Congress acts to pass landmark human rights measure in memory of murdered Russian lawyer

Daily Mail

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.

Browder compared the amendment, which could be voted on by the U.S. Senate as early as next week, to the landmark Jackson Vanik trade restrictions against the Soviet Union that enabled some 1.5 million Jews to emigrate.

‘I’m fighting for justice for Sergei and for his legacy,’ Browder told MailOnline. ‘I hope he’s looking down from heaven right now and thinking that his death had some greater meaning to better the world.’
Putin’s Russia, he said, was a ‘criminal regime’ that was ‘apoplectic right now’ about the Magnitsky amendment because it feared a ‘domino effect’ of other countries taking action against its mafia-style activities.

His fear is that the amendment could be neutered by a ‘confidential annex’ attached to the Senate bill that would allow the U.S. government to circumvent much of it by citing national security grounds.
He noted that Putin and his allies had been ‘gleefully celebrating’ Obama’s re-election. ‘They were so scared of a tough Romney as opposed to a conciliatory, flexible Obama.’

Thus far, Russia’s reaction has been publicly restrained, indicating that it believes the Obama administration can water down the amendment.

Konstantin Dolgov, Russian Foreign Ministry envoy for human rights, democracy and the rule of law, told Interfax: ‘We hope the U.S. executive branch will learn the necessary lessons and do all it can so that its enforcement should not cause damage to Russian-U.S. relations.’

Easing trade restrictions could double the amount of American U.S. exports flowing to Russia, the world’s ninth-largest economy, to $19 billion.

Officially, Russia remains on a list of former communist nations that were denied favoured trade status in 1973 because they refused to allow their citizens to leave freely.

Magnitsky, was representing Browder’s British-based Hermitage Capital Management in 2008 when he blew the whistle on alleged fraud involving Russian tax officials and police officers.

In retaliation, he was arrested on charges of organizing tax evasion for company executives. On November 16th 2009, he died of pancreatitis in a Moscow prison after being tortured and denied proper medical treatment.

If the amendment ultimately becomes law, American officials will be obliged within 120 days to compile and publish a list of Russian officials involved in Magnitsky’s persecution and death. These would be denied U.S. visas and have their financial assets in the U.S. frozen. unshaven girl unshaven girl https://zp-pdl.com/get-a-next-business-day-payday-loan.php https://zp-pdl.com/online-payday-loans-in-america.php unshaven girl