Title: Condemning the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and calling for a robust United States and international response.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution condemns the apparently purposeful poisoning of Russian anti-corruption activist and opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The resolution urges the United States to support efforts to investigate the poisoning of Navalny and to investigate whether the poisoning constitutes use of a chemical weapon by Russia in contravention of international law.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1145 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1145

 Condemning the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny 
   and calling for a robust United States and international response.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 23, 2020

  Mr. McGovern (for himself, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Malinowski, and Mr. 
  Smith of New Jersey) submitted the following resolution; which was 
 referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the 
 Committees on Financial Services, Ways and Means, Transportation and 
     Infrastructure, and Oversight and Reform, 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

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Condemning the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny 
   and calling for a robust United States and international response.

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, 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 Novichok chemical nerve agent;
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 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 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 which provide the United States Government with authorities 
        to respond to grave violations of human rights and corruption in Russia; 
        and
Whereas in response to a previous Novichok attack against a United Kingdom 
        national and his daughter 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;
            (4) hopes for Mr. Navalny's full and complete recovery so 
        that he may promptly resume his life and work;
            (5) urges 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 an independent, impartial, and thorough 
        investigation 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 investigation 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;
            (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 Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 
        1991 (Public Law 102-182; 22 U.S.C. 5601 et seq.).
                                 <all>