H. Res. 1145 

In the House of Representatives, U. S., 

November 18, 2020. 

Whereas Alexei Navalny is a well-known anticorruption activist and leader of the political opposition in Russia; 

Whereas Mr. Navalny garnered 27 percent of the vote in the 

2013 Moscow mayoral election; 

Whereas since that election, Mr. Navalny and his party have 

been repeatedly denied the opportunity to compete in 

elections; 

Whereas Mr. Navalny has been imprisoned multiple times for 

participating in unsanctioned protests; 

Whereas Mr. Navalny was attacked twice with a chemical 

substance in 2017 and potentially poisoned in 2019 while 

in prison; 

Whereas over the years a number of Russian journalists, 

human rights activists, politicians, whistleblowers, and 

others have been killed or died under mysterious circumstances, in Russia and overseas, including— 

(1) former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko (in 

London) and investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya 

in 2006; 

(2) human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov, journalist Anastasia Baburova, whistleblower lawyer Sergei 
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Magnitsky, and human rights activist Natalya 

Estemirova in 2009; and 

(3) opposition politician Boris Nemtsov in 2015; 

Whereas, on August 20, 2020, Mr. Navalny fell ill while on 

a domestic flight in Russia; 

Whereas, on August 22, 2020, Mr. Navalny was evacuated by 

airlift from Omsk, Russia, to Berlin, Germany, for his 

protection and to ensure he would receive a high standard of health care to improve his chances of recovery; 

Whereas German chemical weapons experts conducted tests 

and found ‘‘unequivocal’’ evidence that Mr. Navalny had 

been poisoned with a Soviet-era military-grade chemical 

nerve agent from the Novichok group; 

Whereas specialized laboratories in France and Sweden confirmed that Mr. Navalny was poisoned with a nerve agent 

from the Novichok group; 

Whereas the Government of the Russian Federation has repeatedly denied that Mr. Navalny was poisoned; 

Whereas the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany 

has called on the Government of the Russian Federation 

to open an investigation into Mr. Navalny’s case; 

Whereas the Russian Federation is a party to the Chemical 

Weapons Convention (CWC); 

Whereas, in November 2019, after Russian agents used a 

Novichok-class nerve agent in an attempted assassination 

of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in the United Kingdom in March 2018, CWC parties agreed to add the 

Novichok group of nerve agents to ‘‘Schedule 1’’, a list 

of chemicals classified as chemical warfare agents that 

are subject to declaration requirements and other restrictions; 
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Whereas, on September 4, 2020, NATO strongly condemned 

the attack on Mr. Navalny and called on the Russian 

Federation to cooperate with the Organization for the 

Prohibition of Chemical Weapons on an impartial, international investigation; 

Whereas the G7 foreign ministers issued a statement on September 8, 2020, that called on the Government of the 

Russian Federation ‘‘to urgently and fully establish 

transparency on who is responsible for this abhorrent poisoning attack and, bearing in mind Russia’s commitments under the Chemical Weapons Convention, to bring 

the perpetrators to justice’’; 

Whereas the Russian Federation is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); 

Whereas Article 6 of the ICCPR states that ‘‘Every human 

being has the inherent right to life’’ and ‘‘No one shall 

be arbitrarily deprived of his life’’; 

Whereas Article 9 of the ICCPR states that ‘‘Everyone has 

the right to liberty and security of person.’’; 

Whereas the Russian Federation is a member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE); 

Whereas respect for human rights is key to the OSCE’s comprehensive approach to security and therefore the OSCE 

monitors the human rights situation in its 57 participating states; 

Whereas pressure on Germany to reconsider its support for 

the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from the United States and 

international community, including many European 

Union countries, as well as from leading politicians within Germany, has grown since the attack on Mr. Navalny; 
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Whereas Congress passed the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law 

Accountability Act of 2012 (title IV of Public Law 112– 

208) and the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 114– 

328) in 2016 to provide the United States Government 

with authorities to respond to grave violations of human 

rights and corruption in Russia; and 

Whereas in response to the Novichok-class nerve agent attack 

described in this preamble against United Kingdom national and former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his 

daughter Yulia in 2018, the United States Government 

imposed two rounds of sanctions on Russia pursuant to 

the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (Public Law 102–182; 22 

U.S.C. 5601 et seq.): Now, therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

(1) condemns the apparently purposeful poisoning 

on August 20, 2020, of Russian anticorruption activist 

and opposition leader Alexei Navalny; 

(2) expresses its appreciation for the prompt and 

generous efforts of the Cinema for Peace Foundation 

and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany 

to ensure high-quality health care for Mr. Navalny after 

he was poisoned by facilitating his transfer by airlift 

from Russia to Germany; 

(3) welcomes reports that Mr. Navalny has emerged 

from a medically induced coma and is gradually recovering from the poisoning; 
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(4) hopes for Mr. Navalny’s full and complete recovery so that he may promptly resume his life and 

work; 

(5) urges the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and multilateral human rights monitoring bodies to monitor the case of the August 2020 

poisoning of Alexei Navalny as a probable violation of 

his fundamental human rights and to respond accordingly; 

(6) calls on the Government of the Russian Federation to cooperate with independent, impartial, and thorough investigations by competent authorities and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons of 

the reported poisoning of Alexei Navalny; 

(7) calls on the United States Government to support international or multilateral efforts to ensure an 

independent, impartial, and thorough investigations by 

competent authorities and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons of the reported poisoning 

of Alexei Navalny; 

(8) urges the United States Government, in all its 

interactions with the Government of the Russian Federation, to raise the case of the poisoning of Alexei Navalny 

and underscore the necessity of bringing the organizers 

and perpetrators to justice; 
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(9) calls on the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury to use their authority under the 

Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 

2012 (title IV of Public Law 112–208) and the Global 

Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F 

of title XII of Public Law 114–328) to designate individuals whom they determine upon investigation to have 

been involved in the poisoning of Alexei Navalny as perpetrators, organizers, or masterminds, on the list of specially designated nationals and blocked persons maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the 

Department of the Treasury, freezing their assets and 

making them ineligible to receive United States visas; 

and 

(10) supports the 60-day review period triggered by 

the submission of a letter to the President by the Chair 

and Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee 

of the House of Representatives to investigate whether 

the poisoning of Alexei Navalny constitutes use of a 

chemical weapon by the Government of the Russian Federation in contravention of international law, and if so, 

to impose sanctions pursuant to the Chemical and Bio-
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logical Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 

1991 (Public Law 102–182; 22 U.S.C. 5601 et seq.). 

Attest: 

Clerk.