.
“One of the core foreign policy objectives when we came into office was the Russia reset,” Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes told reporters on a conference call on Friday. “It has been one of the most productive relationships for the United States in terms of the signing and ratification of the New START treaty, cooperation on nuclear security, cooperation with regard to Iran sanctions and nonproliferation generally, the northern distribution network into Afghanistan that supports our effort there, and our discussions with Russia about expanding trade ties and their interest in joining the WTO, as well as Russia’s increased cooperation with NATO that was manifested by the NATO-Russia meetings in Lisbon.”
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Senators propose hitting Russian ‘kleptocrats’ with sanctions after lawyer’s death
A bipartisan group of senators on Thursday introduced legislation that would sanction Russian officials involved in the 2009 death of a Russian lawyer who alleged that the government was involved in a tax fraud scheme.
The bill is a reaction to the death of Sergei Magnitsky, whose case has come to be seen as a symbol of corruption in the Russian legal system. Magnitsky was a Russian lawyer hired by an American law firm and who worked for Hermitage Capital.
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), the lead sponsor of the bill, said Magnitsky “blew the whistle on the largest known tax fraud in Russian history,” and named Russian officials involved in the plan to defraud Russia of about $230 million. Magnitsky was soon arrested, held in detention for almost a year with no trial, and died after suffering from untreated medical complications.
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Bill Browder welcomes US action over Magnitsky death
A powerful group of US politicians has called for sanctions against Russians allegedly involved in a campaign against financier Bill Browder. Once one of Russia’s largest investors, he claims officials were complicit in a fraud against his firm and the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
Now Congressmen, including heavyweights Joe Lieberman and John McCain, propose banning the officials from the US.
Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev has promised a full inquiry into the death.
The US politicians are backing new legislation put before Congress on Friday, The Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2011.
In 2005, Mr Browder, who runs fund manager Hermitage Capital, was banned from Russia as a threat to national security after allegations that his firm evaded tax. But Mr Browder says his company was targeted in a $230m (£140m) fraud, and has mounted a strong campaign to uncover what happened to the money and Mr Magnitsky, Hermitage’s lawyer.
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US Senators seek to sanction human rights violators in Russia
A bipartisan bill freezing assets and blocking visas of individuals who commit gross human-rights violations against Russian rights activists was introduced in the U.S. Senate on Thursday.
The bill is sponsored by 14 senators, including one of its principal initiators, Senator Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), co-chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, an independent U.S. government agency monitoring compliance with the Helsinki Accords.
The Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2011 seeks to combat what has become “a toxic atmosphere of impunity in Russia where despite occasional rhetoric from the Kremlin, the authorities have failed to follow through with meaningful action to stem rampant corruption or bring the perpetrators of numerous and high-profile crimes to justice,” Sen. Cardin said in introducing the bill.
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