[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 81 Reported in Senate (RS)]
<DOC>
Calendar No. 104
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 81
Calling for accountability and justice for the assassination of Boris
Nemtsov.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 27, 2019
Mr. Rubio (for himself, Mr. Coons, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Johnson,
Mr. Gardner, and Mr. Cardin) submitted the following resolution; which
was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
June 3, 2019
Reported by Mr. Risch, with an amendment and an amendment to the
preamble
[Strike out all after the resolving clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
[Strike the preamble and insert the part printed in italic]
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Calling for accountability and justice for the assassination of Boris
Nemtsov.
Whereas Boris Nemtsov was a Russian statesman, who over twenty-five years of
public service served as Member of Parliament, Governor of the Nizhny
Novgorod Region, and First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia;
Whereas Boris Nemtsov throughout his life 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 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, 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 and General Viktor
Zolotov;
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 twenty-seventh annual session held on July 7-11, 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 Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, 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
Whereas Boris Nemtsov was a Russian statesman, who over twenty-five years of
public service served as Member of Parliament, Governor of the Nizhny
Novgorod Region, and First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia;
Whereas Boris Nemtsov throughout his life 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 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 Viktor 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 twenty-seventh annual session held on July 7-11, 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, D.C. 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 Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, 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 Senate--
<DELETED> (1) commemorates the life of Russian opposition
leader Boris Nemtsov and his work to advance democracy and
human rights in Russia;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) condemns Vladimir Putin and his regime for
targeting political opponents and working to cover up the
assassination of Boris Nemtsov;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) 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;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (4) supports the efforts by the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe and its Parliamentary
Assembly to initiate oversight of the official Russian
investigation into the assassination of Boris
Nemtsov;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (5) 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 Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe and the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe in their ongoing inquiries over this
case;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (6) 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 (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; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (7) 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.</DELETED>
That the Senate--
(1) commemorates the life of Russian opposition leader
Boris Nemtsov and his work to advance democracy and human
rights in Russia;
(2) condemns Vladimir Putin and his regime for targeting
political opponents and working to cover up the assassination
of Boris Nemtsov;
(3) 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;
(4) supports the efforts by the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe and its Parliamentary Assembly to
initiate oversight of the official Russian investigation into
the assassination of Boris Nemtsov;
(5) 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 Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe and the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe in their ongoing inquiries over this case;
(6) 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; 22 U.S.C. 5811 note) 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;
(7) 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
(8) 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).
Calendar No. 104
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 81
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Calling for accountability and justice for the assassination of Boris
Nemtsov.
_______________________________________________________________________
June 3, 2019
Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the preamble