Co-Chairs Welcome Russian Release of Wrongfully Detained Prisoners

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressmen James P. McGovern and Chris Smith, Co-Chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, issued the following statement on the release of 16 wrongfully detained prisoners from Russia, including Defending Freedoms Project prisoner of conscience Vladimir Kara-Murza, through a multi-country prisoner exchange on August 1, 2024.

“As Co-Chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, we welcome the release of 16 individuals who were unjustly detained in Russia, a group that included U.S. and European Union citizens as well as Russian opposition activists. We welcome home Vladimir Kara-Murza, Alsu Krumasheva, Evan Gershkovich, and Paul Whelan, and are thrilled that they are reunited with their families at last.

“None of those released should ever have been imprisoned. We also know that many more individuals are still unjustly imprisoned in Russia. The government of Russia must release all those who continue to be arbitrarily detained immediately and without conditions.”

The bipartisan Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, composed of members of the U.S. House of Representatives, promotes, defends and advocates for international human rights as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related human rights instruments.