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[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4405 Introduced in House (IH)]

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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law 
Accountability Act of 2012''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The United States aspires to a mutually beneficial 
        relationship with the Russian Federation based on respect for 
        human rights and the rule of law, and supports the people of 
        the Russian Federation in their efforts to realize their full 
        economic potential and to advance democracy, human rights, and 
        the rule of law.
            (2) The Russian Federation--
                    (A) is a member of the United Nations, the 
                Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, 
                the Council of Europe, and the International Monetary 
                Fund;
                    (B) has ratified the Convention against Torture and 
                Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or 
                Punishment, the International Covenant on Civil and 
                Political Rights, and the United Nations Convention 
                against Corruption; and
                    (C) is bound by the legal obligations set forth in 
                the European Convention on Human Rights.
            (3) States voluntarily commit themselves to respect 
        obligations and responsibilities through the adoption of 
        international agreements and treaties, which must be observed 
        in good faith in order to maintain the stability of the 
        international order. Human rights are an integral part of 
        international law, and lie at the foundation of the 
        international order. The protection of human rights, therefore, 
        particularly in the case of a country that has incurred 
        obligations to protect human rights under an international 
        agreement to which it is a party, is not left exclusively to 
        the internal affairs of that country.
            (4) Good governance and anti-corruption measures are 
        instrumental in the protection of human rights and in achieving 
        sustainable economic growth, which benefits both the people of 
        the Russian Federation and the international community through 
        the creation of open and transparent markets.
            (5) Systemic corruption erodes trust and confidence in 
        democratic institutions, the rule of law, and human rights 
        protections. This is the case when public officials are allowed 
        to abuse their authority with impunity for political or 
        financial gains in collusion with private entities.
            (6) The Russian nongovernmental organization INDEM has 
        estimated that bribes by individuals and businesses in the 
        Russian Federation amount to hundreds of billions of dollars a 
        year, an increasing share of the country's gross domestic 
        product.
            (7) Sergei Leonidovich Magnitsky died on November 16, 2009, 
        at the age of 37, in Matrosskaya Tishina Prison in Moscow, 
        Russia, and is survived by a mother, a wife, and 2 sons.
            (8) On July 6, 2011, Russian President Dimitry Medvedev's 
        Human Rights Council announced the results of its independent 
        investigation into the death of Sergei Magnitsky. The Human 
        Rights Council concluded that Sergei Magnitsky's arrest and 
        detention was illegal; he was denied access to justice by the 
        courts and prosecutors of the Russian Federation; he was 
        investigated by the same law enforcement officers whom he had 
        accused of stealing Hermitage Fund companies and illegally 
        obtaining a fraudulent $230,000,000 tax refund; he was denied 
        necessary medical care in custody; he was beaten by 8 guards 
        with rubber batons on the last day of his life; and the 
        ambulance crew that was called to treat him as he was dying was 
        deliberately kept outside of his cell for one hour and 18 
        minutes until he was dead. The report of the Human Rights 
        Council also states the officials falsified their accounts of 
        what happened to Sergei Magnitsky and, 18 months after his 
        death, no officials had been brought to trial for his false 
        arrest or the crime he uncovered. The impunity continued in 
        April 2012, when Russian authorities dropped criminal charges 
        against Larisa Litvinova, the head doctor at the prison where 
        Magnitsky died.
            (9) The systematic abuse of Sergei Magnitsky, including his 
        repressive arrest and torture in custody by officers of the 
        Ministry of the Interior of the Russian Federation that Mr. 
        Magnitsky had implicated in the embezzlement of funds from the 
        Russian Treasury and the misappropriation of 3 companies from 
        his client, Hermitage Capital Management, reflects how deeply 
        the protection of human rights is affected by corruption.
            (10) The politically motivated nature of the persecution of 
        Mr. Magnitsky is demonstrated by--
                    (A) the denial by all state bodies of the Russian 
                Federation of any justice or legal remedies to Mr. 
                Magnitsky during the nearly 12 full months he was kept 
                without trial in detention; and
                    (B) the impunity since his death of state officials 
                he testified against for their involvement in 
                corruption and the carrying out of his repressive 
                persecution.
            (11) The Public Oversight Commission of the City of Moscow 
        for the Control of the Observance of Human Rights in Places of 
        Forced Detention, an organization empowered by Russian law to 
        independently monitor prison conditions, concluded on December 
        29, 2009, ``A man who is kept in custody and is being detained 
        is not capable of using all the necessary means to protect 
        either his life or his health. This is a responsibility of a 
        state which holds him captive. Therefore, the case of Sergei 
        Magnitsky can be described as a breach of the right to life. 
        The members of the civic supervisory commission have reached 
        the conclusion that Magnitsky had been experiencing both 
        psychological and physical pressure in custody, and the 
        conditions in some of the wards of Butyrka can be justifiably 
        called torturous. The people responsible for this must be 
        punished.''.
            (12) Sergei Magnitsky's experience, while particularly 
        illustrative of the negative effects of official corruption on 
        the rights of an individual citizen, appears to be emblematic 
        of a broader pattern of disregard for the numerous domestic and 
        international human rights commitments of the Russian 
        Federation and impunity for those who violate basic human 
        rights and freedoms.
            (13) The second trial, verdict, and sentence against former 
        Yukos executives Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev evoke 
        serious concerns about the right to a fair trial and the 
        independence of the judiciary in the Russian Federation. The 
        lack of credible charges, intimidation of witnesses, violations 
        of due process and procedural norms, falsification or 
        withholding of documents, denial of attorney-client privilege, 
        and illegal detention in the Yukos case are highly troubling. 
        The Council of Europe, Freedom House, and Amnesty 
        International, among others, have concluded that they were 
        charged and imprisoned in a process that did not follow the 
        rule of law and was politically influenced. Furthermore, senior 
        officials of the Government of the Russian Federation, 
        including First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, have 
        acknowledged that the arrest and imprisonment of Khodorkovsky 
        were politically motivated.
            (14) According to Freedom House's 2011 report entitled 
        ``The Perpetual Battle: Corruption in the Former Soviet Union 
        and the New EU Members'', ``[t]he highly publicized cases of 
        Sergei Magnitsky, a 37-year-old lawyer who died in pretrial 
        detention in November 2009 after exposing a multimillion-dollar 
        fraud against the Russian taxpayer, and Mikhail Khodorkovsky, 
        the jailed business magnate and regime critic who was sentenced 
        at the end of 2010 to remain in prison through 2017, put an 
        international spotlight on the Russian state's contempt for the 
        rule of law. . . . By silencing influential and accomplished 
        figures such as Khodorkovsky and Magnitsky, the Russian 
        authorities have made it abundantly clear that anyone in Russia 
        can be silenced.''.
            (15) The tragic and unresolved murders of Nustap 
        Abdurakhmanov, Maksharip Aushev, Natalya Estemirova, Akhmed 
        Hadjimagomedov, Umar Israilov, Paul Klebnikov, Anna 
        Politkovskaya, Saihadji Saihadjiev, and Magomed Y. Yevloyev, 
        the death in custody of Vera Trifonova, the disappearances of 
        Mokhmadsalakh Masaev and Said-Saleh Ibragimov, the torture of 
        Ali Israilov and Islam Umarpashaev, the near-fatal beatings of 
        Mikhail Beketov, Oleg Kashin, Arkadiy Lander, and Mikhail 
        Vinyukov, and the harsh and ongoing imprisonment of Mikhail 
        Khodorkovsky, Alexei Kozlov, Platon Lebedev, and Fyodor Mikheev 
        further illustrate the grave danger of exposing the wrongdoing 
        of officials of the Government of the Russian Federation, 
        including Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, or of seeking to 
        obtain, exercise, defend, or promote internationally recognized 
        human rights and freedoms.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Admitted; alien.--The terms ``admitted'' and ``alien'' 
        have the meanings given those terms in section 101 of the 
        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101).
            (2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee 
                on Financial Services, the Committee on Foreign 
                Affairs, the Committee on Homeland Security, and the 
                Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 
                Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee 
                on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the Committee 
                on Foreign Relations, the Committee on Homeland 
                Security and Governmental Affairs, and the Committee on 
                the Judiciary of the Senate.
            (3) Financial institution.--The term ``financial 
        institution'' has the meaning given that term in section 5312 
        of title 31, United States Code.
            (4) United states person.--The term ``United States 
        person'' means--
                    (A) a United States citizen or an alien lawfully 
                admitted for permanent residence to the United States; 
                or
                    (B) an entity organized under the laws of the 
                United States or of any jurisdiction within the United 
                States, including a foreign branch of such an entity.

