Posts Tagged ‘washington times’
WICKER: Russia’s adoption freeze: Is a humanitarian solution within reach?
When the Russian government decided late last year to forbid international adoptions with the United States, the heartbreak was swift and palpable. The Kremlin’s political opportunism had reared its ugly head — denying orphans the chance at a better future and leaving adoptive families incomplete.
Approximately 300 U.S. families, including several in my home state of Mississippi, were in the process of adopting children from Russia when the ban took effect in January. These families had traveled across the world to meet and bond with the children they hoped to welcome into their lives. As the extensive paperwork and formalities progressed, the emotional ties grew stronger.
Today, these “pipeline” families are working tirelessly to challenge Russia’s broken promises and bring attention to the hundreds of orphans still waiting for Mom and Dad. Their pleas have yet to stir a response from Russian officials, who refuse to allow the pending cases to move forward. But growing international support has inspired new hope that a humanitarian solution should prevail.
The resounding consensus by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is encouraging. Earlier this month, the parliamentary assembly of the 57-country organization overwhelmingly passed a measure I introduced to uphold the sanctity of the adoption process between nations.
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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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BERMAN: U.S.-Russia ‘reset’ hasn’t changed stance
You might not be familiar with Sergei Magnitsky, the 37-year-old Russian lawyer who died of medical complications while languishing in a Moscow prison back in 2009. You should be — Magnitsky’s case is worth knowing, both because of what it says about the nature of the Russian state and because it could soon prompt a substantial shake-up in U.S.-Russian relations.
A lawyer for the Moscow-based Hermitage Capital investment fund, Magnitsky ran afoul of Russian authorities when he stumbled across, and dutifully reported, evidence of massive official corruption. For his trouble, he was imprisoned and held without trial for nearly a year in squalid conditions on trumped-up charges of tax evasion and tax fraud. Toward the end of his incarceration, Magnitsky developed gall stones and pancreatitis, but he was denied proper medical attention by prison authorities. He died in November 2009 as a result.
To add insult to injury, Russia’s Interior Ministry has since posthumously moved ahead with prosecuting Magnitsky. Like the rest of the circumstances surrounding Magnitsky’s demise, the current case is fraught with absurdity. Hermitage lawyers believe that documents relating to the affair have been falsified, but so far — in time-honored Soviet tradition — they have been denied permission to see the case file for their client.
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Russia’s WTO accession sparks debate over human-rights legislation
Russia’s expected invitation to join the World Trade Organization next month has ignited debate in Congress on a bill that targets Russian human-rights abuse and a trade law that could hurt U.S. businesses.
The debate over punishing Russian human-rights abusers and voiding a Cold War-era trade law poses a test for the Obama administration’s “reset” in relations with the former Soviet republic.
As a WTO member, Russia would enjoy regulated access to U.S. markets, even as Moscow has backslid on democratic reforms by cracking down on dissenters, limiting opposition and restricting the press.
Russia has threatened to end cooperation with the U.S. on Iran sanctions and Afghan transit if the U.S. implements the proposed Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act.
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Russia’s repression – Putin’s Kremlin is reversing democratic progress
The new Congress was sworn in just last week, but events far away – in Russia – already are causing members to vent their ire. For one, Russian police detained Boris Nemtsov, one of the leaders of the Russian opposition, during a rally in defense of the freedom of assembly, on Triumfalnaya Square in Moscow on the last day of 2010.
Demonstrators called on Russian authorities to respect the constitution and demanded the resignation of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. More than 150 people were arrested in Moscow and at a similar rally in St. Petersburg. So much for freedom of assembly.
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