[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 151 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 151


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 19, 2007

      Received and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
   Noting the disturbing pattern of killings of numerous independent 
journalists in Russia since 2000, and urging Russian President Vladimir 
 Putin to authorize cooperation with outside investigators in solving 
                             those murders.

Whereas Paul Klebnikov, the editor of the Russian version of Forbes Magazine, 
        who was investigating suspect business dealings and corruption cases in 
        Russia, was shot to death in Moscow on July 9, 2004;
Whereas Mr. Klebnikov's murder remains unsolved;
Whereas Anna Politkovskaya, an acclaimed Russian journalist and human rights 
        activist who wrote numerous

              

 articles critical of Russia's prosecution of the war in Chechnya, of human 
rights abuses by the Russian government and of Russian President Vladimir 
Putin was shot to death in Moscow on October 7, 2006;

Whereas Ms. Politkovskaya's murder remains unsolved;
Whereas Ivan Safronov, a military affairs reporter for the Russian newspaper 
        ``Kommersant'' who wrote articles criticizing the failure of Russian 
        military programs and who was planning to report on potential Russian 
        arms sales to Middle Eastern countries, including to state sponsors of 
        terrorism Iran and Syria, died in mysterious circumstances, falling five 
        stories from a window in the stairwell of his apartment building in 
        Moscow on March 2, 2007;
Whereas, Russian prosecutors subsequently suggested that Mr. Safronov may have 
        committed suicide, although he left no suicide note and the 
        circumstances surrounding his death raised unanswered questions;
Whereas the cause of Mr. Safronov's death remains undetermined;
Whereas, according to Reporters Without Borders, twenty-one reporters have been 
        murdered in Russia since March 2000 and many of those murders remain 
        unsolved;
Whereas, according to Reporters Without Borders, Russia was one of the six most 
        dangerous countries for journalists to work in during 2006;
Whereas a number of those reporters who were murdered had reported on alleged 
        corruption, malfeasance and other controversies at the federal, 
        provincial and local levels of government in Russia;
Whereas a number of those murdered had reported on alleged human rights abuses 
        by the Russian Government;
Whereas a number of those murdered had reported on the Russian government's 
        conduct of the war in Chechnya, which has involved numerous allegations 
        of gross human rights violations and corruption;
Whereas, if journalists are killed or silenced through undue pressure with 
        impunity, a vibrant and participatory civil society sector cannot emerge 
        and democratic developments are stalled; and
Whereas, according to the President of the International News Safety Institute, 
        ``murder has become the easiest, cheapest and most effective way of 
        silencing troublesome reporting, and the more the killers get away with 
        it the more the spiral of death is forced upwards'': Now, therefore, be 
        it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),  
That Congress--
            (1) recalls the essential role that transparency and the 
        free flow of information play in creating and preserving 
        democratic institutions and civil society in any country;
            (2) recognizes the vital contribution made by independent 
        journalists in Russia in bringing transparency and a free flow 
        of information to readers after decades of Communist censorship 
        and repression;
            (3) notes the disturbing trend of murders of independent 
        journalists in Russia over the last decade;
            (4) encourages the President of the United States to 
        formally offer Russian President Vladimir Putin and other 
        officials of the Russian Government United States Government 
        law enforcement investigative assistance to help identify and 
        bring to justice those responsible for the many unsolved 
        murders of journalists in Russia during the past decade; and
            (5) urges President Putin to seek out competent, outside 
        law enforcement assistance in the investigation of the unsolved 
        murders of numerous independent journalists in Russia.

            Passed the House of Representatives June 18, 2007.

            Attest:

                                            LORRAINE C. MILLER,

                                                                 Clerk.