Title: Calling for accountability and justice for the assassination of Boris Nemtsov.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution condemns Russian President Vladimir Putin and his regime for targeting political opponents and attempting to cover up the assassination of Russian opposition leader and democracy advocate Boris Nemtsov. It also calls on the Department of State to impose sanctions on those involved and to report to Congress on the assassination.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 156 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 156

 Calling for accountability and justice for the assassination of Boris 
                                Nemtsov.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 27, 2019

  Mr. Engel (for himself, Mr. McCaul, Mr. Malinowski, and Ms. Cheney) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                           on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Calling for accountability and justice for the assassination of Boris 
                                Nemtsov.

Whereas Boris Nemtsov was a Russian statesman who, over 25 years of public 
        service, served as a Member of Parliament, Governor of the Nizhny 
        Novgorod Region, and First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia;
Whereas throughout his life, Boris Nemtsov showed an unwavering commitment to 
        the ideals of democracy, freedom, and the rule of law, and to upholding 
        the rights and dignity of Russian citizens;
Whereas Boris Nemtsov was a powerful voice in opposition to the authoritarianism 
        and corruption of Vladimir Putin's government, publicizing its abuses, 
        leading street protests against election fraud and the war on Ukraine, 
        and successfully advocating for international sanctions on human rights 
        violators;
Whereas Boris Nemtsov was co-chairman of a leading opposition party, won 
        election to the Yaroslavl Regional Duma in 2013, and was planning to run 
        for the Russian Parliament in 2016 and challenge Vladimir Putin for the 
        Presidency in 2018;
Whereas, on the evening of February 27, 2015, Boris Nemtsov was shot in the back 
        and killed as he walked across Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge near the 
        Kremlin in Moscow;
Whereas, on March 7 and 8, 2015, Russian authorities arrested five individuals, 
        all of them natives of the Chechen Republic, on suspicion of carrying 
        out the assassination, while a sixth suspect allegedly blew himself up 
        during the attempted arrest;
Whereas the defendants were tried at the Moscow District Military Court, which 
        on June 29, 2017, found them guilty of carrying out the assassination of 
        Boris Nemtsov, and on July 13, 2017, sentenced them to different prison 
        terms;
Whereas at the time of the assassination, the now-convicted gunman, Zaur 
        Dadayev, was serving as a Lieutenant in the Internal Troops of the 
        Interior Ministry of the Russian Federation and as Deputy Battalion 
        Commander in the ``Sever'' (``North'') Regiment stationed in the Chechen 
        Republic, under the command of the Internal Troops Commander, General 
        Viktor Zolotov, and the Kremlin-backed head of the Chechen Republic, 
        Ramzan Kadyrov;
Whereas Ramzan Kadyrov has called Lieutenant Zaur Dadayev a ``true patriot'' and 
        has publicly referred to Boris Nemtsov as an ``enemy of Russia'';
Whereas by Decree No. 115 issued on March 8, 2015, President Vladimir Putin 
        awarded Ramzan Kadyrov the Order of Honor;
Whereas according to reports published in the RosBusinessConsulting (RBC) 
        newspaper on January 20, 2016, General Alexander Bastrykin, chairman of 
        the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, has on two 
        occasions prevented investigators from indicting Major Ruslan Geremeyev, 
        Battalion Commander in the ``Sever'' (``North'') Regiment of the 
        Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian 
        Federation stationed in the Chechen Republic and a close associate of 
        Ramzan Kadyrov, as an organizer in the assassination;
Whereas according to reports published in Novaya Gazeta newspaper on December 9, 
        2016, operatives of the Federal Security Service of the Russian 
        Federation in the Chechen Republic have failed to serve Major Ruslan 
        Geremeyev with a summons for questioning as a witness, reporting to 
        their superiors that on the sole occasion they attempted to do so, 
        ``nobody opened the door'';
Whereas despite requests from the legal team representing Boris Nemtsov's 
        family, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation and the 
        Moscow District Military Court have refused to question high-ranking 
        persons of interest, including Ramzan Kadyrov and General Viktor 
        Zolotov;
Whereas the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation has, to this day, 
        not issued any indictments against the organizers or masterminds of the 
        assassination of Boris Nemtsov, with the exception of Major Ruslan 
        Geremeyev's driver, Ruslan Mukhudinov, who is named alongside ``other 
        unidentified persons'';
