IV

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. RES. 571

Expressing sympathy to the family and colleagues of Lev Yakovlevich Rokhlin,

and expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the President of the United States should urge the Russian Government to

promptly and thoroughly investigate the circumstances surrounding the

death of Lev Yakovlevich Rokhlin and to provide a full accounting of

the circumstances as soon as practicable, but not later than November

1999.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 2, 1998

Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. PICKETT, Mr. BARTLETT of

Maryland, Mr. WATTS of Oklahoma, Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina, Mr.

THORNBERRY, Ms. GRANGER, Mr. PAPPAS, and Mr. CUNNINGHAM) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on

International Relations

RESOLUTION

Expressing sympathy to the family and colleagues of Lev

Yakovlevich Rokhlin, and expressing the sense of the

House of Representatives that the President of the

United States should urge the Russian Government to

promptly and thoroughly investigate the circumstances

surrounding the death of Lev Yakovlevich Rokhlin and

to provide a full accounting of the circumstances as

soon as practicable, but not later than November 1999.

Whereas Lev Yakovlevich Rokhlin had a distinguished military career that included command of a regime in Af-
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•HRES 571 IH

ghanistan, command of a division that quelled a revolt in

Azerbaijan, and command of the forces that captured a

Presidential palace in Grozny from separatists during the

war in Chechnya in 1995;

Whereas Lev Rokhlin retired from his distinguished military

career as a two-star general;

Whereas Lev Rokhlin was awarded the Hero of Russia Gold

Star for his skill and valor in service in Chechnya;

Whereas Lev Rokhlin refused to accept the Hero of Russia

Gold Star from Pavel Grachev, then Minister of Defense

of Russia, because he believed that Mr. Grachev was corrupt and that the award was unwarranted in the context

of a civil war;

Whereas Lev Rokhlin was elected in 1995 to the Russian

Duma as a member of the ‘‘Russia Is Our Home’’ party,

the second largest party in the Duma;

Whereas Lev Rokhlin assumed the chairmanship of the defense committee of the Duma and was the highest-ranking elected official in the Duma working on defense

issues;

Whereas during his tenure as chairman of the defense committee, Lev Rokhlin was an outspoken critic of President

Boris Yeltsin, stating that Yeltsin was providing inadequate funding for the military and predicting that the

deterioration of the military would lead its members to

become involved in corrupt activity;

Whereas in July 1997, Lev Rokhlin established the Movement in Support of the Army, Defense Industry, and

Military Science to lobby for the welfare of soldiers with

families, for defense preparedness, and for adequate

funding of the defense industry;
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•HRES 571 IH

Whereas in October 1997, Lev Rokhlin advocated the resignation of President Yeltsin;

Whereas Lev Rokhlin was the first elected official of President Yeltsin’s own party to call for Yeltsin’s impeachment;

Whereas attempts were made for 6 months to remove Lev

Rokhlin from his committee chairmanship;

Whereas on May 19, 1998, Lev Rokhlin was stripped of the

chairmanship of the defense committee, but maintained

his position as a member of the Duma;

Whereas Lev Rokhlin became involved in an investigation of

illegal arms sales from Russia to Armenia and other Nations;

Whereas on July 3, 1998, Lev Rokhlin was shot in the head

three times and killed;

Whereas members of Lev Rokhlin’s family have stated that

Rokhlin’s wife, Tamara Pavlovna Rokhlina, was physically abused and was threatened with death unless she

accepted responsibility for Lev Rokhlin’s murder;

Whereas Tamara Rokhlina was arrested for the murder of

Lev Rokhlin and soon after was seen in a physically battered condition by their daughter, Yelena Rokhlina

Abakumova;

Whereas the Interior Ministry issued a public statement that

Tamara Rokhlina had confessed to the murder of Lev

Rokhlin;

Whereas Yelena Abakumova returned to her parents’ home

with a lawyer, examined the physical evidence, and concluded that her mother could not possibly have killed her

father;
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•HRES 571 IH

Whereas Lev Rokhlin’s bodyguard, who was in the home the

night of the murder, claimed that he had heard no gunshots;

Whereas three recently dead bodies were found in the vicinity

of the Rokhlin household within days after the shooting;

Whereas the three bodies were cremated by the Moscow government authorities before they could be identified;

Whereas many Russian citizens continue to challenge the notion that Lev Rokhlin was murdered by his wife, and believe that the murder was ordered by Lev Rokhlin’s political opponents;

Whereas the United States has a significant interest in the

transition of Russia to a stable democratic system;

Whereas a key component of a stable democratic system is

the rule of law and the effectiveness of law enforcement;

and

Whereas any inability of Russia to provide a full accounting

of the circumstances surrounding the death of Lev

Rokhlin would raise serious questions about the existence

of a stable democratic system in Russia: Now, therefore,

be it

1 Resolved, That—

2 (1) the House of Representatives expresses

3 sympathy to the family and colleagues of Lev

4 Yakovlevich Rokhlin; and

5 (2) it is the sense of the House of Representa6 tives that the President of the United States should

7 urge the Russian Government—
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•HRES 571 IH

1 (A) to promptly and thoroughly investigate

2 the circumstances surrounding the death of Lev

3 Yakovlevich Rokhlin; and

4 (B) to provide a full accounting of the cir5 cumstances as soon as practicable, but not later

6 than November 1999.

Æ