[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 156 Engrossed in House (EH)]

<DOC>
H. Res. 156

                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                        March 12, 2019.
Whereas Boris Nemtsov was a Russian statesman who, over 25 years of public 
        service, served as a Member of Parliament, Governor of the Nizhny 
        Novgorod Region, and First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia;
Whereas throughout his life, Boris Nemtsov showed an unwavering commitment to 
        the ideals of democracy, freedom, and the rule of law, and to upholding 
        the rights and dignity of Russian citizens;
Whereas Boris Nemtsov was a powerful voice in opposition to the authoritarianism 
        and corruption of Vladimir Putin's government, publicizing its abuses, 
        leading street protests against election fraud and the war on Ukraine, 
        and successfully advocating for international sanctions on human rights 
        violators;
Whereas Boris Nemtsov was co-chairman of a leading opposition party, won 
        election to the Yaroslavl Regional Duma in 2013, and was planning to run 
        for the Russian Parliament in 2016 and challenge Vladimir Putin for the 
        Presidency in 2018;
Whereas, on the evening of February 27, 2015, Boris Nemtsov was shot in the back 
        and killed as he walked across Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge near the 
        Kremlin in Moscow;
Whereas, on March 7 and 8, 2015, Russian authorities arrested five individuals, 
        all of them natives of the Chechen Republic, on suspicion of carrying 
        out the assassination, while a sixth suspect allegedly blew himself up 
        during the attempted arrest;
Whereas the defendants were tried at the Moscow District Military Court, which 
        on June 29, 2017, found them guilty of carrying out the assassination of 
        Boris Nemtsov, and on July 13, 2017, sentenced them to different prison 
        terms;
Whereas at the time of the assassination, the now-convicted gunman, Zaur 
        Dadayev, was serving as a Lieutenant in the Internal Troops of the 
        Interior Ministry of the Russian Federation and as Deputy Battalion 
        Commander in the ``Sever'' (``North'') Regiment stationed in the Chechen 
        Republic, under the command of the Internal Troops Commander, General 
        Viktor Zolotov, and the Kremlin-backed head of the Chechen Republic, 
        Ramzan Kadyrov;
Whereas Ramzan Kadyrov has called Lieutenant Zaur Dadayev a ``true patriot'' and 
        has publicly referred to Boris Nemtsov as an ``enemy of Russia'';
Whereas by Decree No. 115 issued on March 8, 2015, President Vladimir Putin 
        awarded Ramzan Kadyrov the Order of Honor;
Whereas according to reports published in the RosBusinessConsulting (RBC) 
        newspaper on January 20, 2016, General Alexander Bastrykin, chairman of 
        the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, has on two 
        occasions prevented investigators from indicting Major Ruslan Geremeyev, 
        Battalion Commander in the ``Sever'' (``North'') Regiment of the 
        Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian 
        Federation stationed in the Chechen Republic and a close associate of 
        Ramzan Kadyrov and Russian State Duma Member Adam Delimkhanov, as an 
        organizer in the assassination;
Whereas according to reports published in Novaya Gazeta newspaper on December 9, 
        2016, operatives of the Federal Security Service of the Russian 
        Federation in the Chechen Republic have failed to serve Major Ruslan 
        Geremeyev with a summons for questioning as a witness, reporting to 
        their superiors that on the sole occasion they attempted to do so, 
        ``nobody opened the door'';
Whereas despite requests from the legal team representing Boris Nemtsov's 
        family, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation and the 
        Moscow District Military Court have refused to question high-ranking 
        persons of interest, including Ramzan Kadyrov, General Victor Zolotov, 
        and Adam Delimkhanov;
Whereas the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation has, to this day, 
        not issued any indictments against the organizers or masterminds of the 
        assassination of Boris Nemtsov, with the exception of Major Ruslan 
        Geremeyev's driver, Ruslan Mukhudinov, who is named alongside ``other 
        unidentified persons'';
Whereas the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation and the Moscow 
        District Military Court have refused to classify the assassination of 
        Boris Nemtsov under Article 277 of the Criminal Code as ``encroachment 
        on the life of a statesman or a public figure,'' choosing instead 
        Article 105 that deals with common domestic murders;
Whereas throughout the proceedings at the Moscow District Military Court, the 
        judge repeatedly disallowed questions relating to political motives 
        behind the assassination;
Whereas the Federal Protective Service of the Russian Federation has refused to 
        release video footage from the security cameras on Bolshoi Moskvoretsky 
        Bridge from the night of the assassination, claiming in a letter to 
        State Duma Member Dmitry Gudkov on November 6, 2015, that the bridge 
        next to the Kremlin is ``not a protected object'';
Whereas, on May 18, 2017, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe 
