The Magnitsky Act, formally known as the Russia and Moldova Jackson–Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012, is a
bipartisan
Bipartisanship, sometimes referred to as nonpartisanship, is a political situation, usually in the context of a two-party system (especially those of the United States and some other western countries), in which opposing political parties find co ...
bill passed by the
U.S. Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...
and signed into law by President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
in December 2012, intending to punish Russian officials responsible for the death of Russian
tax lawyer
Tax law or revenue law is an area of legal study in which public or sanctioned authorities, such as federal, state and municipal governments (as in the case of the US) use a body of rules and procedures (laws) to assess and collect taxes in a ...
Sergei Magnitsky
Sergei Leonidovich Magnitsky (russian: Сергeй Леонидович Магнитский, ; 8 April 1972 – 16 November 2009) was a Ukrainian-born Russian tax advisor responsible for exposing corruption and misconduct by Russian gover ...
in a
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
prison in 2009 and also to grant
permanent normal trade relations
The status of permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) is a legal designation in the United States for free trade with a foreign nation. The designation was changed from '' most favored nation'' (MFN) to ''normal trade relations'' by Section 5003 of ...
status to Russia.
The Global Magnitsky Act of 2016 authorizes the U.S. government to sanction foreign government officials worldwide who are deemed to be human rights offenders, freeze their assets, and ban them from entering the U.S.
Background
In 2009, Russian tax lawyer
Sergei Magnitsky
Sergei Leonidovich Magnitsky (russian: Сергeй Леонидович Магнитский, ; 8 April 1972 – 16 November 2009) was a Ukrainian-born Russian tax advisor responsible for exposing corruption and misconduct by Russian gover ...
died in a Moscow prison after investigating a $230 million fraud involving Russian tax officials.
Magnitsky was accused of committing the fraud himself by Russian officials and detained.
While in prison, Magnitsky developed
gall stones
A gallstone is a stone formed within the gallbladder from precipitated bile components. The term cholelithiasis may refer to the presence of gallstones or to any disease caused by gallstones, and choledocholithiasis refers to the presence of migr ...
,
pancreatitis
Pancreatitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the pancreas. The pancreas is a large organ behind the stomach that produces digestive enzymes and a number of hormones. There are two main types: acute pancreatitis, and chronic pancr ...
and
calculous cholecystitis and was not given medical treatment for months. After almost a year of imprisonment, he
was beaten to death while in custody.
[
]
Magnitsky's friend
Bill Browder
William Felix Browder (born April 23, 1964) is an American-born British financier and political activist. He is the CEO and co-founder of Hermitage Capital Management, the investment advisor to the Hermitage Fund, which at one time was the large ...
, a prominent
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
-born businessman working extensively in
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
after the collapse of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, publicized the case and lobbied American officials to pass legislation sanctioning Russian individuals involved in corruption.
Browder brought the case to Senators
Benjamin Cardin
Benjamin Louis Cardin (born October 5, 1943) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Maryland, a seat he has held since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously was the U.S. representativ ...
and
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...
, who proceeded to propose legislation.
Law
In June 2012, the
United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs
The United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, also known as the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is a standing committee of the U.S. House of Representatives with jurisdiction over bills and investigations concerning the foreign affairs o ...
reported to the House a bill called the ''Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012'' (H.R. 4405). The main intention of the law was to punish Russian officials who were thought to be responsible for the death of Sergei Magnitsky by prohibiting their entrance to the United States and their use of its banking system.
[ The legislation was taken up by a ]Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
panel the next week, sponsored by Senator Ben Cardin
Benjamin Louis Cardin (born October 5, 1943) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Maryland, a seat he has held since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously was the U.S. representati ...
, and cited in a broader review of the mounting tensions in the international relationship. Browder later wrote that the Magnitsky Act found quick bipartisan support because the corruption exposed by Magnitsky was blatant beyond dispute, and " ere wasn't a pro-Russian-torture-and-murder lobby to oppose it."[ Browder, Bill (2015). Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man’s Fight for Justice (Reprint ed.). Simon & Schuster. ]p. 329
The Obama administration fought the bill until Congress signaled the 2012 Jackson–Vanick bill would not be repealed unless the Magnitsky Act passed. In November 2012, provisions of the Magnitsky bill were attached to a House bill (H.R. 6156) normalizing trade with Russia (i.e., repealing the Jackson–Vanik amendment
The Jackson–Vanik amendment to the Trade Act of 1974 is a 1974 provision in United States federal law intended to affect U.S. trade relations with countries with non-market economies (originally, countries of the Communist bloc) that restrict fre ...
) and Moldova
Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...
. On December 6, 2012, the U.S. Senate passed the House version of the law, 92–4. The law was signed by President Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
on December 14, 2012.
Individuals affected
In April 2013, the Obama administration made public a list of 18 individuals affected by the Act. The people included on the list were:
*Aleksey Droganov
*Aleksey Krivoruchko, Tverskoy District Court judge
*Andrey Pechegin, deputy head of the investigation supervision division of the general prosecutor's office
*Artem (Artyom) Kuznetsov, a tax investigator for the Moscow division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs.
Lists of current ministries of internal affairs
Named "ministry"
* Ministry ...
*Dmitriy Komnov, head of Butyrka Detention Center
*Dmitri M. Tolchinskiy
*Ivan Pavlovitch Prokopenko
*Kazbek Dukuzov, Chechen acquitted of the murder of Paul Klebnikov
Paul Klebnikov (russian: Павел Юрьевич Хлебников, translit=Pavel Yurievich Khlebnikov; June 3, 1963 – July 9, 2004) was an American journalist and historian of Russia. He worked for ''Forbes'' magazine for more than ...
*Lecha Bogatyrov, implicated by Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n authorities as the murderer of Umar Israilov Umar S. Israilov (russian: Умар Шарпуддиевич Исраилов; c. 1982 – January 13, 2009) was a former bodyguard of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov who became a critic of the Chechen government. He was shot and killed in exi ...
*Natalya V. Vinogradova
*Oleg F. Silchenko, a senior investigator for the Ministry of Internal Affairs
*
*Olga Stepanova, head of Moscow Tax Office No. 28
*Pavel Karpov, a senior investigator for the Moscow division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
*Sergei G. Podoprigorov, Tverskoy District Court judge
*Svetlana Ukhnalyova
*Yelena Khimina, Moscow tax official
*, Tverskoy District Court judge who prolonged Magnitsky's detention
Other foreign individuals who have been sanctioned include:
*Abdulaziz al-Hasawi, Bodyguard of Mohammed bin Salman
Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud ( ar, محمد بن سلمان آل سعود, translit=Muḥammad bin Salmān Āl Su‘ūd; born 31 August 1985), colloquially known by his initials MBS or MbS, is Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. H ...
, involved with the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi
On 2 October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist was assassinated by agents of the Saudi government at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Khashoggi was ambushed and strangled by a 15-member squad of Saudi assassins. His body ...
*Abdulhamit Gül
Abdulhamit Gül ( tr, Abdülhamit Gül; born 12 March 1977) is a Turkish politician and former Minister of Justice. He is a member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey from Gaziantep. He was previously the General Secretary of the Justice ...
, Turkish Minister of Justice
*Abuzayed Vismuradov, commander of the Terek SOBR
The Special Rapid Response Unit or SOBR (russian: СОБР - Специальный Отряд Быстрого Реагирования, Spetsial'niy Otryad Bystrovo Reagirovaniya, lit. ''Special Unit of Quick Response''), from 2002 to 2011 k ...
of Chechnya
*Aivars Lembergs
Aivars Lembergs (born September 26, 1953) is a Latvian politician, oligarch, and convicted money launderer who was the mayor of Ventspils from 1988 to 2021, a mandate from which he has been suspended since 2008. In February 2021, Lembergs was f ...
