Title: Expressing support for the people of Russia, condemning the Kremlin's assault on human rights and the freedom of expression, and calling for Vladimir Putin to immediately release Alexey Navalny.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution recognizes the sacrifices and bravery of the Russian people in their struggle for democracy, rule of law, and respect for human rights while enduring state-sponsored violence and oppression from Russian authorities. It also condemns the continued human rights violations committed by Russian authorities and calls for the immediate release of all political prisoners.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 455 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 455

 Expressing support for the people of Russia, condemning the Kremlin's 
assault on human rights and the freedom of expression, and calling for 
         Vladimir Putin to immediately release Alexey Navalny.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 4, 2021

 Mr. Keating (for himself and Mr. Fitzpatrick) submitted the following 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing support for the people of Russia, condemning the Kremlin's 
assault on human rights and the freedom of expression, and calling for 
         Vladimir Putin to immediately release Alexey Navalny.

Whereas the Russian Federation is a party to the Universal Declaration of Human 
        Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the 
        International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as the 
        principal documents of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in 
        Europe (OSCE);
Whereas the Constitution of the Russian Federation states that the Russian 
        Federation is a ``democratic federal law-bound State with a republican 
        form of government'' in which ``political diversity and the multi-party 
        system shall be recognized'';
Whereas the Constitution of the Russian Federation states that ``fundamental 
        human rights and freedoms are inalienable'', and that everyone shall 
        have the right to ``life'', ``freedom and personal immunity'', 
        ``association'', ``freedom of ideas and speech'', as well as the right 
        to ``assemble peacefully'';
Whereas the Russian Federation has continuously and increasingly violated the 
        fundamental human rights and freedoms enshrined in the Constitution of 
        the Russian Federation as well as international law which it is 
        obligated to uphold;
Whereas Vladimir Putin orchestrated a sham plebiscite in July 2020, in a blatant 
        attempt to maintain power and control until at least 2036, that violated 
        the Constitution of the Russian Federation and OSCE commitments and was 
        widely condemned by international rules-based organizations;
Whereas Vladimir Putin's regime has used the Russian Federation's so-called 
        ``Foreign Agent Law'' to eliminate and destroy the free and independent 
        media space as well as target civil society and dissenting voices in the 
        Russian Federation;
Whereas the Russian Federation has enacted and the Russian Duma is considering 
        expanding a law criminalizing engagement with so-called ``undesirable 
        foreign organizations'', the real purpose of which is to deny Russians 
        their basic rights to freedom of association and expression, which 
        includes the ability to see, receive, and impart information, including 
        across borders;
Whereas Vladimir Putin has enriched himself and his network of associates at the 
        expense of the Russian taxpayer through embezzlement, criminal schemes, 
        and the misuse of western financial systems;
Whereas the Kremlin and its agents have exported corruption and malign influence 
        activities to weaken democratic institutions and foment conflict beyond 
        its borders;
Whereas February 26, 2021, marked the seventh year since the Russian 
        Federation's assault on the sovereign territorial integrity of the 
        Republic of Ukraine by invading and illegally occupying the Donbass and 
        Crimea;
Whereas domestically, the Russian Federation has continued a sustained crackdown 
        on the freedoms of Russian citizens and persecuted over 12,000 political 
        opposition leaders, human rights defenders, civil society activists, and 
        journalists;
Whereas agents of the Russian Federation have repeatedly and consistently 
        utilized political assassinations and poisonings globally to silence 
        dissent and the opposition, and Russian authorities refused or failed to 
        investigate properly these cases;
Whereas February 27, 2021, marked the sixth anniversary of the assassination of 
        Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov;
Whereas the OSCE report on the investigation of the assassination of Boris 
        Nemtsov concluded in February 2020 that ``the main issue for addressing 
        impunity is not the capabilities of Russian law enforcement, but 
        political will'';
Whereas leading Russian opposition figure and anti-corruption activist Alexey 
        Navalny has exposed numerous cases of corruption by Russian politicians 
        and businesses, including most recently Putin's corrupt ownership of a 
        luxurious palace located on the Black Sea;
Whereas Alexey Navalny has continually faced political persecution, harassment, 
        and threats in response to his political activities;
Whereas Alexey Navalny collapsed during an August 2020 flight from Tomsk to 
        Moscow, requiring him to receive medical assistance first in Omsk and 
        then in Germany where doctors assessed that he had been exposed to the 
        Russian-made chemical weapon called Novichok;
Whereas the use of chemical weapons under any circumstances constitutes a 
        reprehensible crime under international law, in particular under the 
        Chemical Weapons Convention;
Whereas the Deputy Chief Physician at Omsk Emergency Hospital No. 1 who treated 