SEC. 4. IDENTIFICATION OF PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DETENTION, ABUSE, 
              AND DEATH OF SERGEI MAGNITSKY AND OTHER GROSS VIOLATIONS 
              OF HUMAN RIGHTS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the 
Secretary of the Treasury, shall publish in the Federal Register a list 
of each person the Secretary of State has reason to believe--
            (1) is responsible for the detention, abuse, or death of 
        Sergei Magnitsky, participated in efforts to conceal the legal 
        liability for the detention, abuse, or death of Sergei 
        Magnitsky, financially benefited from the detention, abuse, or 
        death of Sergei Magnitsky, or was involved in the criminal 
        conspiracy uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky; or
            (2) is responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture, or 
        other gross violations of internationally recognized human 
        rights committed against individuals seeking--
                    (A) to expose illegal activity carried out by 
                officials of the Government of the Russian Federation; 
                or
                    (B) to obtain, exercise, defend, or promote 
                internationally recognized human rights and freedoms, 
                such as the freedoms of religion, expression, 
                association, and assembly, and the rights to a fair 
                trial and democratic elections; or
            (3) acted as an agent of or on behalf of a person in a 
        matter relating to an activity described in paragraph (1) or 
        (2).
    (b) Updates.--The Secretary of State shall update the list required 
by subsection (a) as new information becomes available.
    (c) Removal From List.--A person shall be removed from the list 
required by subsection (a) if the person demonstrates to the Secretary 
of State that the person did not engage in the activity for which the 
person was added to the list.
    (d) Requests by Chairperson and Ranking Member of Appropriate 
Congressional Committees.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 120 days after receiving a 
        written request from the chairperson and the ranking member of 
        one of the appropriate congressional committees with respect to 
        whether a person meets the criteria for being added to the list 
        required by subsection (a), the Secretary of State shall submit 
        a response to the chairperson and ranking member of the 
        committee which made the request with respect to whether or not 
        the Secretary determines that the person meets those criteria.
            (2) Form.--The Secretary of State may submit a response 
        required by paragraph (1) in classified form if the Secretary 
        determines that it is necessary for the national security 
        interests of the United States to do so.
            (3) Removal.--If the Secretary of State removes from the 
        list required by subsection (a) a person who has been placed on 
        the list at the request of the chairperson and the ranking 
        member of one of the appropriate congressional committees, the 
        Secretary shall provide that chairperson and ranking member 
        with any evidence that contributed to the removal decision. The 
        Secretary may submit such evidence in classified form if the 
        Secretary determines that such is necessary for the national 
        security interests of the United States.
    (e) Nonapplicability of Confidentiality Requirement With Respect to 
Visa Records.--The Secretary of State shall publish the list required 
by subsection (a) without regard to the requirements of section 222(f) 
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1202(f)) with respect 
to confidentiality of records pertaining to the issuance or refusal of 
visas or permits to enter the United States.

