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“THE GLOBAL MAGNITSKY HUMAN RIGHTS ACCOUNTABILITY ACT” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E634-E635 on April 30, 2015.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE GLOBAL MAGNITSKY HUMAN RIGHTS ACCOUNTABILITY ACT
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HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH
of new jersey
in the house of representatives
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I recently chaired a hearing on the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012 directed the President to publish and update a list of each person the President had reason to conclude was responsible for the detention, abuse, or death of Sergei Magnitsky, a legal and accounting adviser with Firestone Duncan, an international law and accounting firm with offices in Moscow and London.
William Browder, Chief Executive Officer of Hermitage Capital Management Ltd., who was one of the witnesses at the hearing, has provided a detailed account of the violent expropriation of the assets of Hermitage--the largest foreign investment brokerage in Russia--by rampant Russian Government corruption, bribery, fraud, forgery, cronyism, and outright theft.
Magnitsky had documented Hermitage's losses and other illicit financial dealings, including draining $230 million from the Russian treasury by tax fraud. He was arrested in November 2008, reportedly for tax evasion, and denied medical care, family visits, or due legal process, in custody. He was beaten and tortured, and died in prison in November 2009. He was 37 years old and married with two young children.
The Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012 targeted those who participated in related liability concealment efforts, financially benefited from Sergei Magnitsky's detention, abuse, or death, or were involved in the criminal conspiracy uncovered by Magnitsky, or were responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture, or other human rights violations committed against individuals seeking to expose illegal activity carried out by Russian officials, or against persons seeking to promote human rights and freedoms. The Act directed the Secretaries of State and Treasury to annually report to Congress on actions taken to implement the Act, including rejecting visa applications, revoking existing visas, and blocking property transactions, for persons the President put on the Magnitsky List.
The United States is a land of opportunity, but it should not be for those who misused and murdered Sergei Magnitsky. Without the original Magnitsky Act, the government officials and businesspeople who perpetrated crimes against a young man, against a major international firm, and against even the Russian people themselves by stealing from them, could have taken their ill-gotten gains and come to this country to purchase property and live the good life that the United States offers.
The hearing examined the need for H.R. 624, ``The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act,'' which extends these human rights and anti-corruption tools to other countries. The House passed the 2012 act by a vote of 365-43, and there is now strong Majority and Minority co-
sponsorship for H.R. 624.
Since the original Magnitsky Act became law on December 14, 2012, human rights victims and advocates from around the world, and anti-
corruption champions, have asked for a Magnitsky Act for their specific country. H.R. 624 ensures--with minimal cost or burden on the United States--that our government gives some justice to victims and stands in solidarity with them in a tangible way, shines a spotlight on perpetrators, making them pariahs, and pressures governments to prosecute perpetrators who are their citizens.
The Global Magnitsky Act is intended to disrupt the impunity and comfort that far too many international human rights violators currently enjoy and to keep their tainted money out of our financial systems. It also fights the human rights abuses and corruption that generate national security, terrorism, and economic threats to the United States.
A few years ago, Teodorin Obiang Mangue son of the President of Equatorial Guinea, visited the United States regularly. Using funds siphoned from American companies operating in his country, he lived a glamorous life in Malibu, California, dating celebrities and collecting expensive cars. When France issued a warrant for his arrest after he refused to appear at a money-laundering hearing, his father provided him with diplomatic immunity to escape prosecution.
In June 2012, after years of trying to track Teodorin's wealth, the U.S. Department of Justice finally filed a lawsuit in a California court alleging massive money-laundering and listing, among the scandalous catalog of assets, his $35 million Malibu mansion, with a four-hole golf course, tennis court and two swimming pools. That's just one of the acquisitions he made in the U.S.
The financial manipulations of young Mr. Obiang's family led in part to the closing of Riggs Bank in Washington, one of the capital's premier financial institutions. Such people should not be able to steal from foreign firms and their own people and use these funds to live lavishly in our country.
Similarly, those who torture and otherwise commit the worst human rights violations against others should not be welcome here either and I have written legislation over the years to enforce that principle. The Ethiopia Freedom, Democracy, and Human Rights Advancement Act of 2006 would have prevented officials who ordered the callous shooting of peaceful demonstrators in Ethiopia from entering this country. The Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2000 and 2001 became law and required the U.S. Government to impose visa bans on any foreign national the Secretary of State has determined is directly involved in establishing or enforcing population control policies that force a woman to undergo abortions against her will or force a man or woman to undergo sterilization against his or her will. The Belarus Democracy Reauthorization Act of 2006 also became law and imposed visa bans and asset freezes on government officials from the Government of Belarus because of their violations of basic human rights and freedoms.
If we stand by quietly when governments refuse to prosecute human rights abusers and financial fraudsters, and then welcome those guilty of such crimes into the United States and into our financial systems, we are enabling their crimes. The 2012 Magnitsky Act was a major step in freeing ourselves from aiding and abetting international perpetrators. H.R. 624 makes the next step in taking a stand against their crimes. If we are serious about rejecting their deeds, perhaps their governments, and other governments, will become more serious as well.
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