        Alexey Navalny after his poisoning and who was in charge of the 
        department that oversaw Alexey Navalny's care and recovery, died 
        unexpectedly on February 4, 2021;
Whereas the head of trauma and orthopedics department at Omsk Emergency Hospital 
        No. 1, who also treated Navalny, died on March 26, 2021;
Whereas the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, whose 
        technical assistance had been requested by the Government of Germany, 
        confirmed that Alexey Navalny was indeed poisoned by the nerve agent 
        Novichok;
Whereas a joint investigation by Bellingcat and The Insider, in cooperation with 
        Der Spiegel and CNN, reported on the Russian security services' 
        involvement in Russia's chemical weapons program, which targeted Alexey 
        Navalny;
Whereas prominent political activist Vladimir Kara-Murza has been targeted twice 
        by the Kremlin via similar poisonings conducted by the Russian 
        Federation;
Whereas the Office of the Director of National Intelligence assessed in the 2021 
        Annual Threat Assessment Unclassified Report that the Russian Federal 
        Security Service (FSB) organized the assassination of a Chechen 
        separatist in a Berlin park in 2019 and tried to kill Alexey Navalny 
        with a fourth-generation chemical agent;
Whereas following his recovery in Germany, Alexey Navalny returned to the 
        Russian Federation on January 17, 2021, where he was immediately 
        detained for violating his parole from a 2014 conviction that the 
        European Court of Human Rights had determined to be ``arbitrary and 
        manifestly unreasonable'';
Whereas, on February 2, 2021, in hastily convened proceedings that were an 
        affront to due process, Alexey Navalny had his probation revoked and was 
        sentenced to roughly two and a half years in prison for violating his 
        parole while in Germany in a coma recovering from the Kremlin-led 
        assassination attempt;
Whereas surrounding Alexey Navalny's sentencing, hundreds of thousands of 
        Russian citizens across the country braved freezing temperatures to show 
        support for Navalny, constituting the largest protests in decades in 
        which they called President Putin a ``thief'' and demanded Navalny's 
        release;
Whereas during these peaceful demonstrations Russian authorities used harsh 
        physical punishment and repression tactics, and arbitrarily detained 
        over 12,000 peaceful protesters and journalists;
Whereas in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, peaceful protesters have been held in 
        overflowing detention centers, in many cases overnight with little to no 
        access to food, water, proper sanitation, and no COVID-19 precautions;
Whereas following Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's live coverage of Alexey 
        Navalny's return to Russia, his arrest and the subsequent protests, the 
        Putin regime accelerated its crackdown on RFE/RL's Russia operations, 
        levying large fines and court actions against it for refusing to abide 
        by a discriminatory administrative order to prominently label every 
        individual web article, social media post, video and radio broadcast 
        with a ``foreign agent'' label in an attempt to undermine RFE/RL's 
        reputation for independence and intimidate RFE/RL's large audience in 
        Russia;
Whereas Russians, particularly Russian youth, have used social media to debunk 
        state-sponsored disinformation and encourage peaceful demonstrations, 
        leading to a renewed crackdown against social media by Russian 
        authorities;
Whereas Russia expelled diplomats from Poland, Germany, and Sweden on February 
        8, 2021, after they observed pro-Navalny protests;
Whereas the European Parliament issued a Joint Motion for a Resolution on 
        January 20, 2021, calling for the immediate release of Alexey Navalny 
        and all other individuals detained in relation to his return to Russia 
        and condemning Russian authorities' use of chemical nerve agents against 
        its own citizens and continued attacks on dissidents and civil society 
        through attempts to silence any opposition;
Whereas the January 20, 2021, European Parliament resolution also calls on the 
        EU and its Member States to expand sanctions against Russia and ``to 
        critically review cooperation with Russia in various foreign policy 
        platforms and on projects such as Nord Stream 2, the completion of which 
        the EU must stop immediately'', following Navalny's wrongful 
        imprisonment;
Whereas the European Court of Human Rights has on February 16, 2021, called for 
        the ``immediate'' release of Alexey Navalny by the Russian authorities 
        under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court;
Whereas the Biden administration imposed costs for harmful foreign activities by 
        the Government of the Russian Federation, including imposing additional 
        sanctions on entities supporting Russian malign influence activities, 
        expelling Russian diplomats, and formally attributing the Russian 
        Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) as the perpetrator of the SolarWinds 
        cyber attack;
Whereas Amnesty International on February 10, 2021, issued a joint letter with 
        84 other human rights organizations from around the world calling on the 
        United Nations Human Rights Council to respond to the human rights 
        abuses being committed by authorities in Russia and the recent crackdown 
        on dissent and voices of independent civil society in the Russian 
        Federation that violates citizens' rights to freedoms of expression, 
        association, and assembly;
Whereas, on March 13, 2021, the Kremlin security services entered a Congress of 
        elected municipal deputies and arrested nearly 200 people for the crime 
        of not adhering to the Kremlin's command of how to interact with local 
