Stop the Untouchables. Justice for Sergei Magnitsky.

U.S. Congressman Presses Officials On Russian Blacklist

Radio Free Europe

A U.S. lawmaker who spearheaded legislation punishing accused Russian rights abusers plans to meet officials from the Obama administration to press for answers as to why it has failed to blacklist more Russian officials under the law.

U.S. Representative James McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said he is seeking a sit-down with the administration to discuss why it did not expand the blacklist authorized by the Magnitsky Act prior to issuing a mandatory report on the law last month that he called “disappointing” and short on detail.

“I expected more. But I want to give them an opportunity to explain to me why the brevity, why the omission of names,” McGovern, who first proposed the idea of the Magnitsky legislation at a May 2010 congressional hearing, told RFE/RL.

The legislation, passed at the end of 2012, introduces visa bans and financial sanctions on Russian officials implicated in the 2009 death of whistle-blowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.

The December report has not been made public, but an RFE/RL correspondent was allowed to view its one-page narrative portion, which includes general information about the 18 individuals placed on the inaugural blacklist in April by the State and Treasury Departments.

One congressional staffer familiar with the report echoed McGovern’s criticism, calling its narrative section largely a rehash of previously available details and unworthy of serious efforts by many administration officials to “fulfill the letter and spirit of the Magnitsky Act.”