[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 93 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 93

 Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the courageous work and 
  life of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, and calling for a 
swift and transparent investigation into his tragic murder in Moscow on 
                           February 27, 2015.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 2, 2015

  Mr. Johnson (for himself, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. Ayotte, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. 
 Durbin, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Cotton, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Kirk, Mr. 
 Cardin, Mr. Corker, Mr. Risch, Mr. Markey, Mr. Coons, Mr. Murphy, Mr. 
    Blumenthal, Mr. Gardner, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Isakson, and Mr. Burr) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                          on Foreign Relations

                             March 10, 2015

             Committee discharged; considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the courageous work and 
  life of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, and calling for a 
swift and transparent investigation into his tragic murder in Moscow on 
                           February 27, 2015.

Whereas, on February 27, 2015, former deputy prime minister Boris Nemtsov was 
        shot four times in the back within view of the Kremlin and a few short 
        blocks from FSB headquarters in Russia's capital city Moscow;
Whereas Mr. Nemtsov dedicated his life to the cause of freedom and human rights 
        for the Russian people and sought to rid Russia's government of the 
        corruption that fuels authoritarianism;
Whereas President Barack Obama called Mr. Nemtsov a ``tireless advocate'' for 
        the rights of Russian citizens;
Whereas Prime Minister David Cameron said Mr. Nemtsov's ``life was dedicated to 
        speaking up tirelessly for the Russian people, to demanding their right 
        to democracy and liberty under the rule of law, and to an end to 
        corruption. He did so without fear, and never gave in to intimidation'';
Whereas, on March 1, 2015, over 50,000 people representing a wide range of 
        political parties and movements marched solemnly through Moscow to honor 
        Mr. Nemtsov's life, many holding signs saying ``I am not afraid'';
Whereas, before his death, Mr. Nemtsov planned to lead a Spring March on March 
        1, 2015, against the Russian military's presence in Ukraine;
Whereas, in the weeks prior to his death, Mr. Nemtsov had reportedly been 
        meeting with the families of Russian soldiers killed during Russia's 
        military operations in Ukraine;
Whereas Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Mr. Nemtsov planned to release 
        an investigative report showing proof of Russia's role in the Ukraine 
        crisis;
Whereas, two years ago, Mr. Nemtsov led the release of a report titled, ``Winter 
        Olympics in the Sub-Tropics: Corruption and Abuse in Sochi'', which 
        implicated Russian President Vladimir Putin in the estimated 
        $26,000,000,000 frittered away in ``embezzlement and kickbacks'';
Whereas Mr. Nemtsov said on Ekho Moskvy radio hours before his murder that 
        President Putin was inserting Russia into the ongoing conflict by his 
        ``mad, aggressive and deadly policy of war against Ukraine,'' and 
        asserted ``when power is concentrated in the hands of one person and 
        this person rules forever, this will lead to absolute catastrophe, 
        absolute'';
Whereas, according to Mr. Nemtsov's lawyer, Vadim Prokhorov, the activist 
        reported threats to his safety to police authorities who failed to 
        provide him with protection;
Whereas Mr. Nemtsov's associates, such as leading opposition figure Alexei 
        Navalny, stated that Mr. Nemtsov would have been under clear state 
        surveillance as he walked toward the Kremlin shortly before his murder;
Whereas Mr. Nemtsov was murdered in one of the most heavily secured areas of 
        Moscow;
Whereas opposition activist Ilya Yashin, commenting on the murder of Nemtsov, 
        stated that ``the atmosphere of hatred toward alternative thinkers that 
        has formed over the past year, since the annexation of Crimea, may have 
        played its role,'' referring to the surge of intense and officially 
        endorsed nationalist discourse in Russia since it annexed Ukraine's 
        Crimean Peninsula;
Whereas President Putin called critics of his government policy ``a fifth 
        column'' and ``national traitors,'' inviting violent attacks upon them;
Whereas President Putin warned publically in 2012, shortly after returning to 
        the Presidency, that his opponents were planning to stage a murder of 
        their own as a ``provocation'';
Whereas several prominent critics of President Putin and his government have 
        died gruesomely since he came to power as head of the Russian National 
        Security Service and through his current office of President;
Whereas, on September 21, 2000, Iskandar Khatloni, a reporter for the Tajik-
        language service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty who had been working 
        on stories about human rights abuses in Chechnya, was killed in his 
        apartment by an ax-wielding assailant;
Whereas, on August 21, 2002, Vladimir Golovlyov, leader of the Liberal Russia 
        faction in the lower house of parliament, was shot to death in a Moscow 
