I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4405 

To impose sanctions on persons responsible for the detention, abuse, or 

death of Sergei Magnitsky, and for other gross violations of human 

rights in the Russian Federation, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 19, 2012 

Mr. MCGOVERN (for himself, Mr. WOLF, Mr. LEVIN, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. 

HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. 

TOWNS, Mr. ROSKAM, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. PITTS, Mr. RANGEL, and Mr. 

TURNER of Ohio) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the 

Judiciary and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To impose sanctions on persons responsible for the detention, 

abuse, or death of Sergei Magnitsky, and for other gross 

violations of human rights in the Russian Federation, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sergei Magnitsky Rule 

5 of Law Accountability Act of 2012’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) The United States aspires to a mutually 

4 beneficial relationship with the Russian Federation 

5 based on respect for human rights and the rule of 

6 law, and supports the people of the Russian Federa7 tion in their efforts to realize their full economic po8 tential and to advance democracy, human rights, 

9 and the rule of law. 

10 (2) The Russian Federation— 

11 (A) is a member of the United Nations, 

12 the Organization for Security and Co-operation 

13 in Europe, the Council of Europe, and the 

14 International Monetary Fund; 

15 (B) has ratified the Convention against 

16 Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrad17 ing Treatment or Punishment, the International 

18 Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the 

19 United Nations Convention against Corruption; 

20 and 

21 (C) is bound by the legal obligations set 

22 forth in the European Convention on Human 

23 Rights. 

24 (3) States voluntarily commit themselves to re25 spect obligations and responsibilities through the 

26 adoption of international agreements and treaties, 


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1 which must be observed in good faith in order to 

2 maintain the stability of the international order. 

3 Human rights are an integral part of international 

4 law, and lie at the foundation of the international 

5 order. The protection of human rights, therefore, 

6 particularly in the case of a country that has in7 curred obligations to protect human rights under an 

8 international agreement to which it is a party, is not 

9 left exclusively to the internal affairs of that coun10 try. 

11 (4) Good governance and anti-corruption meas12 ures are instrumental in the protection of human 

13 rights and in achieving sustainable economic growth, 

14 which benefits both the people of the Russian Fed15 eration and the international community through the 

16 creation of open and transparent markets. 

17 (5) Systemic corruption erodes trust and con18 fidence in democratic institutions, the rule of law, 

19 and human rights protections. This is the case when 

20 public officials are allowed to abuse their authority 

21 with impunity for political or financial gains in collu22 sion with private entities. 

23 (6) The Russian nongovernmental organization 

24 INDEM has estimated that bribes by individuals 

25 and businesses in the Russian Federation amount to 


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1 hundreds of billions of dollars a year, an increasing 

2 share of the country’s gross domestic product. 

3 (7) Sergei Leonidovich Magnitsky died on No4 vember 16, 2009, at the age of 37, in Matrosskaya 

5 Tishina Prison in Moscow, Russia, and is survived 

6 by a mother, a wife, and 2 sons. 

7 (8) On July 6, 2011, Russian President 

8 Dimitry Medvedev’s Human Rights Council an9 nounced the results of its independent investigation 

10 into the death of Sergei Magnitsky. The Human 

11 Rights Council concluded that Sergei Magnitsky’s 

12 arrest and detention was illegal; he was denied ac13 cess to justice by the courts and prosecutors of the 

14 Russian Federation; he was investigated by the same 

15 law enforcement officers whom he had accused of 

16 stealing Hermitage Fund companies and illegally ob17 taining a fraudulent $230,000,000 tax refund; he 

18 was denied necessary medical care in custody; he 

19 was beaten by 8 guards with rubber batons on the 

20 last day of his life; and the ambulance crew that was 

21 called to treat him as he was dying was deliberately 

22 kept outside of his cell for one hour and 18 minutes 

23 until he was dead. The report of the Human Rights 

24 Council also states the officials falsified their ac25 counts of what happened to Sergei Magnitsky and, 


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1 18 months after his death, no officials had been 

2 brought to trial for his false arrest or the crime he 

3 uncovered. The impunity continued in April 2012, 

4 when Russian authorities dropped criminal charges 

5 against Larisa Litvinova, the head doctor at the 

6 prison where Magnitsky died. 

7 (9) The systematic abuse of Sergei Magnitsky, 

8 including his repressive arrest and torture in custody 

9 by officers of the Ministry of the Interior of the Rus10 sian Federation that Mr. Magnitsky had implicated 

11 in the embezzlement of funds from the Russian 

12 Treasury and the misappropriation of 3 companies 

13 from his client, Hermitage Capital Management, re14 flects how deeply the protection of human rights is 

15 affected by corruption. 

