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U.S. Representative Dana Rohrabacher argued that naming the legislation after Magnitsky would provoke Moscow unnecessarily and that the circumstances surrounding his death remain in dispute.
U.S. Representative Dana Rohrabacher argued that naming the legislation after Magnitsky would provoke Moscow unnecessarily and that the circumstances surrounding his death remain in dispute.

WASHINGTON -- A U.S. congressional committee has approved legislation targeting human rights abusers worldwide with sanctions modeled after the Magnitsky Act, a U.S. law punishing Russians deemed by Washington to be rights violators with visa bans and asset freezes.

The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee approved the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act at a May 18 hearing that included fireworks over whether to name the bill after a whistle-blowing accountant who accused Russian officials of a massive tax fraud before his death in a Moscow jail.

The legislation is named after Sergei Magnitsky, who died in November 2009 while in custody after alleged beatings, torture, and medical negligence that supporters claim were retribution for implicating tax and law enforcement officials in a $230 million tax scam.

It echoes the Magnitsky Act, which U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law in 2012 and which has infuriated Russia. Moscow says the law constitutes interference in its sovereignty and has enacted its own sanctions against U.S. officials in response.

The Kremlin also responded by banning U.S. citizens from adopting Russian children, a move that rights activists and Western governments decried as a cruel form of blackmail that punishes orphans and disabled children.

'Gratuitous Slap At Russia'

U.S. lawmaker Dana Rohrabacher (Republican-California) argued that naming the legislation after Magnitsky would provoke Moscow unnecessarily and that the circumstances surrounding his death remain in dispute.

"By putting Magnitsky in the title, we are taking a gratuitous slap at Russia, and we are confusing people about the real purpose of this bill," said Rohrabacher, who has advocated for greater U.S. cooperation with Moscow, particularly on counterterrorism efforts.

"The purpose of this bill is not just to attack Russia. We already have legislation doing that, specifically on Magnitsky."

Rohrabacher also launched broadsides against William Browder, a U.S.-born British investor who employed Magnitsky and who led the campaign that resulted in the 2012 law that sanctioned several Russian officials for their alleged involvement in his death.

Rohrabacher portrayed Browder as a rapacious businessman circulating a potentially false narrative about how and why Magnitsky died.

"We need to look into this and ask some serious questions before we just accept what is being handed to us," said Rohrabacher, who added that he supported the bill's goal of sanctioning rights abusers worldwide and only objected to its title.

This sequence of events surrounding Magnitsky's death has been thoroughly documented by Browder and others -- including, in part, by the Kremlin's own human rights council.

Moscow and like-minded allies have recently made Browder and the Magnitsky legislation the target of an international lobbying push.

Several committee members voiced sharp disagreement with Rohrabacher’s proposed amendment, calling Magnitsky a victim of Russian corruption and abuses and defending the inclusion of his name in the legislation as a way to remind Americans about the Kremlin’s human rights record.

"We must put this name on this bill. We must make it clear to Vladimir Putin and his friends in Russia that there are international standards we will adhere to and insist they adhere to," Representative Gerry Connolly (Democrat-Virginia) told the hearing.

Approval of the legislation means it will now be sent to the House of Representatives for a full vote. The U.S. Senate passed its version of the bill in December.

'No Doubts' In Magnitsky Case

Representative David Cicilline (Democrat-Rhode Island) told the hearing that there "are really no doubts about the veracity of the case of Sergei Magnitsky."

"The Russian government has had no shame when it comes to the case of Sergei Magnitsky, the details of which have been pored over, verified by multiple sources, and verified again," Cicilline said. "To allow the Russian government any modicum of influence over this legislation, including its name, would be shameful."

The United States has publicly sanctioned a total of 39 Russians under the Magnitsky Act, which targets individuals linked to Magnitsky's death and other alleged rights violations. Most of those either are tied to the tax fraud that Magnitsky disclosed, or to the prison where he was held.

A Moscow court in 2013 tried Magnitsky posthumously and found him guilty on tax-evasion charges, sparking outcry from Western governments and rights groups. Browder was convicted in absentia on the same charges a well.

Senior Russian officials and Kremlin-controlled media in recent months have sought to discredit both Browder and Magnitsky, portraying them as fraud artists.

This push has coincided with Russian efforts to undermine support for Magnitsky-related sanctions in Brussels and Washington.

Earlier on May 18, The Daily Beast reported that Rohrabacher last month received a letter from a Russian source during a visit to Moscow stating that "there is not a jot of truth in Browder's story, but this is the doctrinal essence of the story known as the 'Magnitsky case' put in as a basis for the U.S. Act."