, Former Mayor of Ventspils, Latvia
*Ahmed Abdullah al-Jubouri
Ahmed Abdullah Abid Khalaf al-Jubouri ('Abu Mazin') ( ar, أحمد عبد الله عبد خلف الجبوري) (born ~1968) is an Iraqi politician from Saladin Governorate, Salah ad-Din governorate, and a prominent figure in the Baiji, Iraq, Ba ...
, Former Governor of Saladin Governorate
The Saladin or Salah Al-Din Governorate ( ar, محافظة صلاح الدين) is one of Iraq's 19 governorates, north of Baghdad. It has an area of , with an estimated population of 1,042,200 people in 2003. It is made up of 8 districts, with t ...
, Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
*Akram al-Kaabi
Akram al-Kaabi ( ar, أكرم الكعبي; born 17 July 1977) is the founder and secretary general of Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba in Iraq.
Nujaba emerged in 2013 as an offshoot of the Iraqi Shiite militia group Asaib Ahl al-Haq.
History
Kaabi ...
, founder and secretary general of Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba
, war=Iraq War Iraqi Civil War Syrian Civil War
, image=Hezbollah_al-Nujaba_Flag.jpg
, caption=
, spokesperson=Nasr al-Shammari
, active=2013–present
, ideology=Shia Islamism Vilayat-e FaqihKhomeinismAnti-West
Anti-Zionism
, allegiance= (IRGC) ...
*Álvaro López Miera
Corps General Álvaro López Miera is a Cuban military and political leader and has served as the Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba since 15 April 2021.
Military career
He was born in the City of Havana on December 26, 1943 in ...
, Cuban Minister of Defense
*Angel Rondon, former Commercial Representative of Odebrecht, Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...
*Aung Aung, Brigadier General, involved in Rohingya conflict
The Rohingya conflict is an ongoing conflict in the northern part of Myanmar's Rakhine State (formerly known as Arakan), characterised by sectarian violence between the Rohingya Muslim and Rakhine Buddhist communities, a military crackdown ...
*Aung Kyaw Zaw, Burmese Commander, involved in Rohingya conflict
The Rohingya conflict is an ongoing conflict in the northern part of Myanmar's Rakhine State (formerly known as Arakan), characterised by sectarian violence between the Rohingya Muslim and Rakhine Buddhist communities, a military crackdown ...
*Badr al-Otaibi, Member of General Intelligence Presidency
The General Intelligence Presidency (GIP); ( ar, (ر.ا.ع) رئاسة الاستخبارات العامة ), also known as the General Intelligence Directorate (GID), is the primary intelligence agency of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
History
Th ...
, involved with the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi
On 2 October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist was assassinated by agents of the Saudi government at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Khashoggi was ambushed and strangled by a 15-member squad of Saudi assassins. His body ...
*Carrie Lam
Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor ( Cheng; ; born 13 May 1957) is a retired Hong Kong politician who served as the 4th Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2017 to 2022. She served as Chief Secretary for Administration between 2012 and 2017 and Secr ...
, Chief Executive of HKSAR
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
*Chen Quanguo
Chen Quanguo (; born November 1955) is a retiring Chinese politician and the current deputy head of the CCP Central Rural Work Leading Group. Between 2017 and 2022, he was a member of the 19th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party and was pr ...
, Secretary
A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...
of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
*Chris Tang
Chris Tang Ping-keung (; born 4 July 1965) is a Hong Kong law enforcement administrator, currently serving the Secretary for Security of Hong Kong since 25 June 2021. He previously served as the Commissioner of the Hong Kong Police Force from ...
, Commissioner of Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF)
*Dan Gertler
Dan Gertler (born 23 December 1973) is an Israeli billionaire businessman in natural resources and the founder and president of the DGI (Dan Gertler International) group of companies. He has diamond and copper mining interests in the Democratic ...
, Businessman and Associate of Joseph Kabila
Joseph Kabila Kabange ( , ; born 4 June 1971) is a Congolese politician who served as President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between January 2001 and January 2019. He took office ten days after the assassination of his father, Presi ...
*Delyan Peevski
Delyan Slavchev Peevski ( bg, Делян Славчев Пеевски ) (born 27 July 1980) is a Bulgarian politician, oligarch, entrepreneur and media mogul. He served as MP from the parliamentary group of the DPS in the 41st, 42nd, 43rd an ...
, MP of the National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
*Eric Chan
Eric Chan Kwok-ki (; born 5 April 1959) is a Hong Kong politician who is the incumbent Chief Secretary for Administration since 1 July 2022. He was also the secretary-general of the Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the Hong Kong ...
, Secretary General, Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the HKSAR
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
*Erick Tsang
Erick Tsang Kwok-wai (; born 1 September 1963) is a Hong Kong government official. Since 2020, he has been Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, one of the principal officials of Hong Kong. Prior to that, he was Director of Immig ...
, HKSAR
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
*Fahad al-Balawi, Member of Saudi Royal Guard, involved with the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi
On 2 October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist was assassinated by agents of the Saudi government at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Khashoggi was ambushed and strangled by a 15-member squad of Saudi assassins. His body ...
*Félix Bautista
Félix Ramón Bautista Rosario (born 16 June 1963) is a Dominican Republic member of the Senate of the Dominican Republic since 2010. In the period 1996-2000 he was appointed Deputy Director of the Office of Supervising Engineers of State, t ...
, senator for the province of San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to:
Places Argentina
* San Juan Province, Argentina
* San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province
* San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province
* San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...
, Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...
.
*Fidel Moreno, de facto mayor of Managua
)
, settlement_type = Capital city
, motto =
, image_map =
, mapsize =
, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = Nicara ...
, Nicaragua
*Filipos Woldeyohannes
Filipos Woldeyohannes is an Eritrean general who has served as Chief of Staff of the Eritrean Defence Forces since March 2014. He was appointed after his predecessor died in early March 2014.
Military career
Woldeyohannes served as a commander ...
, Chief of Staff of the Eritrean Defence Forces
The Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) () are the combined military forces of Eritrea composed of three branches: Eritrean Army, Eritrean Air Force and Eritrean Navy. The Army is by far the largest, followed by the Air Force and Navy. The Commander-i ...
*Francisco "Chico" Lopez, treasurer of the Nicaraguan Sandinistas Party and head of Albanisa, a holding of companies made out of Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
n aid
* Francisco Diaz, Head of the Nicaraguan police
*Gebran Bassil
Gebran Gerge Bassil ( ar, جبران جرجي باسيل; born 21 June 1970) is a Lebanese politician who is the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement since 2015. A Maronite Christian, he is the son-in-law of President Michel Aoun, and has bee ...
, President of the Free Patriotic Movement
The Free Patriotic Movement ( ar, التيار الوطني الحر, ) is a Lebanese political party. Founded by Michel Aoun in 2005, the party is currently led by Aoun son-in-law Gebran Bassil since 2015.
Ideology
The Free Patriotic movement ...
*Huo Liujun, former police chief of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
*Kale Kayihura
General Edward Kalekezi Kayihura, commonly known as Kale Kayihura, is a Ugandan lawyer, military General, farmer and former policeman. He was the Inspector General of Police (IGP) of the Uganda Police Force, the highest rank in that branch of ...
, Former Inspector General of the Uganda Police Force
The Uganda Police Force is the national police force of Uganda. The head of the force is called the Inspector General of Police (IGP). The current IGP is Martin Okoth Ochola. Ochola replaced former IGP, General Kale Kayihura in March 2018. Rec ...
*Khalid al-Otaibi, Member of Saudi Royal Guard, involved with the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi
On 2 October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist was assassinated by agents of the Saudi government at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Khashoggi was ambushed and strangled by a 15-member squad of Saudi assassins. His body ...
*Khin Hlaing, Head of Burmese 99th LID, involved in Rohingya conflict
The Rohingya conflict is an ongoing conflict in the northern part of Myanmar's Rakhine State (formerly known as Arakan), characterised by sectarian violence between the Rohingya Muslim and Rakhine Buddhist communities, a military crackdown ...