        constituents;
Whereas some of those charged include elected leaders such as Ilya Yashin and 
        Yulia Galyamina, pro-democracy reformers Andrey Pivovarov and Anastasia 
        Burakova, and well-known politician Vladimir Kara-Murza;
Whereas Mr. Navalny's press secretary, Kira Yarmysh, and activist Lyubov Sobol, 
        have continually faced political persecution for their actions in 
        support of Alexey Navalny and the democratic movement in Russia;
Whereas Alexey Navalny began a twenty-four day hunger strike on March 31, 2021, 
        in an attempt to receive appropriate medical attention, which he ended 
        after he was transferred to a prison hospital due to his deteriorating 
        health condition;
Whereas, on April 16, 2021, the Kremlin designated Alexey Navalny's Anti-
        Corruption Foundation and his regional political headquarters as 
        ``extremist groups'', effectively liquidating the organization in Russia 
        and, following this designation, legislation has been introduced that 
        would prohibit any person who has ever worked, volunteered, or donated 
        to ``extremist'' organizations from running in elections for several 
        years;
Whereas, on September 19, 2021, the Russian Federation will hold its 
        parliamentary elections, ahead of which the Kremlin has introduced 
        policies that might prohibit opposition leaders from participating in 
        the election;
Whereas, on April 24, 2021, Alexey Navalny's doctors published an open letter 
        with detailed analysis of his condition, concluding that there is a 
        grave danger to his health and that he is not receiving adequate 
        treatment and should be allowed to receive independent medical 
        inspection;
Whereas more than 200 world-renowned writers, historians, artists, as well as 
        Russian philanthropy leaders, economists, and medical professionals have 
        written open letters calling on Vladimir Putin to ensure Alexey 
        Navalny's access to proper medical treatment;
Whereas, on April 23, 2021, the independent media outlet Meduza, which has been 
        providing detailed coverage of Alexey Navalny's investigations, 
        activism, persecution, and protests in his support, and which published 
        the open letter of over 70 Russian charity leaders and philanthropists 
        demanding Alexey Navalny be granted access to qualified medical care, 
        was designated by the Government of the Russian Federation as a 
        ``foreign agent media'', in a clear attempt to undermine its ability to 
        retain and engage with its readers and supporters and to limit the 
        Russian citizens' access to objective journalism;
Whereas bipartisan members of the United States House of Representatives and 
        Senate have condemned the blatant poisoning of Alexey Navalny by Russian 
        authorities;
Whereas the Chair and Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee 
        transmitted letters to the executive branch triggering a mandatory 
        investigation into Russia's use of chemical weapons in the poisoning of 
        Alexey Navalny, as required under the Chemical and Biological Weapons 
        Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991; and
Whereas the United States and its allies and partners must stand together with 
        the Russian people and condemn the Russian government's human rights 
        abuses: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) recognizes the sacrifices and bravery of the Russian 
        people in their struggle for democracy, rule of law, and 
        respect for human rights while enduring state-sponsored 
        violence and oppression from Russian authorities;
            (2) remembers the numerous Soviet and Russian dissidents 
        who have been persecuted and repressed by the authorities;
            (3) condemns the continued human rights violations 
        committed by Russian authorities against peaceful 
        demonstrators, civil society activists, opposition leaders, 
        students, educators, medical personnel, and journalists, among 
        others, and calls for such authorities to halt any further acts 
        of violence against its own citizens;
            (4) calls on Russian authorities to remove legal 
        restrictions to Russians' basic rights to freedom of 
        association and expression;
            (5) finds the continued detention of Alexey Navalny to be 
        baseless and a violation of his fundamental due process rights 
        as protected under the Russian Constitution and calls for his 
        immediate release;
            (6) calls for the immediate release of all political 
        prisoners, including those detained in connection with the 
        peaceful demonstrations in response to the detention of Alexey 
        Navalny;
            (7) 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 Alexey Navalny and 
        Vladimir Kara-Murza, 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;
            (8) urges the United States Government to continue to raise 
        the case and call for the release of Alexey Navalny, and all 
        other political prisoners, in all of its interactions with the 
        Government of the Russian Federation;
            (9) urges the Russian Federation to immediately halt all 
        production of banned chemical weapons and allow for independent 
        verification by the Organization for the Prohibition of 
        Chemical Weapons;
            (10) calls for increased coordination among the United 
        States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, and 
        other allies and partners to increase the cost for the Russian 
        Federation's continued human rights violations; and
            (11) continues to support the aspirations of the people of 
        the Russian Federation for a democratic future based on human 
        rights, transparency, and the rule of law.
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