Posts Tagged ‘mcgovern’
Rep. James McGovern condemns Russian trial of dead lawyer
A decision by Russian authorities to go ahead with the trial of a dead lawyer is yet another example of the “endless vendetta” against him, a U.S. congressman said Monday.
A judge in Moscow has ruled that the posthumous trial of Sergei Magnitsky, who claimed to have exposed a web of corruption involving Russian officials, will proceed March 11. He has been accused of tax fraud.
“Unfortunately, the ordeal of Sergei Magnitsky did not end with his death,” said Rep. James P. McGovern, Massachusetts Democrat. “All these malevolent moves make it clear that Russian leaders recognize that they no longer have the support of the people they govern, and so they must resort to scare tactics to try and keep the lid on dissent.”
Mr. McGovern spoke at an event in Washington hosted by the Foreign Policy Initiative, Freedom House and the Institute of Modern Russia, which is led by Pavel Khodorkovsky, the son of jailed Russian businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
“The farce of the trial of Sergei Magnitsky shows how far the regime is willing to go to protect itself,” said Guy Verhofstadt, a former prime minister of Belgium.
Magnitsky, a 37-year-old lawyer, died in a Moscow detention center in November of 2009. He claimed that he had uncovered a $230 million tax fraud involving Russian government officials.
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Congress acts to pass landmark human rights measure in memory of murdered Russian lawyer
Three years to the day after an anti-corruption lawyer was tortured to death in Russia, a bill bearing his name and aimed at punishing human rights violators has been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives.
The so-called Sergei Magnitsky amendment, named after the lawyer who died at age 37, passed by a margin of 365 to 43 votes, bringing together hard-line Republicans and liberal Democrats.
President Vladimir Putin’s government has made clear its vehement opposition to the amendment, which the Obama administration has also opposed vigorously, fearing it will damage its ‘reset’ policy of courting Russia.
The amendment, which allows the U.S. to deny visas and freeze the assets of Russian officials believed to be connected to Magnitsky’s death, was passed on Friday as part of a broader measure to normalising trade relations with Russia.
William Browder, an American-born investor who is based in London after being expelled from Russia in 2005, has been a tireless campaigner for the measure in memory of Magnitsky, who acted for him and paid the price with his life.
Principal backers in the House have included Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida and Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, respectively among the most right-wing and liberal inthe chamber. In the Senate, liberal Ben Cardin and conservatives John McCain and Jon Kyl have banded together.
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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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Congressman McGovern remarks on the Rule for HR 6156, the Magnitsky Bill
Congressman McGovern remarks on the Rule for HR 6156, the Magnitsky Bill
I thank the gentleman from California, the honorable Chairman of the Rules Committee, for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. And I thank him for bringing this rule to the floor. He and I co-authored a “Dear Colleague” in support of the underlying legislation, and it was a pleasure to work with him on this important bill.
M. Speaker, H.R. 6156 joins together two pieces of legislation that deal with trade and human rights in the Russian Federation. The distinguished Chairman has provided a clear description of the provisions in the bill that grant Permanent Normal Trade Relations – or PNTR – to the nations of Moldova and the Russian Federation. It is fairly straightforward.
Simply put, after more than 18 years of negotiations, Russia joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in August. That membership will require Russia – for the first time – to play by the same rules of trade as the United States and virtually every other nation in the world.
But, under WTO rules, the United States cannot take advantage of Russia’s WTO membership unless and until Congress grants Russia “permanent normal trade relations,” replacing the 1974 special bilateral agreement with Russia known as the “Jackson-Vanik” amendment.
The United States is not required to change any U.S. law as a result of Russia’s WTO membership, other than this change to the 1974 trade law. This is in contrast to bilateral free trade agreements, where the United States is required to provide duty-free treatment.
If that were all there was to H.R. 6156, it would pass or fail along familiar lines of trade-related legislation. But H.R. 6156 will become known as a landmark piece of trade legislation not because it grants PNTR for Russia and Moldova, but because it includes Title IV, the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012.
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Last-ditch effort backfires on Magnitsky
Russian lawmakers urged Congress last week to reconsider the Magnitsky bill, but so far have gotten the opposite result. If passed, the Magnitsky bill could derail US-Russian relations for years Russian Senators said.
Several members of Russia’s Senate, called the Federation Council, made a rare appearance in Washington, D.C., this past week in a last-ditch effort to convince their American peers to reconsider the controversial Magnitsky Bill—a piece of legislation that Moscow considers to be explicit interference in the internal affairs of the country.
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign affairs has repeatedly warned Washington about the consequences of this legislation. The Magnitsky Bill sanctions a number of the Russian officials that the U.S. Congress has deemed responsible for or are connected to the case.
