Global Magnitsky Bill Introduced in the Canadian Parliament

June 15, 2015

12 June 2015 – Irwin Cotler, Cana­di­an MP, for­mer Min­is­ter of Jus­tice and Attor­ney Gen­er­al of Cana­da, and chair of the Jus­tice for Sergei Mag­nit­sky Inter-Par­lia­men­tary Group, has intro­duced the Glob­al Mag­nit­sky Bill to the Cana­di­an par­lia­ment. The bill, enti­tled the Glob­al Mag­nit­sky Human Rights Account­abil­i­ty Act [C‑689], calls for sanc­tions on inter­na­tion­al human rights vio­la­tors any­where in the world, and is sim­i­lar to the U.S. Glob­al Mag­nit­sky bill cur­rent­ly mak­ing its way through the U.S. Congress.

Explain­ing his new bill, Irwin Cotler MP said:
“The vic­tims of human-rights vio­la­tions in Rus­sia and around the world… and the coura­geous activists who stand up to rights-vio­lat­ing regimes at great per­son­al risk – were on my mind when I rose on Tues­day in the House to present my leg­is­la­tion… Coun­tries that val­ue human rights and the rule of law must use the mea­sures at our dis­pos­al to hold vio­la­tors to account and dis­cour­age future vio­la­tions. Oth­er­wise, we are exposed as hav­ing far less con­cern for these noble prin­ci­ples than our usu­al rhetoric.”

Intro­duc­ing the leg­is­la­tion, Irwin Cotler MP paid an emo­tion­al trib­ute to his friend and advo­cate of Mag­nit­sky sanc­tions leg­is­la­tion, Boris Nemtsov, who was assas­si­nat­ed near the Krem­lin in Moscow three months ago. 

“I could almost feel the pres­ence of my late friend Boris Nemtsov, the leader of the demo­c­ra­t­ic Russ­ian oppo­si­tion who was mur­dered near the Krem­lin ear­li­er this year,” said Irwin Cotler.

Boris Nemtsov pub­licly sup­port­ed Irwin Cotler in 2012 when the Mag­nit­sky leg­is­la­tion was first intro­duced in the Cana­di­an parliament.
“Mag­nit­sky was killed by pros­e­cu­tors and prison management…Putin gov­ern­ment sup­port­ed the mur­der­ers… The idea of the [Mag­nit­sky] Act is to imple­ment sanc­tions against absolute­ly con­crete cor­rupt offi­cials and peo­ple who are respon­si­ble for killing Mag­nit­sky,” said Boris Nemtsov.

“As a coun­try with the low lev­el of cor­rup­tion and rule of law, Cana­da has to fight against crim­i­nals and against cor­rup­tion. You are not against Rus­sia, you are against cor­rup­tion, against crim­i­nals. It will be very painful for Russ­ian cor­rupt bureau­cra­cy to get such kind of law from Cana­da. Very painful. Because cor­rupt sys­tem in Rus­sia means that they have prop­er­ty out­side of the coun­try, they relax out­side the coun­try, they send their kids to get edu­ca­tion outside…”

(Lis­ten to the full speech by Boris Nemtsov in Cana­da in 2012, start­ing after intro­duc­tion at 4 min.: http://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/03/02/when-nemtsov-came-to-ottawa/)

In March this year, the Cana­di­an House of Com­mons unan­i­mous­ly sup­port­ed the ini­tia­tive to intro­duce Mag­nit­sky sanc­tions on indi­vid­ual human-rights vio­la­tors, includ­ing those involved in the 2009 deten­tion, tor­ture and mur­der of Sergei Mag­nit­sky. A sim­i­lar motion was adopt­ed in the Cana­di­an Sen­ate a few weeks lat­er. Yet, the Cana­di­an Gov­ern­ment has not act­ed on the call from parliamentarians.

