Magnitsky Act

Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012

Long title	An Act To authorize the extension of nondiscriminatory treatment (normal trade relations treatment) to products of the Russian Federation and Moldova and to require reports on the compliance of the Russian Federation with its obligations as a member of the World Trade Organization, and for other purposes.
Nickname(s)	Magnitsky Act
Enacted by the	112th United States Congress
Citations
Public Law	Pub.L. 112–208
Stat.	126 Stat. 1496
Legislative history
Introduced in the House as "Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik Repeal Act of 2012" (H.R. 6156) by Dave Camp (R-MI) on July 19, 2012 Committee consideration by: House Ways and Means Passed the House on November 16, 2012 (365–43) Passed the Senate on December 6, 2012 (92–4) Signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 14, 2012
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The Magnitsky Act, formally known as the Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012, is a bipartisan bill which was passed by the U.S. Congress in November–December 2012.^[1] The bill was signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 14, 2012.^[2]

History

In 2009, lawyer and auditor Sergei Magnitsky died in a Moscow prison after investigating fraud involving Russian tax officials.^[3][4]

Law

In June 2012, the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the bill as the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012 (H.R. 4405).^[5] The main intention of the law was to punish Russian officials who were thought to be responsible for the death of Sergei Magnitsky by prohibiting their entrance to the United States and use of their banking system.^[1] The legislation was to be taken up by a Senate panel the next week and was cited in a broader review of the mounting tensions in the international relationship.^[6][7] The bill was sponsored by Senator Ben Cardin.

In November 2012, provisions of the Magnitsky bill were attached to a House bill (H.R. 6156) normalizing trade with Russia (i.e. repealing the Jackson–Vanik amendment) and Moldova.^[8] On 6 December 2012 U.S. Senate passed the House version of the law.^[1] The law was signed by President Barack Obama on December 14, 2012.^{[9][10][11][12]}

Individuals affected

The Obama administration made public a list of 18 individuals affected by the Act in April 2013.^[13][14][15] The people included on the list are:

Russian government reaction

In response to adoption of Magnitsky Act, Russian government denied Americans adoption of Russian children, issued a list of US officials prohibited from entering Russia, and posthumously convicted Magnitsky as guilty.^[16] In addition, Russian government reportedly lobbied against the legislature acting through a public relations company led by Kenneth Duberstein.^[17][18]

On December 19, 2012, the State Duma voted 400 to 4 to ban the international adoption of Russian children into the United States. The bill was unofficially named after Dmitri Yakovlev (Chase Harrison), a Russian toddler who died in 2008 of heat stroke after neglect from his adoptive American father.^[19][20] Other recent developments include the introduction of a law to prevent US citizens from working with political NGOs in Russia, and a law, recently abandoned, preventing any foreigner from speaking on state television if they discredited the state.^[21]

On April 13, 2013, Russia released a list naming 18 Americans banned from entering the Russian Federation over their alleged human rights violations, as a direct response to the Magnitsky list.^[22] The people banned from Russia are listed below:

US officials involved in legalizing torture and indefinite detention of prisoners (The Guantanamo List):

• David Addington, Chief of Staff to Vice President Dick Cheney (2005–2009)
• John Yoo, Assistant US Attorney General in the Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice (2001–2003)
• Geoffrey D. Miller, retired US Army Major General, commandant of Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO), the organization that runs the Guantanamo Bay detention camps (2002–2003)
• Jeffrey Harbeson, US Navy officer, commandant of JTF-GTMO (2010–2012)

The Russian lawmakers also banned several U.S. officials involved in the prosecution and trial of Russian arms smuggler Viktor Bout and drug smuggler Konstantin Yaroshenko, both serving prison time in the United States:^[23][24]

• Jed Rakoff, Senior US District Judge for the Southern District of New York
• Preet Bharara, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York
• Michael J. Garcia, former US Attorney for the Southern District of New York
• Brendan R. McGuire, Assistant US Attorney
• Anjan S. Sahni, Assistant US Attorney
• Christian R. Everdell, Assistant US Attorney
• Jenna Minicucci Dabbs, Assistant US Attorney
• Christopher L. Lavigne, Assistant US Attorney
• Michael Max Rosensaft, Assistant US Attorney
• Louis J. Milione, Special Agent, US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
• Sam Gaye, Senior Special Agent, US DEA
• Robert F. Zachariasiewicz, Special Agent, US DEA
• Derek S. Odney, Special Agent, US DEA
• Gregory A. Coleman, Special Agent, US Federal Bureau of Investigation^[22]

Reception

Australian expatriate jurist Geoffrey Robertson, who is representing some of the Magnitsky campaigners, has described the Act as "one of the most important new developments in human rights". He says it provides "a way of getting at the Auschwitz train drivers, the apparatchiks, the people who make a little bit of money from human rights abuses and generally keep under the radar."^[25]

State Duma deputy Yevgeny Fedorov argued that the real purpose of the Magnitsky bill was to manipulate the key figures in big business and government, with the aim of pro-American policy in the Russian Federation.^[26]

The Ministry of Internal Affairs Directorate for Special Affairs in the U.K. stated that it is aware of those on the list. The U.K. bans travel of those on the list under existing legislation which prohibits entry for those implicated in cases of human rights violations.^[27]

The World Socialist Web Site condemned the United States for only invoking human rights as a cover for realpolitik, stating that Washington had supported "far greater crimes, [such] as when Boris Yeltsin in 1993 ordered the bombardment of the Russian White House, the seat of the country’s parliament, killing over 1,000 people".^[28]

References

External links

• H.R. 6156: Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012
• What the Magnitsky Act Means opinion piece.