In 2008, Sergei Magnitsky said that he had uncovered a scheme that top officials from Russia’s Interior Ministry and other agencies had created a plan to defraud the Russian government. Two of the officials turned around and implicated him for tax evasion on behalf of his client, the investment firm Hermitage Capital headed by William Browder, then a longtime cheerleader for President Vladimir Putin.
Magnitsky died after a year in pre-trial detention, during which his health deteriorated dramatically; Russian investigators found he had been beaten while in prison. While the Russian government has stressed that any human rights investigations should be conducted internally, Browder has headed an international investigation of his own and become one of Putin’s fiercest critics.
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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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Russian delegation hits Washington to lobby against “Magnitsky” sanctions
The Russians are coming to Washington; in fact, they are already here. But they aren’t happy.
A Russian parliamentary delegation is in the U.S. capital to lobby American lawmakers against a bill sanctioning Russian officials implicated in human rights abuses — a move Moscow considers offensive outside interference in its affairs.
After some meetings on Capitol Hill, the four-man Russian delegation on Wednesday did not have a lot of progress to report from their lobbying against the “Magnitsky bill,” named after Sergei Magnitsky, an anti-corruption Russian lawyer who died in 2009 after a year in Russian jails.
But they had a warning.
“We really don’t want that the U.S. Congress adopts this bill that has the potential to deteriorate U.S.-Russia relations for years or even for decades to come. It will become a real irritant in U.S.-Russia relations,” delegation member Vitaly Malkin told reporters, speaking through a translator at the Russian embassy.
A Russian parliamentary investigation into the Magnitsky case is underway, the group said, displaying a dossier with what they said were the preliminary findings.
The Magnitsky bill pending in Congress would require the United States to deny visas and freeze the assets of Russians linked to Magnitsky’s death, as well as those of other human rights abusers in Russia. The Senate version, sponsored by Democrat Ben Cardin, would extend the sanctions to human rights abusers anywhere in the world.
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US: New Bill Sanctions Magnitsky Officials
The United States House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill on Thursday to impose sanctions on a group of Russian officials connected to the death of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian anti-graft lawyer who died in a Russian prison.
Magnitsky was arrested in November 2008 on charges of tax evasion, days after he accused Russian state tax authorities of participating in a $230 million tax refund fraud. He died a year later in a Moscow pre-trial detention center.
According to the US Committee of Foreign Affairs, the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012 will impose “sanctions [visa ban and asset freeze] on those responsible for the harassment, abuse, and death of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who was murdered during his investigation of corruption in the Russian government.”
The bill was introduced in April, by the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission co-chairman Jim McGovern.
The opponents of the bill expressed fears that the new legislation would have a negative effect on the US-Russia relations, and could harm US exports to Russia. The U.S. National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) urged the Congress on Wednesday to oppose the bill.
According to the NFTC President Bill Reinsch “The Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act is seriously flawed.” He adds that “This legislation would harm U.S. relations with Russia and many other nations, and would jeopardize the significant benefits arising from Russian concessions during its WTO accession negotiations.”
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House panel backs “Magnitsky” sanctions on Russia
A congressional committee unanimously approved on Thursday a measure to penalize Russian officials for human rights abuses, adding to tensions with Moscow and complicating White House efforts to pass Russian trade legislation in the coming months.
The House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee approved on a voice vote the “Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act,” named for a 37-year-old anti-corruption lawyer who worked for the equity fund Hermitage Capital. His 2009 death after a year in Russian jails spooked investors and blackened Russia’s image abroad.
The measure has bipartisan support among lawmakers but its prospects for passage in Congress remain uncertain.
The measure would require the United States to deny visas and freeze the assets of Russians linked to Magnitsky’s death. The Obama administration already has imposed visa restrictions on some Russians believed to have been involved in Magnitsky’s death, but kept their names quiet.
The bill would make public the list of alleged offenders, broaden it to include other abusers of human rights in Russia and prohibit them from doing their banking in U.S. institutions.
Russian officials have warned that the bill would harm American-Russian relations, and U.S. business groups say it could hurt their interests in Russia.
The White House worries the bill will get embroiled in President Barack Obama’s efforts to reap the trade benefits of Russia’s looming entry into the World Trade Organization, a key achievement of the “reset” in U.S.-Russia ties of recent years.
Approval by the panel was just the first step in advancing the Magnitsky bill by Democratic Representative Jim McGovern through the Republican-controlled House. Before it can get a vote of the full House, two more committees must approve it or waive jurisdiction. The Democratic-controlled Senate has not acted on a similar bill by Senator Ben Cardin, a Democrat.
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