110 HCON 151 : Noting the disturbing pattern of killings
U.S. House of Representatives
2007-06-19
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EN
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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
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.
Lorraine C. Miller,
Clerk.