SEC. 5. INADMISSIBILITY OF CERTAIN ALIENS.

    (a) Ineligibility for Visas.--An alien is ineligible to receive a 
visa to enter the United States and ineligible to be admitted to the 
United States if the alien is on the list required by section 4(a).
    (b) Current Visas Revoked.--The Secretary of State shall revoke, in 
accordance with section 221(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
(8 U.S.C. 1201(i)), the visa or other documentation of any alien who 
would be ineligible to receive such a visa or documentation under 
subsection (a).
    (c) Waiver for National Security Interests.--The Secretary of State 
may waive the application of subsection (a) or (b) in the case of an 
alien if--
            (1) the Secretary determines that such a waiver--
                    (A) is necessary to permit the United States to 
                comply with the Agreement between the United Nations 
                and the United States of America regarding the 
                Headquarters of the United Nations, signed June 26, 
                1947, and entered into force November 21, 1947; or
                    (B) is in the national security interests of the 
                United States; and
            (2) prior to granting such a waiver, the Secretary provides 
        to the appropriate congressional committees notice of, and a 
        justification for, the waiver.
    (d) Regulatory Authority.--The Secretary of State shall prescribe 
such regulations as are necessary to carry out this section.

SEC. 6. FINANCIAL MEASURES.

    (a) Freezing of Assets.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall, 
pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 
1701 et seq.), freeze and prohibit all transactions in all property and 
interests in property of a person that the Secretary determines has 
engaged in an activity described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of 
section 4(a) if such property and interests in property are in the 
United States, come within the United States, or are or come within the 
possession or control of a United States person.
    (b) Waiver for National Security Interests.--The Secretary of the 
Treasury may waive the application of subsection (a) if the Secretary 
determines that such a waiver is in the national security interests of 
the United States. Prior to granting such a waiver, the Secretary shall 
provide to the appropriate congressional committees notice of, and a 
justification for, the waiver.
    (c) Enforcement.--
            (1) Penalties.--A person that violates, attempts to 
        violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of this 
        section or any regulation, license, or order issued to carry 
        out this section shall be subject to the penalties set forth in 
        subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the International 
        Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same 
        extent as a person that commits an unlawful act described in 
        subsection (a) of such section.
            (2) Requirements for financial institutions.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than 120 days after the 
                date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 
                Treasury shall prescribe regulations to require each 
                financial institution that is a United States person to 
                certify to the Secretary that, to the best of the 
                knowledge of the financial institution, the financial 
                institution has frozen all assets within the possession 
                or control of the financial institution that are 
                required to be frozen pursuant to subsection (a).
                    (B) Penalties.--The penalties provided for in 
                sections 5321(a) and 5322 of title 31, United States 
                Code, shall apply to a financial institution that 
                violates a regulation prescribed under subparagraph (A) 
                in the same manner and to the same extent as such 
                penalties would apply to any person that is otherwise 
                subject to such section 5321(a) or 5322.
    (d) Regulatory Authority.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall 
issue such regulations, licenses, and orders as are necessary to carry 
out this section.

SEC. 7. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

    Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act 
and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of 
the Treasury shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
report on--
            (1) the actions taken to carry out this Act, including--
                    (A) the number of persons added to or removed from 
                the list required by section 4(a) during the year 
                preceding the report, the dates on which such persons 
                have been added or removed, and the reasons for adding 
                or removing them; and
                    (B) if few or no such persons have been added to 
                that list during that year, the reasons for not adding 
                more such persons to the list; and
            (2) efforts by the executive branch to encourage the 
        governments of other countries to impose sanctions that are 
        similar to the sanctions imposed under this Act.

SEC. 8. TERMINATION.

    The provisions of this Act shall terminate on the date that is 10 
years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>
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