Russian Human Rights

Floor Speech

Mr. WICKER. Mr. President, I expect to be joined in a moment by my colleague and good friend, Senator Cardin, and he and I and perhaps others will be talking about the deteriorating situation in Russia with regard to human rights and the rule of law.

I came to the floor in November to speak about the deteriorating situation. I spoke about the wrongful imprisonment and tragic death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.

Mr. President, let me state that at this point I will be happy to yield to my colleague from Maryland to actually kick off this discussion. I think that was the agreed-upon order, and staff believed I would have a few moments. But I would be glad to defer to my friend.

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Mr. WICKER. I thank my colleague from Maryland. And yes, indeed, there are other cases of human rights violations, not the least of which I have highlighted time and again on this Senate floor--being the cases of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev. Each is an appalling story such as the one Senator Cardin pointed out with regard to Mr. Magnitsky, a story about the corruption within the Russian Government itself. My colleagues and I will continue to speak out about these cases in the hope that attention will inspire change.

I look forward to the day when the focus of a floor statement can be about the progress we have made with Russia. This is something to which my colleague and I dearly look forward. We look forward to the day when Russia begins to uphold democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.

Unfortunately, today is not the day. In recent months, an overwhelming number of headlines out of Russia focus on the Russian spring. Opposition groups, citizens, and, in many cases, the mainstream media have reacted to moves by the Russian regime they view as no longer acceptable.

On September 24 of last year, President Medvedev struck a deal that would clear the way for his predecessor, Vladimir Putin, to run next month for a third Presidential term. As the Wall Street Journal noted in an opinion piece last December:

Even the most thick-skinned citizens saw that turning the Presidency into the object of a private swap made a mockery of the Constitution.

Russia's fraudulent parliamentary elections in December further deepened the political crisis and affirmed the erosion of democracy. Secretary Clinton--our Secretary of State--called them neither free nor fair. So this is a bipartisan denunciation of the process.

Observers have claimed that 12 to 15 percent of the votes were falsified in favor of the United Russia Party. According to most analysts, improvement is not expected in the upcoming Presidential election this March.

But these corrupt actions have not been ignored. On December 10, more than 60,000 Russians took to the streets of Moscow in protest. Similarly, on February 4, some 120,000 citizens from across the political spectrum braved below-zero weather during a prodemocracy march in central Moscow. Their demands were clear: Release political prisoners such as Khodorkovsky and Lebedev. Allow opposition parties to register. Hold free and fair elections. And pledge not to give a single vote to Putin on March 4. Similar rallies were held in small towns across Russia.

We can be glad for the call for reform and we are glad it is growing louder. According to a February poll by Russia's independent Levada Center, 43 percent of Russians now support prodemocracy protests. Additional protests are already scheduled for later this month.

Specifically let me once again underscore the horrific facts about Sergei Magnitsky, because they need to be heard, and perhaps some of our colleagues were not listening the first time.

In the midst of this public outcry and demand for democratic process, the news out of Russia with regard to Mr. Magnitsky is almost unbelievable. Last week, it was revealed that the police in Russia plan to retry the tax evasion case of the late Sergei Magnitsky. As many of my colleagues are aware, Mr. Magnitsky is already dead. He died in Russian detention more than 2 years ago. He was a lawyer and a partner in an American-owned law firm based in Moscow. He was married, with two children, as my friend has said. His clients included the Hermitage Fund, which is the largest foreign portfolio investor in Russia.

Through his investigative work on behalf of Hermitage, Mr. Magnitsky discovered that Russian Interior Ministry officers, tax officials, and organized criminals worked together to steal $230 million in public funds, orchestrating the largest tax rebate fraud in the history of the Russian Republic.

In 2008, Mr. Magnitsky voluntarily gave sworn testimony against officials from the Interior Ministry Russian tax department and the private criminals whom he found had perpetrated the fraud. A month later, an arrest was made--and the person arrested was Mr. Magnitsky himself. He was placed in pretrial detention and held without trial for 12 months.

While in custody, he was pressured and tortured by Russian officials, hoping he would withdraw his testimony and falsely incriminate himself and his client. But he refused to do so, and his condition worsened and his health worsened. He spent months without medical care. Requests for medical examination and surgery were denied by Russian government officials.

On November 13, 2009, Mr. Magnitsky's condition deteriorated dramatically. Doctors saw him on November 16, when he was transferred to a Moscow detention center that actually had medical facilities. Yet, instead of being treated at those facilities immediately, he was placed in an isolation cell, handcuffed, and beaten until he died.

In the months following his death, Russian officials repeatedly denied facts concerning his health condition. The Russian state investigative committee claimed that Magnitsky was not pressured or tortured, but died naturally of heart disease, and his death was nobody's fault. This is from the Russian Government.

Since Mr. Magnitsky's death, two subsequent reviews have helped clarify some of the facts. In late December of 2009, the Moscow Public Oversight Commission, an independent watchdog mandated under Russian law to monitor human rights, issued its conclusions on this case. This independent Russian oversight commission stated that in detention, Magnitsky had been subjected to torture, physical and psychological pressure; that he was denied medical care; and that his right to life had been violated by the Russian state.

The conclusions were sent to the Russian General Prosecutor's Office, the Russian State Investigative Committee, the Russian Ministry of Justice, and the Presidential Commission. None of these agencies has responded to the report's conclusions.

More recently, a second finding was issued by the Russian President's Human Rights Council. It issued its independent expert findings on the case. The report found that Magnitsky was arrested on trumped-up charges--yet, they are being brought forward again after his unfortunate death--in breach of Russian law and in breach of the European human rights convention, that his prosecution was unlawful, that he was systemically denied medical care, that he was beaten in custody which was the proximate cause of his death, that his medical records were falsified, and that there is an ongoing coverup and resistance by all government bodies to investigate.

Senator Cardin and I and Senator McCain and others have no choice but to continue coming to this floor, to continue using every forum we can possibly use to bring these facts to light.

I have taken quite a bit of our time with my prepared statement, so I yield back to my friend from Maryland as to any other thoughts he might have. I want to commend his leadership with regard to the legislation.

Do I understand now that we have some 30 cosponsors?

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Mr. WICKER. Mr. President, we were honored to have Senator Shaheen join us. I know there are others who would like to be here today.

We are here to tell the sordid facts of this case. But we are also here because change can occur. If this were completely hopeless, what would be the point of this exercise? Change occurred in Eastern Europe. I must admit there was a time in my younger days when I doubted it would ever occur. My hat is off to the intrepid members of the Public Oversight Commission who had the courage to issue a report critical of their government to the Russian President's Human Rights Council. So voices are being heard. There is a thread of truth coming from the almost Iron Curtain of authoritarianism that we have reverted to in Russia.

The Senator from New Hampshire mentioned other organizations in Russia. I am glad she has had those letters printed in the Record.

I also point out I have to applaud the international reaction. In December, the European Parliament passed a resolution recommending an EU-wide travel ban and asset freeze for officials tied to Mr. Magnitsky's death.

We need to act as a Senate and as a Congress. I am calling on every Senator within the sound of my voice today, every legislative director dealing with defense and foreign policy issues, once again to look at the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act.

I will tell my friend from New Hampshire that the number is now up to 30, we learned on the floor today from Senator Cardin, so we have 30 Senators involved. We ought to have a majority of Senators before the end of this day, if people would just take the time to look. I join her in congratulating the Foreign Relations Committee on bringing further light to this issue. I thank the State Department, as she said. I will simply conclude my portion by saying recent events make it even more important that the Foreign Relations Committee and that this Senate take up and pass this legislation. I urge all my colleagues to consider joining us on this legislation.

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