16 (10) The politically motivated nature of the per17 secution of Mr. Magnitsky is demonstrated by— 

18 (A) the denial by all state bodies of the 

19 Russian Federation of any justice or legal rem20 edies to Mr. Magnitsky during the nearly 12 

21 full months he was kept without trial in deten22 tion; and 

23 (B) the impunity since his death of state 

24 officials he testified against for their involveVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:23 Apr 23, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4405.IH H4405

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1 ment in corruption and the carrying out of his 

2 repressive persecution. 

3 (11) The Public Oversight Commission of the 

4 City of Moscow for the Control of the Observance of 

5 Human Rights in Places of Forced Detention, an or6 ganization empowered by Russian law to independ7 ently monitor prison conditions, concluded on De8 cember 29, 2009, ‘‘A man who is kept in custody 

9 and is being detained is not capable of using all the 

10 necessary means to protect either his life or his 

11 health. This is a responsibility of a state which holds 

12 him captive. Therefore, the case of Sergei Magnitsky 

13 can be described as a breach of the right to life. The 

14 members of the civic supervisory commission have 

15 reached the conclusion that Magnitsky had been ex16 periencing both psychological and physical pressure 

17 in custody, and the conditions in some of the wards 

18 of Butyrka can be justifiably called torturous. The 

19 people responsible for this must be punished.’’. 

20 (12) Sergei Magnitsky’s experience, while par21 ticularly illustrative of the negative effects of official 

22 corruption on the rights of an individual citizen, ap23 pears to be emblematic of a broader pattern of dis24 regard for the numerous domestic and international 

25 human rights commitments of the Russian FederaVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:23 Apr 23, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4405.IH H4405

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1 tion and impunity for those who violate basic human 

2 rights and freedoms. 

3 (13) The second trial, verdict, and sentence 

4 against former Yukos executives Mikhail 

5 Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev evoke serious 

6 concerns about the right to a fair trial and the inde7 pendence of the judiciary in the Russian Federation. 

8 The lack of credible charges, intimidation of wit9 nesses, violations of due process and procedural 

10 norms, falsification or withholding of documents, de11 nial of attorney-client privilege, and illegal detention 

12 in the Yukos case are highly troubling. The Council 

13 of Europe, Freedom House, and Amnesty Inter14 national, among others, have concluded that they 

15 were charged and imprisoned in a process that did 

16 not follow the rule of law and was politically influ17 enced. Furthermore, senior officials of the Govern18 ment of the Russian Federation, including First 

19 Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, have acknowl20 edged that the arrest and imprisonment of 

21 Khodorkovsky were politically motivated. 

22 (14) According to Freedom House’s 2011 re23 port entitled ‘‘The Perpetual Battle: Corruption in 

24 the Former Soviet Union and the New EU Mem25 bers’’, ‘‘[t]he highly publicized cases of Sergei 


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1 Magnitsky, a 37-year-old lawyer who died in pretrial 

2 detention in November 2009 after exposing a multi3 million-dollar fraud against the Russian taxpayer, 

4 and Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the jailed business mag5 nate and regime critic who was sentenced at the end 

6 of 2010 to remain in prison through 2017, put an 

7 international spotlight on the Russian state’s con8 tempt for the rule of law. . . . By silencing influen9 tial and accomplished figures such as Khodorkovsky 

10 and Magnitsky, the Russian authorities have made 

11 it abundantly clear that anyone in Russia can be si12 lenced.’’. 

13 (15) The tragic and unresolved murders of 

14 Nustap Abdurakhmanov, Maksharip Aushev, 

15 Natalya Estemirova, Akhmed Hadjimagomedov, 

16 Umar Israilov, Paul Klebnikov, Anna Politkovskaya, 

17 Saihadji Saihadjiev, and Magomed Y. Yevloyev, the 

18 death in custody of Vera Trifonova, the disappear19 ances of Mokhmadsalakh Masaev and Said-Saleh 

20 Ibragimov, the torture of Ali Israilov and Islam 

21 Umarpashaev, the near-fatal beatings of Mikhail 

22 Beketov, Oleg Kashin, Arkadiy Lander, and Mikhail 

23 Vinyukov, and the harsh and ongoing imprisonment 

24 of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Alexei Kozlov, Platon 

25 Lebedev, and Fyodor Mikheev further illustrate the 


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1 grave danger of exposing the wrongdoing of officials 

2 of the Government of the Russian Federation, in3 cluding Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, or of seek4 ing to obtain, exercise, defend, or promote inter5 nationally recognized human rights and freedoms. 