“There is still time for the [Cana­di­an] gov­ern­ment to either take over my bill or to intro­duce sim­i­lar leg­is­la­tion of its own, out of respect for the unan­i­mous will of Cana­di­an MPs, and out of sol­i­dar­i­ty with the vic­tims of human-rights vio­la­tions and those who strug­gle valiant­ly on their behalf, in Rus­sia and around the world,” said Irwin Cotler, MP. 

For more infor­ma­tion, please contact:
Mag­nit­sky Jus­tice Campaign
+44 2074401777
e‑mail: info@lawandorderinrussia.org
web­site: www.lawandorderinrussia.org
Twit­ter: @KatieFisher__

Video of Irwin Cotler MP intro­duc­ing the Glob­al Mag­nit­sky Bill in the Cana­di­an Parliament:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwMo43eU1BE&feature=youtu.be

New Cana­di­an Glob­al Mag­nit­sky Bill, C‑689: “An Act to enact the Glob­al Human Rights Account­abil­i­ty Act and to make relat­ed amend­ments to the Spe­cial Eco­nom­ic Mea­sures Act and the Immi­gra­tion and Refugee Pro­tec­tion Act”
http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&DocId=8035881

Orig­i­nal 2012 Cana­di­an Mag­nit­sky Bill, C‑339: “An Act to con­demn cor­rup­tion and impuni­ty in Rus­sia in the case and death of Sergei Magnitsky”
http://www.parl.gc.ca/LegisInfo/BillDetails.aspx?billId=6253662&Language=E&Mode=1

The Jus­tice for Sergei Mag­nit­sky Inter-Par­lia­men­tary Group website:
http://ipg-magnitsky.org/

European Parliament Calls on EU Foreign Policy Chief to Enact EU-wide Magnitsky Sanctions on Russian Human Rights Abusers

June 11, 2015

11 June 2015 – The Euro­pean Par­lia­ment has adopt­ed the Mag­nit­sky Sanc­tions Motion which demands that EU For­eign Affairs chief Fed­er­i­ca Mogheri­ni act “with­out delay” and intro­duce sanc­tions on Russ­ian offi­cials involved in the Mag­nit­sky case.

The motion pro­posed by Euro­pean Parliament’s Rap­por­teur on the state of EU-Rus­sia rela­tions Gabrielius Lands­ber­gis, MEP, was adopt­ed by 494 votes to 135, with 69 abstentions.

The Mag­nit­sky Sanc­tions motion high­lights the assas­si­na­tions of Boris Nemtsov, Sergey Mag­nit­sky, Anna Politkovskaya, Natalya Estemiro­va, Alexan­der Litvi­nenko and oth­ers, and demands their prop­er, inde­pen­dent investigations. 

The Mag­nit­sky Sanc­tions motion adopt­ed by the Euro­pean Par­lia­ment states:

“Euro­pean Parliament…reiterates its call on the Coun­cil to … adopt, upon a pro­pos­al which should be sub­mit­ted with­out delay by the VP/HR, restric­tive mea­sures for the offi­cials involved in the well-doc­u­ment­ed Mag­nit­sky case.”

Pre­vi­ous­ly, Ms Mogheri­ni, EU VP/HR (Vice Pres­i­dent and High Rep­re­sen­ta­tive) for for­eign affairs and secu­ri­ty pol­i­cy, strong­ly opposed the enact­ment of EU-wide Mag­nit­sky sanc­tions, in spite of four res­o­lu­tions by the Euro­pean Par­lia­ment in their favour. In a let­ter to the Euro­pean par­lia­ment mem­bers on 12 Jan­u­ary 2015, Ms Mogheri­ni stead­fast­ly refused to impose sanc­tions on Russ­ian offi­cials in the Mag­nit­sky case.

“I con­sid­er that addi­tion­al sanc­tions tar­get­ing human rights vio­la­tors would not be the appro­pri­ate response as they would risk nei­ther trig­ger­ing a change in pol­i­cy nor improv­ing the human rights sit­u­a­tion,” said Ms Mogheri­ni at the time in her letter.