*Khin Maung Soe, Burmese General, involved In Maung Nu massacre
*Kun Kim, former Joint Chief of Staff of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces
The Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF; km, កងយោធពលខេមរភូមិន្ទ ) is Cambodia's national military force. The Supreme Commander-in-Chief is King Norodom Sihamoni. Since 2018, General Vong Pisen has been ...
*Luo Huining
Luo Huining (; born 5 October 1954) is a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party who is Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong. A native of Yiwu, Zhejiang, he was previously the Governor, then Party S ...
, Director of the Hong Kong Liaison Office of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
*Maher Mutrab, Saudi Arabian diplomat, involved with the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi
On 2 October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist was assassinated by agents of the Saudi government at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Khashoggi was ambushed and strangled by a 15-member squad of Saudi assassins. His body ...
*Mansour Abahussain, Member of General Intelligence Presidency
The General Intelligence Presidency (GIP); ( ar, (ر.ا.ع) رئاسة الاستخبارات العامة ), also known as the General Intelligence Directorate (GID), is the primary intelligence agency of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
History
Th ...
, involved with the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi
On 2 October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist was assassinated by agents of the Saudi government at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Khashoggi was ambushed and strangled by a 15-member squad of Saudi assassins. His body ...
*Marián Kočner
Marian Kočner (born 17 May 1963) is a Slovak businessman and convicted criminal. With business dealings mostly in the spheres of risk investment, financial development and property, his name appeared in leaked police documents known as the "ma ...
, Judged for ordering the murder of a Slovak journalist
* Maung Maung Soe, Head of armed forces in western Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
, involved in Rohingya conflict
The Rohingya conflict is an ongoing conflict in the northern part of Myanmar's Rakhine State (formerly known as Arakan), characterised by sectarian violence between the Rohingya Muslim and Rakhine Buddhist communities, a military crackdown ...
*Meshal Saad al-Bostani (d. 2018), Member of Royal Saudi Air Force
The Royal Saudi Air Force ( ar, الْقُوَّاتُ الْجَوِّيَّةُ الْمَلَكِيَّةْ ٱلسُّعُوْدِيَّة, Al-Quwwat Al-Jawiyah Al-Malakiyah as-Su’udiyah) (RSAF) is the aviation branch of the Saudi Arabia ...
, involved with the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi
On 2 October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist was assassinated by agents of the Saudi government at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Khashoggi was ambushed and strangled by a 15-member squad of Saudi assassins. His body ...
*Min Aung Hlaing
Min Aung Hlaing ( my, မင်းအောင်လှိုင် abbreviated: MAL ; born 3 July 1956) also known as Alaungsithu is a Burmese politician and army general who has ruled Myanmar as the chairman of the State Administration Coun ...
, Head of the State Administrative Council
The State Administration Council ( my, နိုင်ငံတော်စီမံအုပ်ချုပ်ရေးကောင်စီ; abbreviated SAC or နစက) is the military junta currently governing Myanmar, established by Comm ...
and Commander in Chief of the Burmese Armed Forces
Tatmadaw (, , ) is the official name of the armed forces of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services include the ...
*Mohammed al-Otaibi, Saudi Consul-General of Turkey, involved with the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi
On 2 October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist was assassinated by agents of the Saudi government at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Khashoggi was ambushed and strangled by a 15-member squad of Saudi assassins. His body ...
*Mohammed al-Zahrani, Member of Saudi Royal Guard, involved with the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi
On 2 October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist was assassinated by agents of the Saudi government at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Khashoggi was ambushed and strangled by a 15-member squad of Saudi assassins. His body ...
*Musa Baluku
Musa Seka Baluku is a Ugandan militant and the current leader of the Allied Democratic Forces, a rebel insurgent group in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He took over as the commander of the ADF following the 2015 arrest of its f ...
, Leader of the Allied Democratic Forces
The Allied Democratic Forces (french: Forces démocratiques alliées; abbreviated ADF) is an Islamist rebel group in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), considered a terrorist organisation by the Ugandan government. It was ori ...
*Mustafa al-Madani, Body double of Jamal Khashoggi
Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi (; ar, جمال أحمد خاشقجي, Jamāl ʾAḥmad Ḵāšuqjī, ; 13 October 1958 – 2 October 2018) was a Saudi journalist, dissident, author, columnist for ''Middle East Eye'' and ''The Washington Post'', and a ge ...
, involved with the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi
On 2 October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist was assassinated by agents of the Saudi government at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Khashoggi was ambushed and strangled by a 15-member squad of Saudi assassins. His body ...
*Naif Alrifi, Associate of Mohammed bin Salman
Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud ( ar, محمد بن سلمان آل سعود, translit=Muḥammad bin Salmān Āl Su‘ūd; born 31 August 1985), colloquially known by his initials MBS or MbS, is Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. H ...
, involved with the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi
On 2 October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist was assassinated by agents of the Saudi government at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Khashoggi was ambushed and strangled by a 15-member squad of Saudi assassins. His body ...
*Nawfel Akoub, Former Governor of Mosul
Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...
, Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
*Nofal Hammadi al-Sultan, Former Governor of Nineveh Governorate
Nineveh Governorate ( ar, محافظة نينوى, syr, ܗܘܦܪܟܝܐ ܕܢܝܢܘܐ, Hoparkiya d’Ninwe, ckb, پارێزگای نەینەوا, Parêzgeha Neynewa), also known as Ninawa Governorate, is a governorate in northern Iraq. It has an ...
, Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
*Qais Khazali
Qais Hadi Sayed Hasan al-Khazali ( ar, قيس هادي سيد حسن الخزعلي; born 20 June 1974) is best known as the founder and leader of the Iran-backed Special Groups in Iraq from June 2006 until his capture by British forces in Marc ...
, Leader of Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq
Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH; ar, عصائب أهل الحق Aṣaʾib ʾAhl al-Haqq, "League of the Righteous"), also known as the Khazali Network ( ar, شبكة الخزعلي), is a radical Iraqi Shi'a political party and paramilitary group active ...
*Ramzan Kadyrov
Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov ce, КъадаргӀеран Ахьмат-кӏант Рамзан, translit= (born 5 October 1976) is a Russian politician who currently serves as the Head of the Chechen Republic. He was formerly affiliated to the ...
, head of the Chechen Republic
Chechnya ( rus, Чечня́, Chechnyá, p=tɕɪtɕˈnʲa; ce, Нохчийчоь, Noxçiyçö), officially the Chechen Republic,; ce, Нохчийн Республика, Noxçiyn Respublika is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the ...
*Rao Anwar
Rao Anwar Ahmed Khan ( ur, ) is a retired Pakistani police officer who served as a Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) in the Malir District of Karachi. He is known as the "encounter specialist" of the Sindh Police because of his extrajudici ...
, former Senior Superintendent of Police
Superintendent (Supt) is a rank in the British police and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. In many Commonwealth countries, the full version is superintendent of police (SP). The rank is also used in most British Overseas Territories ...
in Malir District, Karachi, Pakistan
*Rayan al-Kildani, Leader of Babylon Brigade
* Raimbek Matraimov, ex-Deputy Chairman of the State Customs Service (Kyrgyzstan)
*Roberto Legra Sotolongo, former Cuban Minister of Justice
*Ruslan Geremeyev, associate of Ramzan Kadyrov
*Saif al-Qahtani, Associate of Mohammed bin Salman
Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud ( ar, محمد بن سلمان آل سعود, translit=Muḥammad bin Salmān Āl Su‘ūd; born 31 August 1985), colloquially known by his initials MBS or MbS, is Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. H ...
, involved with the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi
On 2 October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist was assassinated by agents of the Saudi government at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Khashoggi was ambushed and strangled by a 15-member squad of Saudi assassins. His body ...
*Salah Mohammed Tubaigy
Salah Mohammed Abdah Tubaigy ( ar, صلاح الطبيقي, born 20 August 1971), also spelled Tubaiqi, is a Saudi forensic doctor. He was the head of the Saudi Scientific Council of Forensics and a colonel in the armed forces of Saudi Arabia.
I ...
