[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 93 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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, and Mr. Isakson) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign
Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
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.
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