Whereas the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation and the Moscow 
        District Military Court have refused to classify the assassination of 
        Boris Nemtsov under Article 277 of the Criminal Code as ``encroachment 
        on the life of a statesman or a public figure,'' choosing instead 
        Article 105 that deals with common domestic murders;
Whereas throughout the proceedings at the Moscow District Military Court, the 
        judge repeatedly disallowed questions relating to political motives 
        behind the assassination;
Whereas the Federal Protective Service of the Russian Federation has refused to 
        release video footage from the security cameras on Bolshoi Moskvoretsky 
        Bridge from the night of the assassination, claiming in a letter to 
        State Duma Member Dmitry Gudkov on November 6, 2015, that the bridge 
        next to the Kremlin is ``not a protected object'';
Whereas, on May 18, 2017, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe 
        appointed Lithuanian Member of Parliament Emanuelis Zingeris as its 
        special rapporteur on the need to shed light on the background of the 
        murder of Boris Nemtsov, with a mandate to review and report on the case 
        and on the progress of the official Russian investigation;
Whereas, on May 24, 2018, the Russian Foreign Ministry informed Emanuelis 
        Zingeris that he is forbidden from entering the Russian Federation;
Whereas, at its 27th annual session held on July 7 through 11, 2018, the 
        Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation 
        in Europe (OSCE) adopted a resolution urging Russian authorities to 
        ``undertake a new, full and thorough investigation into the February 
        2015 assassination of Boris Nemtsov'';
Whereas, on July 8, 2018, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for 
        Security and Cooperation in Europe held a public event to discuss the 
        need for OSCE oversight of the official Russian investigation into the 
        assassination of Boris Nemtsov;
Whereas the United States and the Russian Federation are full members of the 
        Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe;
Whereas the OSCE Moscow Document has established that ``issues relating to human 
        rights, fundamental freedoms, democracy and the rule of law . . . are 
        matters of direct and legitimate concern to all participating States and 
        do not belong exclusively to the internal affairs of the State 
        concerned'';
Whereas, on February 27, 2018, Washington, DC, designated the street in front of 
        the Embassy of the Russian Federation as ``Boris Nemtsov Plaza'' to 
        honor Mr. Nemtsov; and
Whereas, on February 22, 2019, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of 
        the OSCE, George Tsereteli, appointed Swedish Member of Parliament and 
        Vice President of the Assembly Margareta Cederfelt as the rapporteur on 
        the investigation of the assassination of Boris Nemtsov, with a mandate 
        to review and report on the case and on the progress of the official 
        Russian investigation: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns Vladimir Putin and his regime for targeting 
        political opponents and covering up the assassination of Boris 
        Nemtsov, a Russian opposition leader who worked to advance 
        democracy and human rights in Russia;
            (2) urges the United States Government, in all its 
        interactions with the Government of the Russian Federation, to 
        raise the case of the assassination of Boris Nemtsov and 
        underscore the necessity of bringing the organizers and 
        masterminds to justice;
            (3) supports the efforts by the Organization for Security 
        and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and its Parliamentary Assembly 
        to initiate oversight of the official Russian investigation 
        into the assassination of Boris Nemtsov;
            (4) calls on the Government of the Russian Federation to 
        allow an impartial international investigation of the 
        assassination of Boris Nemtsov and to cooperate with the 
        Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE and the Parliamentary 
        Assembly of the Council of Europe in their ongoing inquiries 
        over this case;
            (5) 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 to have been involved 
        in the assassination of Boris Nemtsov 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
            (6) calls on the Secretary of State, in consultation with 
        the Director of National Intelligence, to prepare and submit to 
        Congress a report detailing the circumstances of the February 
        27, 2015, assassination of Boris Nemtsov, including the list of 
        individuals whom they determine to have been involved in the 
        assassination as perpetrators, organizers, or masterminds, and 
        identifying what measures, if any, have been taken by the 
        Government of the Russian Federation to investigate this crime 
        and bring its perpetrators, organizers, and masterminds to 
        justice, and evaluating the effectiveness of such measures.
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