, Head of Saudi Arabian Forensics Council, involved with the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi
On 2 October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist was assassinated by agents of the Saudi government at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Khashoggi was ambushed and strangled by a 15-member squad of Saudi assassins. His body ...
*Saud al-Qahtani
Saud bin Abdullah al-Qahtani (born July 7, 1978) is a Saudi Arabian consultant and former royal court advisor. Prior to his dismissal in late 2018, he worked as an advisor to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.
...
, Advisor to Mohammed bin Salman
Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud ( ar, محمد بن سلمان آل سعود, translit=Muḥammad bin Salmān Āl Su‘ūd; born 31 August 1985), colloquially known by his initials MBS or MbS, is Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. H ...
, involved with the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi
On 2 October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist was assassinated by agents of the Saudi government at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Khashoggi was ambushed and strangled by a 15-member squad of Saudi assassins. His body ...
* Soe Win, Deputy Commander in Chief of the Burmese Armed Forces
Tatmadaw (, , ) is the official name of the armed forces of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services include the ...
* Stephen Lo, former Commissioner of HKPF
*Süleyman Soylu
Süleyman Soylu (; born 21 November 1969) is a Turkish politician. He is a deputy chairman of the Justice and Development Party who currently serves as the Minister of the Interior since 31 August 2016. He previously served as the Minister of L ...
, Turkish Minister of Interior
*Sun Jinlong
Sun Jinlong (; born January 1962) is a Chinese politician, serving since 2016 as the Party Branch Secretary of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. Sun came to prominence in 2001, serving on the Secretariat of the Communist Youth Leag ...
, head of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps
The Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (), also known as XPCC or Bingtuan ("The Corps"), is a state-owned economic and Paramilitary forces of China, paramilitary organization in China, China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). ...
*Thaar al-Harbi, Bodyguard of Mohammed bin Salman
Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud ( ar, محمد بن سلمان آل سعود, translit=Muḥammad bin Salmān Āl Su‘ūd; born 31 August 1985), colloquially known by his initials MBS or MbS, is Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. H ...
, involved with the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi
On 2 October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist was assassinated by agents of the Saudi government at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Khashoggi was ambushed and strangled by a 15-member squad of Saudi assassins. His body ...
*Than Oo, Brigadier General, involved in Rohingya conflict
The Rohingya conflict is an ongoing conflict in the northern part of Myanmar's Rakhine State (formerly known as Arakan), characterised by sectarian violence between the Rohingya Muslim and Rakhine Buddhist communities, a military crackdown ...
* Teresa Cheng, Secretary of Justice of the HKSAR
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
*Thura San Lwin, Head of Myanmar Border Guard Police
The Border Guard Police ( my, နယ်ခြားစောင့်ရဲတပ်ဖွဲ့; abbreviated BGP) are a department of Myanmar's police force specialising in border security. The BGP operate in northern Rakhine State and are espec ...
, involved in Rohingya conflict
The Rohingya conflict is an ongoing conflict in the northern part of Myanmar's Rakhine State (formerly known as Arakan), characterised by sectarian violence between the Rohingya Muslim and Rakhine Buddhist communities, a military crackdown ...
*Try Pheap, Cambodian Businessman and Tycoon
*Turki Alsehri, involved with the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi
On 2 October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist was assassinated by agents of the Saudi government at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Khashoggi was ambushed and strangled by a 15-member squad of Saudi assassins. His body ...
*Varney Sherman
Harry Varney Gboto-Nambi Sherman (born 16 February 1953) is a Liberian politician and the former chairman of the Unity Party.
Early life
Sherman was born on February 16, 1953, in Robertsport, Grand Cape Mount County and graduated from St. John' ...
, former chairman of the Liberian Unity Party
* Prince Y Johnson, a former rebel leader who played a prominent role in the first Liberian Civil War. He's currently a senator of Nimba County
Nimba County is a county in northeastern Liberia that shares borders with the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire in the East and the Republic of Guinea in the Northwest. Its capital city is Sanniquellie and its most populous city is Ganta. With the count ...
*Vasil Bozhkov
Vasil Krumov Bozhkov ( bg, Васил Крумов Божков; born July 29, 1956) is a Bulgarian people, Bulgarian politician and a businessman, considered the richest Bulgarian with a fortune estimated at between 1 and ...
, Bulgarian billionaire, exiled to Dubai
*Waad Qado, Leader of the Shabak 30th Brigade
*Waleed Alsehri, Member of Royal Saudi Air Force
The Royal Saudi Air Force ( ar, الْقُوَّاتُ الْجَوِّيَّةُ الْمَلَكِيَّةْ ٱلسُّعُوْدِيَّة, Al-Quwwat Al-Jawiyah Al-Malakiyah as-Su’udiyah) (RSAF) is the aviation branch of the Saudi Arabia ...
, involved with the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi
On 2 October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist was assassinated by agents of the Saudi government at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Khashoggi was ambushed and strangled by a 15-member squad of Saudi assassins. His body ...
*Wan Kuok-koi
Wan Kuok-koi (; born 1955), popularly known as Broken Tooth Koi (崩牙駒; Cantonese: bung nga keui; Mandarin: bēng yá jū), is a gangster and former leader of the Macau branch of the 14K triad. He was released after more than 14 years in pr ...
, popularly known as Broken Tooth Koi, former leader of the Macau branch of the 14K (triad)
The 14K (十四K) is a Triad (organized crime), triad group based in Hong Kong but active internationally. It is the second largest triad group in the world with around 20,000 members split into thirty subgroups. They are the main rival of the ...
* Whang Mingshang, Head of the Xinjiang Public security bureau
*Yahya Jammeh
Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh (born 25 May 1965) is a Gambian politician and former military officer who was the leader of The Gambia from 1994 to 2017, firstly as chairman of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) from 199 ...
, former president of The Gambia
The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...
*Xia Baolong
Xia Baolong (; born 2 December 1952) is a Chinese politician. Originally from Tianjin, Xia began his political career in the Communist Youth League. He served as the vice mayor of Tianjin, governor and Communist Party Secretary of Zhejiang provi ...
, Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council
*Zhang Xiaoming
Zhang Xiaoming (; born 3 September 1963) is a Chinese politician. He was the director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong and then of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, before being demoted to deputy direc ...
, deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council
*Zheng Yanxiong
Zheng Yanxiong (; born 25 August 1963) is a Chinese politician currently serving as director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong. Previously, he was the director of the Office for Safeguarding National Security ...
, Director of the Office for Safeguarding National Security in the HKSAR
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
*Zhu Hailun
Zhu Hailun (; born 1 January 1958) is a Chinese politician who is the current vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Previously he served as the deputy party secretary of the Xinjian ...
, Deputy Secretary of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
January 2017 blacklisting
On January 9, 2017, under the ''Magnitsky Act'', the United States Treasury
The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...
's Office of Foreign Assets Control
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the U.S. Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions in support of U.S. national security and foreign policy ob ...
updated its Specially Designated Nationals List
The Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, also known as the SDN List, is a United States government sanctions/embargo measure targeting U.S.-designated terrorists, officials and beneficiaries of certain authoritarian regimes, a ...
and blacklisted Aleksandr I. Bastrykin, Andrei K. Lugovoi, Dmitri V. Kovtun, Stanislav Gordievsky, and Gennady Plaksin, which froze any of their assets held by American financial institutions or transactions with those institutions and banned their traveling to the United States.
Actions by the Russian government
In response to the adoption of the Magnitsky Act, the Russian government denied Americans adoption of Russian children; issued its own list of American officials prohibited from entering Russia, just as the US had previously done to some Russian officials; and convicted Magnitsky as guilty after his death. In addition, the Russian government reportedly lobbied against the legislation acting through a public relations company led by Kenneth Duberstein
Kenneth Marc Duberstein (April 21, 1944 – March 2, 2022) was an American lobbyist who served as U.S. President Ronald Reagan's White House Chief of Staff from 1988 to 1989.
