Posts Tagged ‘freedom house’
House Passes Bill Barring Russian Human Rights Abusers from U.S.
Freedom House applauds the passage of the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act by the House of Representatives on Friday and calls on the Senate to pass the legislation as soon as possible. The Magnitsky Act, as it is known, was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support as part of a larger bill that normalizes trade relations with Russia and Moldova, which Freedom House also supports.
The bill, named after Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky who died in jail after exposing a multimillion-dollar fraud by Russian officials, would place visa bans and asset freezes on Russian officials involved in human rights abuses. The legislation’s passage falls on the three year anniversary of Magnitsky’s murder in prison due to abuse and lack of medical treatment after he was accused of the very fraud he exposed.
“Corrupt Russian officials involved in gross human rights abuses should not be allowed the privilege to travel to the U.S. or use our financial system,” said David J. Kramer, president of Freedom House. “Tying normalization of trade to accountability for human rights abuses honors the sacrifice of Sergei Magnitsky and countless others who have been targeted, jailed, and killed for speaking out, spotlighting corruption, and exercising their fundamental freedoms. The Magnitsky Act targets only those responsible, not Russia as a whole, and demonstrates that the U.S. Congress will not stand by silently in the face of such egregious crimes.”
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Foreign Policy Questions for the Candidates
The spirited exchange at last Thursday’s vice presidential debate elevated attention to foreign policy, which will be a dominant theme of the next two debates. President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney have begun to flesh out their views on the challenges America faces abroad, but they have said little about a range of pressing international issues and skirted critical aspects of stories that currently grab the news headlines. In an effort to stimulate deeper debate on U.S. foreign policy, particularly on the future of democracy and human rights around the world, Freedom House submits the following questions to the presidential candidates:
Strategic Countries
1. To President Obama: How does your stated commitment to prevent mass atrocities apply to Syria? The death toll has passed 30,000, and the Syrian regime continues to bomb civilians. Moreover, the regime has crossed the red line you set against moving chemical weapons. At what point do you think more forceful U.S. measures will be needed to stop the killing in Syria?
2. To Governor Romney: You have criticized the Obama administration’s record on supporting human rights in China and pledged to vigorously engage Chinese civil society groups that promote democratic reform. How would your support for democracy advocates in China differ from President Obama’s?
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Freedom House – The Magnitsky Files
The Magnitsky Files
Freedom House President David Kramer on July 12 called for justice in the case of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who was killed in Russian detention in 2009, at an event featuring Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA) and a screening of the documentary “The Magnitsky Files: Organized Crime Inside the Russian Government.” Freedom House has pushed the U.S. to adopt the Justice for Sergei Magnitsky Act, which has received widespread bipartisan support in Congress.
Listen to an interview with David J. Kramer about the Magnitsky Bill here. займ онлайн на карту без отказа unshaven girl female wrestling https://zp-pdl.com/emergency-payday-loans.php https://zp-pdl.com/how-to-get-fast-payday-loan-online.php займ онлайн
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John McCain & “The Magnitsky Files” Premiere Discussion in Washington, DC
26 June 2012, William Browder, Sen. John McCain, and David Kramer, Director of Freedom House, were in attendance to screen the premiere of “The Magnitsky Files”, a new film detailing the crimes committed before, during, and after their persecution of Sergei Magnitsky. This is the discussion they had afterwards with a Q&A.
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FPI and Freedom House joint event: “Toward a Democratic Russia”
Yesterday in Washington DC, the Foreign Policy Initiative and Freedom House along with Senator Ben Cardin, Senator Kelly Ayotte, Kristiina Ojuland MEP and former Russian PM Mikhail Kasyanov debated how Russia can move towards democracy in the future.
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A bill that cracks down on Russian corruption
The House Foreign Affairs Committee is scheduled today to take up the most consequential piece of legislation in years related to Russia: the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012. With strong bipartisan support, led by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) and Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.), the Magnitsky bill is the most serious U.S. effort to address human rights and the rule of law in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The legislation is named after the 37-year-old lawyer who was jailed unjustly in 2008 after exposing a massive tax fraud by officials of Russia’s Interior Ministry. While in jail for almost a year, Magnitsky became ill but was denied medical treatment. In the end he was brutally beaten and left to die.
The proposed legislation is not about one man, however. It is about a Russian system choking on corruption, illegality and abuse. The new law would impose a visa ban and asset freeze against theofficials responsible not only for Magnitsky’s murder but also for other human rights abuses, including against individuals who “expose illegal activity” carried out by Russian officials or who seek to “defend or promote internationally recognized human rights and freedoms.” This includes journalists who have been murdered when they have dug too close to powerful officials or oligarchs. It includes human rights activists who have been beaten and crippled or killed for exposing the mistreatment of their fellow Russians.
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Russian Government Must be Held Accountable for Crackdown on Protest
CONTACT: Mary McGuire in Washington, +1-202-747-7035
Washington – May 7, 2012
The brutal crackdown on peaceful protestors this past weekend during a sanctioned peaceful protest in Moscow was an assault on Russians’ civil liberties. Freedom House condemns the crackdown and urges the U.S. Administration, Congress and other democratic states to support Russian citizens seeking to hold their government accountable to its international and constitutional commitments to respect and protect fundamental rights.
“The blatant use of force in the last two days sends a clear message that the days of tolerating opposition protests in Russia are a fleeting thing of the past,” said David J. Kramer, president of Freedom House. “We wholeheartedly express our solidarity with Russian citizens’ exercising their right to free assembly. The return to intimidation techniques and detention of activists without cause are a desperate attempt to prevent protest activity in the country and should be widely condemned.”
In the lead-up to Vladimir Putin’s inauguration to his third term as president of the Russian Federation on May 6, police violently dispersed the so-called “March of Millions,” an opposition demonstration which authorities had earlier approved. Violating participants’ freedom to peacefully gather, law enforcement descended upon Moscow’s streets, gassed crowds, beat journalists and women, and detained up to 600 protestors, including three leading opposition figures. Officers have continued to detain participants well into Monday.
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Undermine Putin
Now is the time to undermine Russian strongman Vladimir Putin. With major protests going on in response to the recent fraudulent parliamentary elections, with Mikhail Prokhorov announcing that he is likely to challenge Putin for the presidency in the next election, and with major ferment in Russia, it is the best time to further undermine Putin’s control structure by holding human rights violators accountable. And there are several efforts underway to do just that in Congress.
Consider the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Ac
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Freedom House Questions for Republican Presidential Candidates
It is a core belief of Freedom House that American foreign policy should be grounded on support for democratic values and the global expansion of freedom. Practically every aspirant to the American presidency would agree that the United States should remain the world’s beacon of democracy. But especially in an era of rival claims for global leadership and calls for fiscal austerity, the development of a U.S. strategy to propel freedom forward poses a serious challenge. Thus far, the presidential candidates have failed to grapple with the complexities of this challenge, and the discussion has been far from illuminating, to put it mildly.
The questions below, drawn up by Freedom House staff, have been submitted to the sponsors of the debate on foreign policy scheduled for Tuesday night. We offer them in the hope that they will focus the minds of leading politicians, both within and beyond the Republican Party, on the critical issue of U.S. support for democratic institutions and values at a time when the adversaries of freedom are emboldened and the newest aspiring democracies are particularly vulnerable.
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