6 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ADMITTED; ALIEN.—The terms ‘‘admitted’’ 

9 and ‘‘alien’’ have the meanings given those terms in 

10 section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

11 (8 U.S.C. 1101). 

12 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT13 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com14 mittees’’ means— 

15 (A) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

16 Committee on Financial Services, the Com17 mittee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on 

18 Homeland Security, and the Committee on the 

19 Judiciary of the House of Representatives; and 

20 (B) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

21 Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 

22 Affairs, the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

23 the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov24 ernmental Affairs, and the Committee on the 

25 Judiciary of the Senate. 


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1 (3) FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘fi2 nancial institution’’ has the meaning given that term 

3 in section 5312 of title 31, United States Code. 

4 (4) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

5 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 

6 (A) a United States citizen or an alien law7 fully admitted for permanent residence to the 

8 United States; or 

9 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 

10 the United States or of any jurisdiction within 

11 the United States, including a foreign branch of 

12 such an entity. 

13 SEC. 4. IDENTIFICATION OF PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR 

14 THE DETENTION, ABUSE, AND DEATH OF 

15 SERGEI MAGNITSKY AND OTHER GROSS VIO16 LATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days after the 

18 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 

19 in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall 

20 publish in the Federal Register a list of each person the 

21 Secretary of State has reason to believe— 

22 (1) is responsible for the detention, abuse, or 

23 death of Sergei Magnitsky, participated in efforts to 

24 conceal the legal liability for the detention, abuse, or 

25 death of Sergei Magnitsky, financially benefited 


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1 from the detention, abuse, or death of Sergei 

2 Magnitsky, or was involved in the criminal con3 spiracy uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky; or 

4 (2) is responsible for extrajudicial killings, tor5 ture, or other gross violations of internationally rec6 ognized human rights committed against individuals 

7 seeking— 

8 (A) to expose illegal activity carried out by 

9 officials of the Government of the Russian Fed10 eration; or 

11 (B) to obtain, exercise, defend, or promote 

12 internationally recognized human rights and 

13 freedoms, such as the freedoms of religion, ex14 pression, association, and assembly, and the 

15 rights to a fair trial and democratic elections; 

16 or 

17 (3) acted as an agent of or on behalf of a per18 son in a matter relating to an activity described in 

19 paragraph (1) or (2). 

20 (b) UPDATES.—The Secretary of State shall update 

21 the list required by subsection (a) as new information be22 comes available. 

23 (c) REMOVAL FROM LIST.—A person shall be re24 moved from the list required by subsection (a) if the per25 son demonstrates to the Secretary of State that the person 


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1 did not engage in the activity for which the person was 

2 added to the list. 

3 (d) REQUESTS BY CHAIRPERSON AND RANKING

4 MEMBER OF APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT5 TEES.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days 

7 after receiving a written request from the chair8 person and the ranking member of one of the appro9 priate congressional committees with respect to 

10 whether a person meets the criteria for being added 

11 to the list required by subsection (a), the Secretary 

12 of State shall submit a response to the chairperson 

13 and ranking member of the committee which made 

14 the request with respect to whether or not the Sec15 retary determines that the person meets those cri16 teria. 

17 (2) FORM.—The Secretary of State may submit 

18 a response required by paragraph (1) in classified 

19 form if the Secretary determines that it is necessary 

20 for the national security interests of the United 

21 States to do so. 

22 (3) REMOVAL.—If the Secretary of State re23 moves from the list required by subsection (a) a per24 son who has been placed on the list at the request 

25 of the chairperson and the ranking member of one 


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1 of the appropriate congressional committees, the 

2 Secretary shall provide that chairperson and ranking 

3 member with any evidence that contributed to the 

4 removal decision. The Secretary may submit such 

5 evidence in classified form if the Secretary deter6 mines that such is necessary for the national secu7 rity interests of the United States. 

8 (e) NONAPPLICABILITY OF CONFIDENTIALITY RE9 QUIREMENT WITH RESPECT TO VISA RECORDS.—The 

10 Secretary of State shall publish the list required by sub11 section (a) without regard to the requirements of section 

12 222(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

13 1202(f)) with respect to confidentiality of records per14 taining to the issuance or refusal of visas or permits to 

15 enter the United States. 

