Press Releases

Today the U.S. Department of State announced that five people have been added to the list of those sanctioned under the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act. Four of the individuals in question are linked to the Magnitsky case, while the fifth was sanctioned for the torture and death of a Chechen human rights activist.

Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA), a senior House Democrat, Co-Chair of the bipartisan Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission praised the decision by the State Department. As the author of the original Magnitsky sanctions bill, Congressman McGovern has been a leading voice in this effort and welcomed today’s action as an important step for human rights:

“I am very pleased that the U.S. government continues to investigate and sanction those responsible for the egregious imprisonment, torture and death of Sergei Magnitsky, and now, for his illegal posthumous prosecution. I also welcome the news that sanctions are being put in place against those responsible for other cases of grievous human rights violations in Russia, as Congress intended.” 

“The message that we wanted to send with the passage of the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act is that the United States supports those who defend human rights and the rule of law in Russia. The decision today is one more step towards ensuring there will be at least some degree of accountability for Russian human rights violators.

“Even as I welcome this news, I recognize that there are many more individuals in Russia who deserve to be sanctioned for their roles in human rights abuses and corruption. I will continue to closely monitor the implementation of the Magnitsky law, and I encourage the Administration to press ahead with additional investigations. The U.S. relationship with Russia is important, but it requires a solid base -- it cannot and should not be built on a shaky foundation of corruption and condoning human rights violations.”

Sergei Magnitsky was a lawyer hired by William Browder, the founder of Hermitage Capital Management, to investigate after the company was raided and transferred to Russian state control. 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, denied medical care and eventually beaten to death in 2009. After his death, a Russian court convicted Magnitsky of tax evasion. The trial was widely condemned internationally for setting a dangerous and chilling precedent.

Congressman McGovern helped lead the passage of the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act in 2012, securing a bipartisan 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.

The list of these individuals now comprises 39 names.

Persons on this list are ineligible for visas and to be admitted to the United States.  These individuals have also been added to the Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control’s List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (“SDN List”).  As a result, all assets of these individuals that are subject to U.S. jurisdiction or in the control of U.S. persons are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them. 

The names may be found at the following link:

www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Pages/20160201.aspx

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