Early life and education
Duberstein was born to a Jewish family in Br ...
. Later, a Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya
Natalia Vladimirovna Veselnitskaya ( rus, Ната́лья Влади́мировна Весельни́цкая, p=nɐˈtalʲjə vʲɪsʲɪlʲˈnʲitskəjə; born 22 February 1975 Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union) is a R ...
was hired to lobby against the Magnitsky Act in the US. She set up a meeting with future-president Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
's son, Donald Trump Jr.
Donald John Trump Jr. (born December 31, 1977) is an American political activist, businessman, author, and former television presenter. He is the eldest child of Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021, and his firs ...
, purportedly to discuss the matter.
Ban on U.S. adoption of Russian children
On December 19, 2012, the State Duma
The State Duma (russian: Госуда́рственная ду́ма, r=Gosudárstvennaja dúma), commonly abbreviated in Russian as Gosduma ( rus, Госду́ма), is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, while the upper house ...
voted 400 to 4 to ban the international adoption
International adoption (also referred to as intercountry adoption or transnational adoption) is a type of adoption in which an individual or couple residing in one country becomes the legal and permanent parent(s) of a child who is a national of ...
of Russian children into the United States. The bill was unofficially named after Dmitri Yakovlev (Chase Harrison), a Russian toddler who died of heat stroke
Heat stroke or heatstroke, also known as sun stroke, is a severe heat illness that results in a body temperature greater than , along with red skin, headache, dizziness, and confusion. Sweating is generally present in exertional heatstroke, ...
in 2008 when his adoptive American father forgot he was in the back seat of his SUV
A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive.
There is no commonly agreed-upon definitio ...
. The next year, 2013, two additional laws were proposed: one was to prevent US citizens from working with political NGOs
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...
in Russia, and a second law, eventually abandoned, prevented any foreigner from speaking on state television if they discredited the state.
Banning some U.S. officials from Russia
On April 13, 2013, Russia released a list banning 18 Americans from entering Russia for alleged human rights violations, in a response to the Magnitsky list.
The Russian lawmakers also banned several U.S. officials involved in the prosecution and trial of Russian arms smuggler Viktor Bout
Viktor Anatolyevich Bout (; russian: link=no, Виктор Анатольевич Бут; born 13 January 1967) is a Russian arms dealer. A weapons manufacturer and former Soviet military translator, he used his multiple companies to smuggle a ...
and drug smuggler Konstantin Yaroshenko, both serving prison time in the United States:
Reception
Australian expatriate
An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...
jurist
A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...
Geoffrey Robertson
Geoffrey Ronald Robertson (born 30 September 1946) is a human rights barrister, academic, author and broadcaster. He holds dual Australian and British citizenship. , who had been representing some of the Magnitsky campaigners, described the Act as "one of the most important new developments in human rights." He added that it provides "a way of getting at the Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
train drivers, the apparatchik
__NOTOC__
An apparatchik (; russian: аппара́тчик ) was a full-time, professional functionary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union or the Soviet government ''apparat'' ( аппарат, apparatus), someone who held any position ...
s, the people who make a little bit of money from human rights abuses and generally keep under the radar."
State Duma
The State Duma (russian: Госуда́рственная ду́ма, r=Gosudárstvennaja dúma), commonly abbreviated in Russian as Gosduma ( rus, Госду́ма), is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, while the upper house ...
deputy Yevgeny Fedorov argued that the real purpose of the Magnitsky bill was to manipulate key figures in big business and government, with the aim of pro-American policy in the Russian Federation
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
.
In 2018, the British parliament passed a so-called ‘Magnitsky amendment’ to the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act
The Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (SAMLA 2018) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom applying to the United Kingdom.
The Act has two purposes; a) To enable the UK to create its own sanctions framework, allowing it to issue ...
to give the government the power to impose sanctions on people who commit gross human rights violations.
Bill Van Auken
Bill Van Auken (born 1950) is a politician and activist for the Socialist Equality Party and was a presidential candidate in the U.S. presidential election of 2004, announcing his candidacy on January 27, 2004. His running mate was Jim Lawrenc ...
of ''World Socialist Web Site
The World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) is the website of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI). It describes itself as an "online newspaper of the international Trotskyist movement". The WSWS publishes articles and analys ...
'' condemned the United States for what he described as invoking human rights as a cover for realpolitik
''Realpolitik'' (; ) refers to enacting or engaging in diplomatic or political policies based primarily on considerations of given circumstances and factors, rather than strictly binding itself to explicit ideological notions or moral and ethical ...
in the Magnitsky Act, stating that Washington DC officials had supported "far greater crimes, uch
Uch ( pa, ;
ur, ), frequently referred to as Uch Sharīf ( pa, ;
ur, ; ''"Noble Uch"''), is a historic city in the southern part of Pakistan's Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province. Uch may have been founded as Alexandria on the Indus, a town ...
as when Boris Yeltsin in 1993 ordered bombardment
A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire or by dropping bombs from aircraft on fortifications, combatants, or towns and buildings.
Prior to World War I, the term was only applied to the bombardment of defenseless or undefended objects, ...
of the Russian White House
The White House ( rus, Белый дом, r=Bely dom, p=ˈbʲɛlɨj ˈdom; officially The House of the Government of the Russian Federation, rus, Дом Правительства Российской Федерации, r=Dom pravitelstva Ross ...
, the seat of the country’s parliament, killing 62 people".
The controversial 2016 documentary ''The Magnitsky Act – Behind the Scenes
''The Magnitsky Act – Behind the Scenes'' is a 2016 documentary directed by Andrei Nekrasov, concerning the 2009 death in a Moscow prison cell, after 11 months in police custody, of 37-year-old Russian tax accountant Sergei Magnitsky. In 2007 ...
'' presents a falsified view of Magnitsky, asserting that "Magnitsky was not beaten while in police custody, and that he did not make any specific allegations against individuals in his testimony to Russian authorities".[ In its review of the controversial documentary, ]The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
includes views of those sceptical of the documentary such as Petras Auštrevičius
Petras Auštrevičius (born 16 May 1963) is a Lithuanian liberal politician, diplomat, civil society activist, former member of Seimas, and since 2014, a member of the European Parliament.
Education
In 1981, Auštrevičius graduated from Vilniu ...
, Lithuanian member of the European Parliament who also serves on the Foreign Affairs Committee, who said the push to screen the film was one of several moves by the Russian authorities to weaken western confidence in its policy line and secure a review of European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
sanctions against Russia later that year.
In a July 2017 interview on CNN's ''Fareed Zakaria GPS
''Fareed Zakaria GPS'' is a weekly public affairs show hosted by journalist and author Fareed Zakaria on CNN and broadcast around the world by CNN International.
The "GPS" in the show's title stands for "Global Public Square," a reference to th ...
'', Bill Browder
William Felix Browder (born April 23, 1964) is an American-born British financier and political activist. He is the CEO and co-founder of Hermitage Capital Management, the investment advisor to the Hermitage Fund, which at one time was the large ...
discussed the Magnitsky Act and topics such as the reasons why Putin is directly threatened by it, the money given by Russia government to more than 10,000 Russian human-rights abusers, the June 2016 Trump campaign–Russian meeting, and the power and influence of Russian money in Washington, D.C. at the time.
Liberal Russian dissidents Vladimir V. Kara-Murza
Vladimir Vladimirovich Kara-Murza (russian: Владимир Владимирович Кара-Мурза; born 7 September 1981) is a Russian political activist, journalist, author, and filmmaker. A protégé of Boris Nemtsov, he serves as vi ...
and Boris Nemtsov
Boris Yefimovich Nemtsov ( rus, Бори́с Ефи́мович Немцо́в, p=bɐˈrʲis jɪˈfʲiməvʲɪtɕ nʲɪmˈtsof; 9 October 195927 February 2015) was a Russian physicist and liberal politician. He was involved in the introduction ...
both approved of the act, calling it "pro-Russian."