        appointed Lithuanian Member of Parliament Emanuelis Zingeris as its 
        special rapporteur on the need to shed light on the background of the 
        murder of Boris Nemtsov, with a mandate to review and report on the case 
        and on the progress of the official Russian investigation;
Whereas, on May 24, 2018, the Russian Foreign Ministry informed Emanuelis 
        Zingeris that he is forbidden from entering the Russian Federation;
Whereas, at its 27th annual session held on July 7 through 11, 2018, the 
        Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation 
        in Europe (OSCE) adopted a resolution urging Russian authorities to 
        ``undertake a new, full and thorough investigation into the February 
        2015 assassination of Boris Nemtsov'';
Whereas, on July 8, 2018, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for 
        Security and Cooperation in Europe held a public event to discuss the 
        need for OSCE oversight of the official Russian investigation into the 
        assassination of Boris Nemtsov;
Whereas the United States and the Russian Federation are full members of the 
        Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe;
Whereas the OSCE Moscow Document has established that ``issues relating to human 
        rights, fundamental freedoms, democracy and the rule of law * * * are 
        matters of direct and legitimate concern to all participating States and 
        do not belong exclusively to the internal affairs of the State 
        concerned'';
Whereas, on February 27, 2018, Washington, DC, designated the street in front of 
        the Embassy of the Russian Federation as ``Boris Nemtsov Plaza'' to 
        honor Mr. Nemtsov; and
Whereas, on February 22, 2019, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of 
        the OSCE, George Tsereteli, appointed Swedish Member of Parliament and 
        Vice President of the Assembly Margareta Cederfelt as the rapporteur on 
        the investigation of the assassination of Boris Nemtsov, with a mandate 
        to review and report on the case and on the progress of the official 
        Russian investigation: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns Vladimir Putin and his regime for targeting political 
        opponents and covering up the assassination of Boris Nemtsov, a Russian 
        opposition leader who worked to advance democracy and human rights in 
        Russia;
            (2) urges the United States Government, in all its interactions with 
        the Government of the Russian Federation, to raise the case of the 
        assassination of Boris Nemtsov and underscore the necessity of bringing 
        the organizers and masterminds to justice;
            (3) supports the efforts by the Organization for Security and 
        Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and its Parliamentary Assembly to initiate 
        oversight of the official Russian investigation into the assassination 
        of Boris Nemtsov;
            (4) calls on the Government of the Russian Federation to allow an 
        impartial international investigation of the assassination of Boris 
        Nemtsov and to cooperate with the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE and 
        the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in their ongoing 
        inquiries over this case;
            (5) calls on the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the 
        Treasury to use their authority under the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law 
        Accountability Act of 2012 (title IV of Public Law 112-208) and the 
        Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F of title 
        XII of Public Law 114-328) to designate individuals whom they determine 
        to have been involved in the assassination of Boris Nemtsov as 
        perpetrators, organizers, or masterminds, on the list of specially 
        designated nationals and blocked persons maintained by the Office of 
        Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury, freezing their 
        assets and making them ineligible to receive United States visas;
            (6) calls on the Secretary of State, in consultation with the 
        Director of National Intelligence, to prepare and submit to Congress a 
        report detailing the circumstances of the February 27, 2015, 
        assassination of Boris Nemtsov, including the list of individuals whom 
        they determine to have been involved in the assassination as 
        perpetrators, organizers, or masterminds, and identifying what measures, 
        if any, have been taken by the Government of the Russian Federation to 
        investigate this crime and bring its perpetrators, organizers, and 
        masterminds to justice, and evaluating the effectiveness of such 
        measures; and
            (7) urges the Secretary of State to take all possible steps to--
                    (A) investigate the business activities of Ramzan Kadyrov 
                and any entities controlled by Ramzan Kadyrov outside the 
                Russian Federation; and
                    (B) determine whether any such activities, or any entities 
                facilitating such activities, are in violation of the sanctions 
                imposed on Ramzan Kadyrov pursuant to the authorities provided 
                by the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012 
                (title IV of Public Law 112-208; 22 U.S.C. 5811 note).
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.