One and a half month after Ms Mogherini’s refusal, Boris Nemtsov, the lead­ing pro­po­nent of the EU Mag­nit­sky sanc­tions, and a key Russ­ian leader of the oppo­si­tion to pres­i­dent Putin, was assas­si­nat­ed next to the Kremlin. 

In his pub­lic appear­ances before his assas­si­na­tion, Boris Nemtsov stat­ed his belief that Mag­nit­sky sanc­tions, enact­ed by the Unit­ed States under the “US Sergei Mag­nit­sky Rule of Law Account­abil­i­ty Act of 2012,” rep­re­sent­ed the “most pow­er­ful instru­ment against killers and clep­to­crats” (see in Russ­ian at 27 min of youtube video debate with Boris Nemtsov: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n1AJ0oCIJE)

Boris Nemtsov cam­paigned for the adop­tion of Mag­nit­sky sanc­tions by the EU and for the expan­sion of the US Mag­nit­sky sanc­tions list.

“We owe it to the mem­o­ry of the coura­geous Russ­ian patri­ots Sergei Mag­nit­sky and Boris Nemtsov to cre­ate con­se­quences for those in Rus­sia who act with impuni­ty and con­tin­ue to cov­er up bru­tal mur­ders with a straight face in the inter­na­tion­al set­tings. Inac­tion by Ms Mogheri­ni today, after the fifth vote by the Euro­pean Par­lia­ment, is no longer accept­able,” said Bill Brow­der, leader of the Mag­nit­sky Jus­tice campaign. 

For more infor­ma­tion, please contact:

Mag­nit­sky Jus­tice Campaign
+44 2074401777
e‑mail: info@lawandorderinrussia.org
web­site: www.lawandorderinrussia.org
Twit­ter: @KatieFisher__

Russian Government Continues to Eliminate Evidence in the Magnitsky Case by Destroying Video Recordings of Magnitsky’s Last Hours in Detention

June 5, 2015

Russ­ian Gov­ern­ment Con­tin­ues to Elim­i­nate Evi­dence in the Mag­nit­sky Case by Destroy­ing Video Record­ings of Magnitsky’s Last Hours in Detention

5 June 2015 – The Russ­ian author­i­ties have told Sergei Magnitsky’s moth­er that they have destroyed the video record­ings of Sergei Magnitsky’s last hours before his killing in Matrosskaya Tishi­na deten­tion center.

 In cor­re­spon­dence with Sergei Magnitsky’s moth­er, Gen­er­al Major V. Aly­shev, Deputy Head of the Russ­ian Inves­tiga­tive Committee’s Main Inves­tiga­tive Depart­ment, has con­firmed the Russ­ian author­i­ties have destroyed the video records from Matrosskaya Tishina.

“Video record­ings from video sur­veil­lance cam­eras …have not been seized due to objec­tive rea­sons – due to the expiry of the peri­od of stor­age on the disc,” said Gen­er­al Major of the Russ­ian Inves­tiga­tive Com­mit­tee V. Alyshev.

Sergei Mag­nit­sky was trans­ferred to Matrosskaya Tishi­na deten­tion cen­ter at 6:30 pm of 16 Novem­ber 2009. Less than three hours lat­er he was found dead with signs of bod­i­ly injuries in the iso­la­tion cell. The offi­cial Russ­ian inves­ti­ga­tion into his death found that he died from a heart prob­lem and that he had caused his own injuries.

An inde­pen­dent domes­tic inves­ti­ga­tion by the Moscow Pub­lic Over­sight Com­mis­sion con­clud­ed Sergei Mag­nit­sky was kept in deten­tion in tor­tur­ous con­di­tions, that civil­ian doc­tors were not allowed by deten­tion cen­ter offi­cials to enter his cell for an hour and eigh­teen min­utes before his death, while a team of eight deten­tion cen­ter offi­cers restrained him and beat him. Imme­di­ate­ly after Magnitsky’s death, deten­tion cen­ter offi­cials showed some video footage of Sergei Mag­nit­sky to mem­bers of the Moscow Pub­lic Over­sight Com­mis­sion. How­ev­er, video record­ings from Matrosskaya Tishi­na have been absent from the Magnitsky’s death case inves­ti­ga­tion file.