2017 oversight
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
gave a memorandum
A memorandum ( : memoranda; abbr: memo; from the Latin ''memorandum'', "(that) which is to be remembered") is a written message that is typically used in a professional setting. Commonly abbreviated "memo," these messages are usually brief and ...
to Congress on the implementation of the Act on April 21, 2017.
In May 2017, US authorities settled a case against Prevezon Holding, one of the companies used for laundering the money exfiltrated from Russia as result of the fraud discovered by Sergey Magnitsky. The settlement dismissed the case, and the real-estate company agreed to pay a $5.8 million fine. Also in May 2017, an investigation was started on the £6.6m allegedly transferred from the fraud scheme into a banking firm in the UK.
On September 8, 2017, President Trump, in a memorandum, delegated authority to alter the financial sanctions in this act to the Secretary of the Treasury
The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
, and the issue of visas to the Secretary of State.
Global Magnitsky Act
Passage
In 2016, Congress enacted the ''Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act,'' which allows the U.S. government to sanction foreign government officials implicated in human rights abuses anywhere in the world.
Initially introduced as separate legislation by Senator Benjamin Cardin
Benjamin Louis Cardin (born October 5, 1943) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Maryland, a seat he has held since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously was the U.S. representativ ...
(D-MD) in the Senate and Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) in the House, the Global Magnitsky Act was ultimately incorporated as Title XII, Subtitle F (sections 1261 through 1265) of the omnibus National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (; NDAA 2017Pub.L. 114-328 is a United States federal law specifying the budget and expenditures of the United States Department of Defense (DOD) for Fiscal Year 2017.
History
''Nation ...
, which became law on December 23, 2016, of the NDAA FY 2017.
Legal framework
The legal framework for the Global Magnitsky Sanctions consists of the following executive order, multiple public laws (statutes), and regulations:
*Executive Order
**Executive Order 13818
*Statutes
**Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act
22 U.S.C.§§2656 note
**International Emergency Economic Powers Act
The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), Title II of , is a United States federal law authorizing the president to regulate international commerce after declaring a national emergency in response to any unusual and extraordinary th ...
(IEEPA)
50 U.S.C.§§1701-1706
*Code of Federal Regulations
**Global Magnitsky Sanctions Regulations
31 CFR Part 583
Sanctions imposed through EO 13818
Effective 21 December 2017, US President Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
issued Executive Order 13818, the first implementation of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, under which the U.S. government imposed sanctions against 13 individuals described as "human rights abusers, kleptocrats, and corrupt actors,"[Background Briefing on the Rollout of the Global Magnitsky Sanctions](_blank)
, United States Department of State (December 21, 2018). announced by US Secretary of the Treasury
The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
Steven Mnuchin
Steven Terner Mnuchin ( ; born December 21, 1962) is an American investment banker and film producer who served as the 77th United States secretary of the treasury as part of the Cabinet of Donald Trump from 2017 to 2021. Serving for a full pres ...
. President Trump said that he was "declaring a national emergency with respect to serious human-rights abuse and corruption around the world." The sanctioned individuals included Yahya Jammeh
Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh (born 25 May 1965) is a Gambian politician and former military officer who was the leader of The Gambia from 1994 to 2017, firstly as chairman of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) from 199 ...
, former president of The Gambia
The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...
, and Roberto Jose Rivas Reyes
Roberto José Rivas Reyes (6 July 1954 – 5 March 2022) was a Nicaraguan politician who was President of the Supreme Electoral Council (Nicaragua), Supreme Electoral Council (CSE). Rivas became a CSE magistrate in 1995, and five years later b ...
, president of Nicaragua's Supreme Electoral Council. An additional 39 affiliated companies and individuals were also sanctioned by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the U.S. Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions in support of U.S. national security and foreign policy ob ...
(OFAC).
Dan Gertler
According to ''The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...
'', Dan Gertler
Dan Gertler (born 23 December 1973) is an Israeli billionaire businessman in natural resources and the founder and president of the DGI (Dan Gertler International) group of companies. He has diamond and copper mining interests in the Democratic ...
, an "Israeli mining billionaire" and longtime close friend of Joseph Kabila
Joseph Kabila Kabange ( , ; born 4 June 1971) is a Congolese politician who served as President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between January 2001 and January 2019. He took office ten days after the assassination of his father, Presi ...
, who was President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
(DRC) for decades, was also listed in President Trump's EO Annex and placed on the OFAC financial sanctions list. All of Gertler's assets that were under U.S. jurisdiction were blocked. According to a February 2018 article in ''The Economist'', the sanctions statement said that Gertler had "amassed his fortune through hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of opaque and corrupt mining and oil deals" in the DRC. Included in the Executive Order is the list of designated entities "affiliated with" Gertler:
*African Trans International Holdings B.V.
*Almerina Properties Limited
*Fleurette Africa Resources I B.V.
*Fleurette African Transport B.V.
*Fleurette Energy I B.V.
*Interlog DRC
*Iron Mountain Enterprises Limited
*Karibu Africa Services SA
*Kitoko Food Farm
*Moku Goldmines AG
*Moku Mines D'or SA
*Oriental Iron Company SPRL
*Sanzetta Investments Limited
*Ventora Development Sasu.In a November 28, 2019, article in ''The Economist'', it was reported that President Trump's decision to place sanctions on Gertler, who is a close friend of then-President of the Congo, Joseph Kabila, had come as "a shock to many companies operating in the Congo." Citing Tom Perriello
Thomas Stuart Price Perriello (born October 9, 1974) is an American attorney, diplomat, and politician. As of January 2021, Perriello is the executive director for U.S. Programs at the Open Society Foundations.
Perriello ran for in the United S ...
, who was then the United States envoy to the African Great Lakes
The African Great Lakes ( sw, Maziwa Makuu; rw, Ibiyaga bigari) are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the East African Rift. They include Lake Victoria, the second-largest fresh water lake in the ...
under Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
, the sanctions "probably helped push Mr. Kabila to his eventual decision to stand down in the elections that took place a year later," in the December 2018 general election.
2018
In June 2018, Félix Bautista
Félix Ramón Bautista Rosario (born 16 June 1963) is a Dominican Republic member of the Senate of the Dominican Republic since 2010. In the period 1996-2000 he was appointed Deputy Director of the Office of Supervising Engineers of State, t ...
, a member of the Senate of the Dominican Republic
The Senate of the Dominican Republic ( es, Senado de la República Dominicana) is the upper house in the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Dominican Republic, and together with the Chamber of Deputies of the Dominican Republic, Chamber ...
and five companies owned or controlled by him were sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Treasury under the Global Magnitsky Act due to his involvement in significant corruption. Bautista has reportedly engaged in bribery in relation to his position as a Senator, and is alleged to have engaged in corruption in Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
, where he used his connections to win public works contracts to help rebuild Haiti following several natural disasters, including one case where his company was paid over $10 million for work not completed.
In July 2018, three Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...
ns were added to the OFAC sanctions list. Nicaraguan National Police Commissioner Francisco Javier Diaz Madriz (Diaz) and Secretary of the Mayor's Office of Managua Fidel Antonio Moreno Briones (Moreno) were sanctioned for being responsible for, or the leaders of entities involved in, serious human rights abuse in Nicaragua. Additionally, OFAC designated Jose Francisco Lopez Centeno (Lopez), the Vice President of ALBA de Nicaragua (ALBANISA) and President of Petronic, for engaging in corrupt activities.
In August 2018, the Treasury Department sanctioned top Turkish government officials, Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül
Abdulhamit Gül ( tr, Abdülhamit Gül; born 12 March 1977) is a Turkish politician and former Minister of Justice. He is a member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey from Gaziantep. He was previously the General Secretary of the Justice ...
and Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu
Süleyman Soylu (; born 21 November 1969) is a Turkish politician. He is a deputy chairman of the Justice and Development Party who currently serves as the Minister of the Interior since 31 August 2016. He previously served as the Minister of L ...