        park while walking his dog after accusing President Putin of autocratic 
        governance;
Whereas, on July 3, 2003, Yuri Shchekochikhin, a vocal opposition journalist and 
        member of the Russian Duma investigating the 1999 apartment bombings 
        that killed nearly 300 people, died 12 days after being hospitalized for 
        a mysterious illness, believed to be poison, before he could travel to 
        the United States to discuss Russian corruption cases with the Federal 
        Bureau of Investigation;
Whereas, on October 7, 2006, journalist and human rights activist Anna 
        Politkovskaya, an outspoken critic of the Kremlin, was shot and killed 
        in her Moscow apartment building;
Whereas, on November 3, 2006, Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB officer and 
        vocal critic of President Putin, was poisoned when radioactive polonium-
        210 was allegedly slipped into his tea as he met with two former Russian 
        security services men in a restaurant in a London hotel, and British 
        investigators have said they have evidence of Russian involvement in the 
        murder of Litvinenko;
Whereas, on August 31, 2008, Magomed Yevloyev, owner of a news site called 
        Ingushetiya, popular for its human rights and press freedom stories, 
        died from a gunshot wound to the head sustained while being transported 
        by regional Ingushetia police following his arrest at the airport in the 
        regional capital;
Whereas, on January 19, 2009, human rights lawyer Stanslav Markelov, who 
        defended opponents of the Government of the Russian Federation, was shot 
        dead by a man using a pistol in the middle of the afternoon on a busy 
        street in Moscow;
Whereas, on July 15, 2009, Russian human rights journalist and activist Natalia 
        Estemirova was abducted in front of her home in Grozny, Chechnya, taken 
        across the border into Ingushetia, shot, and dumped in a roadside 
        gutter;
Whereas, on November 16, 2009, after human rights lawyer Sergei Magnitsky was 
        jailed for uncovering $230,000,000 in tax fraud perpetuated by Russian 
        officials, died in prison after being beaten and enduring horrible 
        conditions and suffering from pancreatitis that did not receive adequate 
        medical care;
Whereas President Obama called for a ``prompt, impartial, and transparent'' 
        investigation to bring the perpetrators of Mr. Nemtsov's murder to 
        justice;
Whereas Secretary of State John Kerry stated ``We hope the authorities will join 
        the world in producing the credible, transparent investigation necessary 
        to find out who did--who was behind this and who did it.'';
Whereas Prime Minister Cameron stated that the callous murder must be ``fully, 
        rapidly and transparently investigated, and those responsible brought to 
        justice'';
Whereas suspicion of Russian authorities in Mr. Nemtsov's murder cannot be ruled 
        out given his criticism of the regime;
Whereas far too few of those responsible in the killings cited above have been 
        brought to justice, raising serious questions about the ability of 
        Russian authorities to conduct a credible investigation into Mr. 
        Nemtsov's murder;
Whereas impunity and lack of accountability prevail in the Russian Federation;
Whereas law enforcement, judicial, and investigative bodies are often used to 
        target political opponents and civil society in the Russian Federation 
        and thus lack the credibility to conduct an investigation themselves; 
        and
Whereas the Russian Federation is a member of both the Organization for the 
        Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe, and these 
        independent groups should be considered for investigation into Mr. 
        Nemtsov's murder in order to lend the investigation credibility: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) recognizes the courageous work of Russian opposition 
        leader Boris Nemtsov, who dedicated his life to the fight 
        against corruption and in support of the universal and 
        inalienable rights of the Russian people to freely choose their 
        leaders and live according to democratic standards;
            (2) calls for a swift and transparent investigation into 
        his tragic murder using mechanisms from either the Organization 
        for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) or the Council of 
        Europe, including allowing willing OSCE member states to invoke 
        the Moscow Mechanism, as was done with Belarus in 2011;
            (3) encourages the public release of all surveillance tapes 
        in the area surrounding the crime scene from different sources 
        and angles to aid in the investigation;
            (4) urges the President to add the names of persons that 
        Mr. Nemtsov requested be added to the visa ban list as provided 
        for by the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 
        2012 (title IV of Public Law 112-208; 126 Stat. 1502) and 
        continue to sanction human rights violators;
            (5) encourages the President to send a high level United 
        States delegation to Mr. Nemtsov's funeral service; and
            (6) calls on the President to significantly increase United 
        States Government support for like-minded partners in the 
        Russian Federation and the region to combat the flow of 
        propaganda and the climate of hatred created by President Putin 
        in the Russian Federation.
                                 <all>