In response to the request from Mag­nit­sky fam­i­ly about the where­abouts of the video footage from Matrosskaya Tishi­na, the Russ­ian Inves­tiga­tive Com­mit­tee report­ed that the record­ing has been destroyed:

“[Video record­ing] is auto­mat­i­cal­ly delet­ed from the hard dri­ve after 30 days, and new infor­ma­tion is record­ed in its place,” Gen­er­al Major Aly­shev has informed Magnitsky’s mother.

“It is con­sis­tent with the over­all cov­er-up of Sergei Mag­nit­sky’s mur­der that the key video evi­dence from the crime scene was not pre­served. An inves­ti­ga­tion should be opened into those who allowed the destruc­tion of the videos,” said a rep­re­sen­ta­tive of Jus­tice for Sergei Mag­nit­sky campaign.

 For more infor­ma­tion, please contact:

 Mag­nit­sky Jus­tice Campaign

+44 2074401777

e‑mail: info@lawandorderinrussia.org

web­site: www.lawandorderinrussia.org

Следственный комитет подтверждает уничтожение видеозаписей по делу Магнитского

June 5, 2015

Следственный комитет подтверждает уничтожение видеозаписей по делу Магнитского

5 июня 2015 года – Сегодня стало известно, что Следственный комитет РФ подтвердил уничтожение видеозаписей по делу о смерти Сергея Магнитского — человека, раскрывшего крупнейшее в истории России (5,4 миллиардов рублей) хищение бюджетных средств высшими должностными лицами налоговых и правоохранительных органов, после чего был арестован по надуманным  обвинениям и убит.

Заместитель руководителя Главного Следственного Управления Следственного комитета РФ генерал-майор В. Алышев сообщил родным Сергея Магнитского, что видеозаписи из следственного изолятора «Матросская тишина», где прошли последние часы жизни Магнитского до его убийства, уничтожены, объяснив это «объективными причинами».

«Видеозаписи с камер видеонаблюдения …не были изъяты по объективным причинам – вследствие истечения срока хранения на диске», — говорится в сообщении генерал-майора СК РФ В.Алышева родственникам Сергея Магнитского.

Напомним, что в ходе независимого расследования, проведенного сразу после гибели Сергея Магнитского в ноябре-декабре 2009 года Московской общественной комиссией по мониторингу за соблюдением прав человека в местах содержания под стражей, было установлено, что Сергей Магнитский содержался в пыточных условиях в следственных изоляторах и был найден мертвым со следами телесных повреждений на полу одиночной камеры №4 следственного изолятора «Матросская тишина», где к нему в течение 1 часа 18 минут не допускали врачей.  Руководство следственного изолятора «Матросская тишина» демонстрировало правозащитникам видеозаписи Сергея Магнитского, однако, они отсутствуют в материалах уголовного дела о смерти Магнитского.  В ответ на запрос родных Магнитского о местонахождении видеозаписей из «Матросской тишины», Следственный комитет РФ сообщил об их уничтожении:

«[Видеозапись] автоматически удаляется с жесткого диска по истечении 30 суток и на ее место записывается новая информация», — указал генерал-майор СК РФ В.Алышев родственникам Сергея Магнитского.

Ранее сообщалось об уничтожении материалов из архива органов и тканей Сергея Магнитского, а недавно стало известно об уничтожении документов, касающихся обстоятельств содержания Сергея Магнитского в следственном изоляторе «Бутырка», где он находился в течение почти четырех месяцев до убийства.

«Если видеозаписи последних часов жизни Сергея Магнитского из «Матросской тишины» действительно уничтожены, то это требует немедленной проверки в рамках уголовного производства с последующим привлечением к уголовной ответственности виновных, в том числе следователей, создавших условия для намеренного уничтожения и утраты доказательств по уголовному делу», — сказал представитель программы «Справедливость для Сергея Магнитского».

