Global Magnitsky 101

Announcement

Briefing Series on Accountability

Please join the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission for a briefing on the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (H.R. 624), a bill to globalize the provisions of P.L. 112-208, the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012.

After the Soviet Union dissolved, Russia opened up its economy to foreign investment. Bill Browder, the founder of Hermitage Capital Management, was the largest foreign investor in Russia until November 2005, when he was suddenly denied entry to the country and declared “a threat to national security” by the Russian government for exposing corruption at large Russian companies. Eighteen months later, after his company was raided and fraudulently transferred to state control, Browder hired the Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky to investigate. Mr. Magnitsky helped file a number of criminal complaints and testified against officials involved in the raids, until he was arrested himself in retaliation. He was held in custody for 358 days, tortured, and eventually beaten to death in 2009.

Since then, Mr. Browder has been leading a global campaign to expose the corruption and human rights abuses endemic in Russia. He brought this cause to the Congress, which passed the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act in 2012 by a vote of 363-45 (PL 112-208). The law imposes visa bans and blocks the U.S. assets of certain Russian officials involved in Magnitsky’s death, and of other gross violators of human rights and perpetrators of major corruption in Russia. On January 30, 2015, Reps. Chris Smith and Jim McGovern introduced H.R. 624, the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, to extend the provisions of the Act beyond Russia.

Our distinguished speakers will review the history of the Magnitsky legislation, analyze its importance as a tool for U.S. foreign policy, and discuss the need for a global version.

For any questions, please contact Kimberly Stanton at 202-225-8097 (for Mr. McGovern) or Carson Middleton at 202-225-2411 (for Mr. Pitts) or the Commission staff at tlhrc@mail.house.gov.

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