, who were involved in the detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson
Andrew Craig Brunson (born January 3, 1968) is an American pastor and a teaching elder of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Brunson was an evangelical pastor of the Izmir Resurrection Church, a small Protestant church with about 24 congr ...
. Daniel Glaser
Daniel L. Glaser is a former Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing at the United States Department of the Treasury. He served under Adam Szubin, the Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence in the Obama Admi ...
, the former Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing
The Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing is an office of the United States government within the United States Treasury Department.
Establishment and responsibilities
The office of Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing is statutorily ...
under President Barack Obama, said: "It’s certainly the first time I can think of" the U.S. sanctioning a NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
ally. "I certainly regard it as a human rights violation to unlawfully detain somebody, so I think it falls within the scope of the Global Magnitsky Act."
In November 2018, the Treasury Department announced the imposition of Global Magnitsky Act sanctions against 17 Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
n officials "who targeted and brutally killed" Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi
Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi (; ar, جمال أحمد خاشقجي, Jamāl ʾAḥmad Ḵāšuqjī, ; 13 October 1958 – 2 October 2018) was a Saudi journalist, dissident, author, columnist for ''Middle East Eye'' and ''The Washington Post'', and a ge ...
, who lived and worked in the United States.
2020
On July 9, 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the U.S. Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions in support of U.S. national security and foreign policy ob ...
(OFAC) sanctioned a Chinese government entity (the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau
A Public Security Bureau (PSB) () of a city or county, or Public Security Department (PSD) () of a province or autonomous region, in the People's Republic of China refers to a government office essentially acting as a police station or a local ...
) and four current or former government officials for serious rights abuses against ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
(XUAR). The sanctions were imposed on the basis of serious human rights abuses which reportedly included mass arbitrary detention
Arbitrary arrest and arbitrary detention are the arrest or detention of an individual in a case in which there is no likelihood or evidence that they committed a crime against legal statute, or in which there has been no proper due process of law ...
and severe physical abuse, among other serious abuses targeting Uyghurs
The Uyghurs; ; ; ; zh, s=, t=, p=Wéiwú'ěr, IPA: ( ), alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia. The Uyghur ...
(the Turkic Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
population indigenous to Xinjiang) and other ethnic minorities in the region.
The four sanctioned individuals were:
*Chen Quanguo
Chen Quanguo (; born November 1955) is a retiring Chinese politician and the current deputy head of the CCP Central Rural Work Leading Group. Between 2017 and 2022, he was a member of the 19th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party and was pr ...
, Communist Party Secretary of XUAR and former Communist Party Secretary of Tibet (Tibet Autonomous Region)
*Zhu Hailun
Zhu Hailun (; born 1 January 1958) is a Chinese politician who is the current vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Previously he served as the deputy party secretary of the Xinjian ...
, former Deputy Party Secretary of the XUAR
*Wang Mingshan
Wang Mingshan (; born 18 January 1964) is a Chinese politician currently serving as secretary of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional Political and Legal Affairs Commission since January 2021. He is a member of the standing committee of the CCP Xi ...
, incumbent Communist Party Secretary of the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau (XPSB)
*Huo Liujun
Huo Liujun (; born 13 August 1960) is a Chinese politician currently serving as party secretary of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional Public Security Department since March 2017.
Biography
Born on 13 August 1960, he assumed various posts in the ...
(), former Communist Party Secretary of the XPSB
On July 31, 2020, the OFAC further sanctioned Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps
The Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (), also known as XPCC or Bingtuan ("The Corps"), is a state-owned economic and Paramilitary forces of China, paramilitary organization in China, China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). ...
(XPCC), Sun Jinlong
Sun Jinlong (; born January 1962) is a Chinese politician, serving since 2016 as the Party Branch Secretary of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. Sun came to prominence in 2001, serving on the Secretariat of the Communist Youth Leag ...
, a former Political Commissar of the XPCC, and Peng Jiarui
Peng Jiarui (; born April 1961) is Chinese military officer and politician currently serving as vice chairman of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and vice chairman of the Xinjiang Regional Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative ...
, the Deputy Party Secretary and Commander of the XPCC, for their connection to similar human rights abuses against the ethnic minorities in XUAR.
The XPCC is a paramilitary organization in the XUAR subordinate to the Chinese Communist Party
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...
(CCP), created to enhance internal control over the region. XPCC was used by XUAR CCP Secretary Chen Quanguo, who was subject to similar sanctions on July 9, 2020, to implement a comprehensive surveillance, detention, and indoctrination program targeting Uyghurs and other ethnic minority groups. The sanction generally prohibits all transactions by U.S. persons or taking place within the United States involving any property or interests in property of the sanctioned entities. The sanctions are listed by the OFAC as part of "an ongoing effort to deter human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region."
2021
Filipos Woldeyohannes
Filipos Woldeyohannes is an Eritrean general who has served as Chief of Staff of the Eritrean Defence Forces since March 2014. He was appointed after his predecessor died in early March 2014.
Military career
Woldeyohannes served as a commander ...
, Chief of Staff
The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...
of the Eritrean Defence Forces
The Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) () are the combined military forces of Eritrea composed of three branches: Eritrean Army, Eritrean Air Force and Eritrean Navy. The Army is by far the largest, followed by the Air Force and Navy. The Commander-i ...
(EDF), was sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act on August 23, 2021, for his command responsibility as head of the EDF, involved in war crimes and sexual violence in the Tigray War
Sexual violence in the Tigray War included, according to the United Nations Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, people forced to rape family members, "sex in exchange for basic commodities", and "increases in ...
.
In Paraguay, Kassem Mohamad Hijazi, Khalil Ahmad Hijazi and Liz Paola Doldan, despachantes (dispatchers) operating in the tri-border area of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, and whose money laundering operation was estimated to have amassed hundreds of millions of dollars, were also sanctioned by the act.
Sanctions imposed through EO 13936
On August 7, 2020, the U.S. Department of Treasury sanctioned 11 individuals "for undermining Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
's autonomy and restricting the freedom of expression or assembly of the citizens of Hong Kong."
These sanctions were made pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13936, which was issued on July 14, 2020, by President Trump to declare a national emergency with respect to the situation in Hong Kong, where actions by China "fundamentally undermine Hong Kong's autonomy and democratic processes."
The sanctioned individuals are:
*Carrie Lam
Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor ( Cheng; ; born 13 May 1957) is a retired Hong Kong politician who served as the 4th Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2017 to 2022. She served as Chief Secretary for Administration between 2012 and 2017 and Secr ...
, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...
(HKSAR)
*Chris Tang
Chris Tang Ping-keung (; born 4 July 1965) is a Hong Kong law enforcement administrator, currently serving the Secretary for Security of Hong Kong since 25 June 2021. He previously served as the Commissioner of the Hong Kong Police Force from ...
, Commissioner of Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF)
*Eric Chan
Eric Chan Kwok-ki (; born 5 April 1959) is a Hong Kong politician who is the incumbent Chief Secretary for Administration since 1 July 2022. He was also the secretary-general of the Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the Hong Kong ...
, Secretary General, Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the HKSAR
*Erick Tsang
Erick Tsang Kwok-wai (; born 1 September 1963) is a Hong Kong government official. Since 2020, he has been Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, one of the principal officials of Hong Kong. Prior to that, he was Director of Immig ...
, HKSAR Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
*John Lee Ka-chiu
John Lee Ka-chiu ( zh, t=李家超; born 7 December 1957) is a Hong Kong politician and former police officer who is the 5th and current Chief Executive of Hong Kong.
Originally a police officer, Lee served as the Deputy Commissioner of the ...
, HKSAR Secretary for Security
*Luo Huining
Luo Huining (; born 5 October 1954) is a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party who is Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong. A native of Yiwu, Zhejiang, he was previously the Governor, then Party S ...
, Director of the Hong Kong Liaison Office
* Stephen Lo, former Commissioner of HKPF
* Teresa Cheng, HKSAR Secretary for Justice
*Xia Baolong
Xia Baolong (; born 2 December 1952) is a Chinese politician. Originally from Tianjin, Xia began his political career in the Communist Youth League. He served as the vice mayor of Tianjin, governor and Communist Party Secretary of Zhejiang provi ...
, Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council
*Zhang Xiaoming
Zhang Xiaoming (; born 3 September 1963) is a Chinese politician. He was the director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong and then of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, before being demoted to deputy direc ...
, deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council
*Zheng Yanxiong
Zheng Yanxiong (; born 25 August 1963) is a Chinese politician currently serving as director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong. Previously, he was the director of the Office for Safeguarding National Security ...
, Director, Office for Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong
Calls for additional sanctions
In September 2017, a group of NGOs and anti-corruption organizations identified 15 international cases where alleged crimes were committed. Individuals from countries, including Azerbaijan, Bahrain, China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Liberia, Mexico, Panama, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam, were nominated for sanctions.
In December 2017, Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain stated that,The Trump Administration has failed to take up cases presented regarding serious human rights abuses
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hum ...
committed by Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
i government officials. Ultimately, there were no individuals or entities from any Arab League
The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...
member state designated in the Global Magnitsky Act’s first list of designees, despite the submission of eligible cases.
In August 2018, Senator Marco Rubio
Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 28, 1971) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States senator from Florida, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Speaker of the Florida Hous ...
and a bipartisan group of 16 other members of Congress urged the United States to impose sanctions under the ''Global Magnitsky Act'' against Chinese officials
The scholar-officials, also known as literati, scholar-gentlemen or scholar-bureaucrats (), were government officials and prestigious scholars in Chinese society, forming a distinct social class.
Scholar-officials were politicians and governmen ...
responsible for human rights abuses
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hum ...
against the Uyghur Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
minority in Xinjiang
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
. In December 2019, the ''Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act
The ''Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020'' (S. 3744) is a United States federal law that requires various federal U.S. government bodies to report on human rights abuses by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese government agains ...
'' was passed in the House of Representatives, which calls for the imposition of sanctions under the ''Global Magnitsky Act''. The 2019 annual report of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China
The Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) is an independent agency of the U.S. government which monitors human rights and rule of law developments in the People's Republic of China. It was created in October 2001 under Title III of ...
called for Congress to consider sanctions against Chinese officials under the Global Magnitsky Act for crimes against humanity
Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...
.
On April 7, 2020, Rep. Chris Smith, called on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
Michael Richard Pompeo (; born December 30, 1963) is an American politician, diplomat, and businessman who served under President Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 2017 to 2018 and as the 70th United State ...
to form a task force "to identify and investigate" Chinese government officials for their role in allegedly silencing doctors and journalists who have spoken out about China's response to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. Further, Smith suggested that the U.S. apply the Global Magnitsky Act to target specific Chinese officials involved in going after whistleblowers, without punishing the country as a whole.
On December 15, 2021, 18 United States senators co-signed a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken
Antony John Blinken (born April 16, 1962) is an American government official and diplomat serving as the 71st United States secretary of state since January 26, 2021. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and ...
and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen
Janet Louise Yellen (born August 13, 1946) is an American economist serving as the 78th United States secretary of the treasury since January 26, 2021. She previously served as the 15th chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018. Yellen is t ...
, asking them to sanction the NSO Group
NSO Group Technologies (NSO standing for Niv, Shalev and Omri, the names of the company's founders) is an Israeli cyber-intelligence firm primarily known for its proprietary spyware Pegasus, which is capable of remote zero-click surveillance o ...
under the Magnitsky Act, due to the Israeli firm's controversy regarding its Pegasus
Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...
smartphone spyware product.
Similar laws in other jurisdictions
Canadian Magnitsky Law
In March 2015, the parliament of Canada passed an initial motion towards passing such a law. Canada's Sergei Magnitsky Law'','' officially the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act
Magnitsky legislation refers to laws providing for governmental sanctions against foreign individuals who have committed human rights abuses or been involved in significant corruption. They originated with the United States which passed the firs ...
, received royal assent and was passed into law on October 18, 2017. The Act is regulated by the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Regulations.[Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act]
" ''Canada's International Relations''. Ottawa: Government of Canada. October 16, 2019. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
On November 29, 2018, Canada amended the Regulations to include 17 foreign nationals from Saudi Arabia, who were accused of being responsible for or complicit in gross violations of internationally recognized human rights, particularly the torture and extrajudicial killing
An extrajudicial killing (also known as extrajudicial execution or extralegal killing) is the deliberate killing of a person without the lawful authority granted by a judicial proceeding. It typically refers to government authorities, whether ...
of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi
Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi (; ar, جمال أحمد خاشقجي, Jamāl ʾAḥmad Ḵāšuqjī, ; 13 October 1958 – 2 October 2018) was a Saudi journalist, dissident, author, columnist for ''Middle East Eye'' and ''The Washington Post'', and a ge ...
.
In Europe
In March 2019, the European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
passed a resolution 447–70 in favor of passing a ''Magnitsky Act'' for the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
. In her September 2020 State of the European Union
The State of the Union address, also known as the State of the European Union or SOTEU, is the annual speech addressed by the President of the European Commission to the European Parliament plenary session in September. The State of the Union ...
address, Ursula von der Leyen
Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (; Albrecht, born 8 October 1958) is a German politician who has been serving as the president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the Cabinet of Germany, German federal government between 2005 an ...
stated that one of the European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
's goals was passing a European Magnitsky Act. The EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime
The European Union, EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Mechanism is a mechanism of the Council of the European Union to punish personnel from non-EU countries responsible for gross violations of human rights. Inspired by the Global Magnitsky Act in ...
was enacted in 2020.
On 6 July 2020, United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab
Dominic Rennie Raab (; born 25 February 1974) is a British politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Secretary of State for Justice, and Lord Chancellor since October 2022, having previously served from 2021 to ...
announced the first sanctions under a law similar to the Global Magnitsky Act, where 47 individuals came under travel restrictions and asset freezes. The regulations were meant to give the government a power to impose sanctions on those involved in the worst human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
abuses around the world.
See also
*Dima Yakovlev Law
The Dima Yakovlev Law (russian: Закон Димы Яковлева), Dima Yakovlev Bill, Dima Yakovlev Act, anti-Magnitsky law, or Law of Scoundrels (officially Federal Law of 28 December 2012 No.272-FZ "On Sanctions for Individuals Violating F ...
*International sanctions during the Ukrainian crisis
International sanctions have been imposed against Russia and Crimea during the Russo-Ukrainian War by a large number of countries, including the United States, Canada, the European Union, and international organisations following the Russia ...
*Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act
The Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) is a United States federal law that imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea, and Russia. The bill was passed by the Senate on July 27, 2017, 98–2, after it passed the House 419 ...
*''The Magnitsky Act – Behind the Scenes
''The Magnitsky Act – Behind the Scenes'' is a 2016 documentary directed by Andrei Nekrasov, concerning the 2009 death in a Moscow prison cell, after 11 months in police custody, of 37-year-old Russian tax accountant Sergei Magnitsky. In 2007 ...
'' (2016 documentary film)
*Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act
The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019 (HKHRDA)Naomi Xu ElegantThe U.S. Senate Passed 2 Bills Supporting Hong Kong Protesters. But They Might Do More Harm Than Good, ''Fortune'' (November 20, 2019). (; ) is a United States federal ...
*Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act
The ''Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020'' (S. 3744) is a United States federal law that requires various federal U.S. government bodies to report on human rights abuses by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese government agains ...
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
External links
*
Magnitsky Act
PDFdetails
as amended in the GPO GPO may refer to:
Government and politics
* General Post Office, Dublin
* General Post Office, in Britain
* Social Security Government Pension Offset, a provision reducing benefits
* Government Pharmaceutical Organization, a Thai state enterpris ...
br>Statute Compilations collection
Magnitsky Act
as enacted in the US Statutes at Large
H.R. 6156: Russia and Moldova Jackson–Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012
{{authority control
Sanctions legislation
United States sanctions
Sanctions against Russia
Russia–United States relations