The report quoted Rohrabacher's spokesman as saying that the letter "came from the Russian government itself," though he declined to provide further details about the source.

Rohrabacher "simply wants to give [the letter] careful consideration," The Daily Beast quoted the spokesman, Ken Grubbs, as saying. "He recognizes that various partisans are impatient for a conclusion, but he wants intellectual honesty to prevail, which requires some patience."

The wave of protests against the proposed Kazakh land reforms began when at least 1,000 people rallied in Atyrau on April 23, and soon spread to other cities. (file photo)
The wave of protests against the proposed Kazakh land reforms began when at least 1,000 people rallied in Atyrau on April 23, and soon spread to other cities. (file photo)

Kazakh authorities have intensified a crackdown on activists ahead of planned nationwide protests on May 21 against controversial new legislation on the privatization of agricultural land.

Courts handed down short jail sentences to several activists in Astana, Almaty, and other cities, while police searched the homes and offices of government opponents, according to activists and authorities.

Hundreds of people have protested in several cities in recent weeks in a rare display of discontent in the oil-rich Central Asian nation, ruled since the Soviet era by authoritarian President Nursultan Nazarbaev.

The protesters oppose new land privatization laws that will allow foreigners to lease state-owned agricultural plots for up to 25 years.

Activists say they fear land auctions would not be transparent, paving the way for corruption. They have said they plan to hold large demonstrations on May 21 despite the crackdown and Nazarbaev’s May 5 order to postpone the implementation of the legislation until 2017.

In the western city of Atyrau, where the first protests took place last month, a court handed down 15-day jail sentences to activists Maks Bokaev and Talgat Ayanov at a hearing that lasted until the early hours of May 18, relatives said.

Tolepkali Ayanov, a defense lawyer who represented his son, Talgat, said the activists were arrested in the morning the day before.

He said that the two men were accused of planning unsanctioned public rallies, and that their social media posts were used as evidence against them.

"Bokaev stated on Facebook … that he will join the rally," Tolepkali Ayanov said. "Talgat Ayanov … said on Facebook that everyone has the right to organize a rally."

Several Activists Detained

Similar charges were brought against several activists in Almaty, where at least five people were sentenced to 15 days in custody in separate trials late on May 17 as well as on May 18.

Almaty city court officials confirmed the sentences but provided no details.

Bakhytzhan Toregozhina, the leader of the nongovernmental organization Ar.Rukh.Khaq (Dignity, Spirit, Truth), was among those jailed in Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city.

Shortly before the hearing, Toregozhina told RFE/RL's Kazakh Service by telephone that she was in a police vehicle, being taken to court along with several other activists. She said the activists were not given access to defense lawyer.

In the city of Oral, activist Zhanat Esentaev was jailed on May 17 and was being kept in three-day pretrial custody, his lawyer said.

Esentaev is being accused of inciting social and religious discord, the lawyer told RFE/RL.

Activists said police searched the homes of Esentaev and another local campaigner, Isatay Utepov, as well as the office of Abyroy, an NGO.

Hearings continued in Oral on May 18, with Bauyrzhan Alipkaliev and Aibolat Bukenov sentenced to 15 days in custody each.

Both men were accused of organizing illegal protests, a charge that stemmed from their recent social-media posts about the planned May 21 protests.

Oral city authorities recently rejected a request by activists for permission to hold a rally against the land-reform legislation on May 21.

In the capital, Astana, meanwhile, activist Maksat Ilyasuly was sentenced to 10 days in custody late on May 17, his wife told RFE/RL.

Ilyasuly had recently quit a commission authorities set up to review the land-reform plans.

The government established the commission and invited some opposition figures to join it after Nazarbaev postponed implementation of the legislation until 2017 – both apparent attempts to appease its opponents and avert further protests.

The wave of protests began when at least 1,000 people rallied in Atyrau on April 23, and soon spread to other cities.

Nazarbaev's government has used a combination of force and restrictive legislation to discourage protests, which have not been frequent in post-Soviet Kazakhstan.

They became rarer after police fatally shot at least 16 people during protests by oil workers and their supporters in the southwestern city of Zhanaozen and the nearby town of Shetpe in December 2011.

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"Watchdog" is a blog with a singular mission -- to monitor the latest developments concerning human rights, civil society, and press freedom. We'll pay particular attention to reports concerning countries in RFE/RL's broadcast region.

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