16 SEC. 5. INADMISSIBILITY OF CERTAIN ALIENS. 

17 (a) INELIGIBILITY FOR VISAS.—An alien is ineligible 

18 to receive a visa to enter the United States and ineligible 

19 to be admitted to the United States if the alien is on the 

20 list required by section 4(a). 

21 (b) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.—The Secretary of 

22 State shall revoke, in accordance with section 221(i) of 

23 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)), 

24 the visa or other documentation of any alien who would 


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1 be ineligible to receive such a visa or documentation under 

2 subsection (a). 

3 (c) WAIVER FOR NATIONAL SECURITY INTERESTS.— 

4 The Secretary of State may waive the application of sub5 section (a) or (b) in the case of an alien if— 

6 (1) the Secretary determines that such a waiv7 er— 

8 (A) is necessary to permit the United 

9 States to comply with the Agreement between 

10 the United Nations and the United States of 

11 America regarding the Headquarters of the 

12 United Nations, signed June 26, 1947, and en13 tered into force November 21, 1947; or 

14 (B) is in the national security interests of 

15 the United States; and 

16 (2) prior to granting such a waiver, the Sec17 retary provides to the appropriate congressional 

18 committees notice of, and a justification for, the 

19 waiver. 

20 (d) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of 

21 State shall prescribe such regulations as are necessary to 

22 carry out this section. 

23 SEC. 6. FINANCIAL MEASURES. 

24 (a) FREEZING OF ASSETS.—The Secretary of the 

25 Treasury shall, pursuant to the International Emergency 


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1 Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), freeze and 

2 prohibit all transactions in all property and interests in 

3 property of a person that the Secretary determines has 

4 engaged in an activity described in paragraph (1), (2), or 

5 (3) of section 4(a) if such property and interests in prop6 erty are in the United States, come within the United 

7 States, or are or come within the possession or control 

8 of a United States person. 

9 (b) WAIVER FOR NATIONAL SECURITY INTERESTS.— 

10 The Secretary of the Treasury may waive the application 

11 of subsection (a) if the Secretary determines that such a 

12 waiver is in the national security interests of the United 

13 States. Prior to granting such a waiver, the Secretary 

14 shall provide to the appropriate congressional committees 

15 notice of, and a justification for, the waiver. 

16 (c) ENFORCEMENT.— 

17 (1) PENALTIES.—A person that violates, at18 tempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a 

19 violation of this section or any regulation, license, or 

20 order issued to carry out this section shall be subject 

21 to the penalties set forth in subsections (b) and (c) 

22 of section 206 of the International Emergency Eco23 nomic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same ex24 tent as a person that commits an unlawful act de25 scribed in subsection (a) of such section. 


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1 (2) REQUIREMENTS FOR FINANCIAL INSTITU2 TIONS.— 

3 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 

4 days after the date of the enactment of this 

5 Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall pre6 scribe regulations to require each financial in7 stitution that is a United States person to cer8 tify to the Secretary that, to the best of the 

9 knowledge of the financial institution, the finan10 cial institution has frozen all assets within the 

11 possession or control of the financial institution 

12 that are required to be frozen pursuant to sub13 section (a). 

14 (B) PENALTIES.—The penalties provided 

15 for in sections 5321(a) and 5322 of title 31, 

16 United States Code, shall apply to a financial 

17 institution that violates a regulation prescribed 

18 under subparagraph (A) in the same manner 

19 and to the same extent as such penalties would 

20 apply to any person that is otherwise subject to 

21 such section 5321(a) or 5322. 

22 (d) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of the 

23 Treasury shall issue such regulations, licenses, and orders 

24 as are necessary to carry out this section. 


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1 SEC. 7. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

2 Not later than one year after the date of the enact3 ment of this Act and annually thereafter, the Secretary 

4 of State and the Secretary of the Treasury shall submit 

5 to the appropriate congressional committees a report on— 

6 (1) the actions taken to carry out this Act, in7 cluding— 

8 (A) the number of persons added to or re9 moved from the list required by section 4(a) 

10 during the year preceding the report, the dates 

11 on which such persons have been added or re12 moved, and the reasons for adding or removing 

13 them; and 

14 (B) if few or no such persons have been 

15 added to that list during that year, the reasons 

16 for not adding more such persons to the list; 

17 and 

18 (2) efforts by the executive branch to encourage 

19 the governments of other countries to impose sanc20 tions that are similar to the sanctions imposed under 

21 this Act. 

22 SEC. 8. TERMINATION. 

23 The provisions of this Act shall terminate on the date 

24 that is 10 years after the date of the enactment of this 

25 Act. 

Æ 


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