 За дополнительной информацией обращайтесь:

Программа «Справедливость для Сергея Магнитского»

Телефон: +44 207 4401777

info@lawandorderinrussia.org

lawandorderinRussia.org

Russian Government Destroys Evidence in the Magnitsky Death Case In Spite of his Family’s Request to Preserve Them

June 3, 2015

Russ­ian Gov­ern­ment Destroys Evi­dence in the Mag­nit­sky Death Case In Spite of his Family’s Request to Pre­serve Them

3 June 2015 – The Russ­ian Gov­ern­ment has been destroy­ing records and evi­dence in the Sergei Mag­nit­sky death case defy­ing his family’s appeals to pre­serve them.

Sergei Tely­at­nikov, Head of Butyr­ka deten­tion cen­ter, has noti­fied the Mag­nit­sky fam­i­ly that the deten­tion cen­ter has destroyed all records con­tain­ing data on trans­port­ing Sergei Mag­nit­sky to court and there­fore could not dis­close to the fam­i­ly infor­ma­tion evi­denc­ing his con­di­tions. This is in spite of numer­ous requests from the Mag­nit­sky fam­i­ly to the Russ­ian gov­ern­ment bod­ies to safe­guard and pre­serve all doc­u­ments and evi­dence con­cern­ing him.

“Those involved in destroy­ing the records in rela­tion to the Mag­nit­sky case should real­ize their respon­si­bil­i­ty in cov­er­ing up his tor­ture and mur­der. Appeals have been filed to all Russ­ian state bod­ies to pre­serve this evi­dence so jus­tice can be obtained for the Mag­nit­sky fam­i­ly in this hor­rif­ic case,” said a rep­re­sen­ta­tive of the Jus­tice for Sergei Mag­nit­sky campaign.

Sergei Mag­nit­sky described the cir­cum­stances of his trans­porta­tion to court from Butyr­ka in his com­plaints and let­ters to his lawyer.

In a let­ter to his lawyer dat­ed 8 August 2009, Sergei Mag­nit­sky  described them as “meat grinder for labour camps”:

“Jus­tice in these con­di­tions turns into the process of grind­ing human meat into mince for pris­ons and labour camps, the process in which a man can­not effec­tive­ly defend him­self, can­not even com­pre­hend what is hap­pen­ing to him, and can only think when all of this is going to end, when can he get rid of this phys­i­cal and emo­tion­al tor­ture and get to the camp where the degree of human suf­fer­ing …turns out to be less …than here where you are being put through the grinder.”

Sergei Mag­nit­sky detailed one episode of being trans­port­ed back to his deten­tion cen­ter cell from a court hear­ing at which he chal­lenged his rights vio­la­tions by the Russ­ian Inte­ri­or Ministry.

“All of us, about 20 peo­ple, were placed in a col­lec­tion cell… This cell is about 22 sqm, with­out win­dows, with one ven­ti­la­tion hatch to the cor­ri­dor, which also does not have win­dows… The toi­let was not sep­a­rat­ed and no one could make them­selves use it...There was no tap with water… We banged on the door, but for a long time nobody came. Final­ly, a staffer of the deten­tion cen­ter came and asked why we are bang­ing. I said that I need­ed to take med­i­cine and asked that we be tak­en to our cells soon.The staffer said that it will hap­pen soon, closed the door and left. In anoth­er half hour, we heard the noise of the locks, and I heard that the door was being opened. But instead of tak­ing us out, they brought in anoth­er 20 peo­ple who came from oth­er court hear­ings. Almost all of them start­ed smok­ing. One could not breath. There were at least 40 peo­ple in the cell… We spent like this anoth­er hour and a half, and then they start­ed tak­ing us to cells. I end­ed up in my cell only half past eleven.….”

For more infor­ma­tion, please contact:

 Mag­nit­sky Jus­tice Campaign

+44 2074401777

e‑mail: info@lawandorderinrussia.org

web­site: www.lawandorderinrussia.org

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