The congressmen presented a document on introduction of personal sanctions for human rights violations under the Magnitsky Act.
The U.S. Congress presented a resolution calling on the administration to impose sanctions on Russian officials involved in human rights violations in Russia. This was reported by the press service of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The resolution was submitted to the U.S. legislature by the Committee’s chairman, member of the Democratic Party Eliot Angel, and senior Republican Michael McCall. The sanctions are proposed to be introduced, in particular, in the framework of the “Magnitsky Act”.
In addition, the document condemns the “practice of politically motivated” arrests. The resolution’s authors also call for “immediate release of all those who are called political prisoners in Russia.
“The Magnitsky Act” was adopted by the US Congress and signed by President Barack Obama in December 2012. The document envisages the application of sanctions measures against a number of Russian officials. Among them are members of the law enforcement agencies involved in the November 2009 death of Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky at the Matrosskaya Silence Detention Center in Moscow.
As a reminder, a year ago, the U.S. Treasury Department included the Chechen Rapid Response Team Terek and five Russian citizens in the list of sanctions under the Magnitsky Act.
Russia said it contradicts the principles of international law and promised to take reciprocal measures.