U.S. Senate Passes Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act
Sergei Magnitsky, a former TAGLaw member, was working for UK investment firm Hermitage Capital when, after alleging a £142m tax fraud by Russian officials, he was arrested and allegedly tortured. On 16 November 2009, one year after being detained, he died in police custody in Moscow. Below is an excerpt from a New York Times article on the passing of the "Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act" by the United States Senate.
The U.S. Senate recently repealed a trade sanction imposed 38 years ago to force the Soviet Union to allow Jews and other religious minorities to emigrate, replacing it with a modern-day punishment for human rights abuse that has enraged Russian officials. The old law, one of the last vestiges of the Cold War, was called the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, named after a U.S. senator and a representative. The new law, passed 92 to 4, grants Russia and Moldova permanent normal trade relations, but it is coupled with the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act, which honors a dead Russian. The law blacklists Russians connected to the death of Magnitsky in police custody and to other gross human rights violations, prohibiting entrance to the United States and use of its banking system.
“Today, we close a chapter in U.S. history,” Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.), one of the prime movers of the Magnitsky bill, said during the debate on Jackson-Vanik. “It served its purpose. Today, we open a new chapter in U.S. leadership for human rights.”
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