[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 7 Reported in Senate (RS)]
<DOC>
Calendar No. 52
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. CON. RES. 7
Condemning Russia's unjust and arbitrary detention of Russian
opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza who has stood up in defense of
democracy, the rule of law, and free and fair elections in Russia.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 23, 2023
Mr. Cardin (for himself, Mr. Wicker, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Durbin, Mr.
Kaine, Mr. Markey, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Coons, Mr. Hickenlooper, and Mr.
Menendez) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
May 4, 2023
Reported by Mr. Menendez, 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]
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Condemning Russia's unjust and arbitrary detention of Russian
opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza who has stood up in defense of
democracy, the rule of law, and free and fair elections in Russia.
Whereas, on April 11, 2022, Vladimir Kara-Murza was unjustly detained by Russian
authorities for spreading supposedly ``false information'' in a speech
in March 2022 to the Arizona House of Representatives;
Whereas Mr. Kara-Murza in his March 15, 2022, speech presented a defiant
condemnation of Vladimir Putin's policies and leadership outlining his
corruption and malign intentions, and condemning the illegal war of
aggression Putin has unleashed against Ukraine;
Whereas, prior to his arrest in April 2022, Mr. Kara-Murza was poisoned twice by
agents of the Russian Government and the Russian Federation in 2015 and
2017 with a military-grade agent banned internationally, likely in
retaliation for his defiant stance in support of rule of law and
democracy in Russia;
Whereas, despite having survived two assassination attempts and the subsequent
side effects of these poisonings, Mr. Kara-Murza regularly returned to
Russia to advocate for democratic representation in Russia;
Whereas Mr. Kara-Murza has consistently advocated for democracy in Russia and
insisted that democracy in Russia must be advanced by Russians for all
those living in Russia;
Whereas, in August 2022, new charges were brought against Mr. Kara-Murza for
``carrying out the activities'' of an ``undesirable foreign
organization'' and his arrest was extended for his work as a leading
member of Russian civil society;
Whereas, in October 2022, Mr. Kara-Murza was further charged unjustly with
``high treason'' in part due to his public condemnations of the
Kremlin's military aggression on Ukraine and domestic repressions;
Whereas Mr. Kara-Murza remains in pretrial detention and faces a prison sentence
of up to 24 years on high treason and other charges;
Whereas the state of Mr. Kara-Murza's health has deteriorated and in addition to
losing over 45 pounds, he was diagnosed with polyneuropathy, a condition
that under Russian law should preclude him from his current detainment;
Whereas, as a result of his diagnosis, he has lost feeling in both his feet and
has experienced symptoms similar to those he experienced following his
2015 poisoning due to peripheral nerve damage;
Whereas section 5599F of the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act
for Fiscal Year 2023 (Public Law 117-263) condemned Mr. Kara-Murza's
unjust detention, expressed solidarity with Mr. Kara-Murza, his family,
and all individuals imprisoned in Russia for their beliefs, and urged
the United States and other ally governments to work to secure the
release of Mr. Kara-Murza and other citizens of the Russian Federation
imprisoned for opposition to Vladimir Putin's regime and his illegal war
in Ukraine;
Whereas, in April 2022, Vladimir Kara-Murza was presented the McCain Institute's
Courage and Leadership Award for his unwavering commitment to
fundamental values and his acts of selfless courage which have inspired
the world;
Whereas, in October 2022, Mr. Kara-Murza was awarded the Vaclav Havel Prize
honoring outstanding civil society action in defense of human rights;
Whereas the late Senator John McCain said Mr. Kara-Murza ``is a brave,
outspoken, and relentless advocate for freedom and democracy in Russia''
and introduced Mr. Kara-Murza as ``a personal hero whose courage,
selflessness, and idealism I find awe-inspiring'';
Whereas, in March 2023, the Department of the Treasury and the Department of
State imposed Global Magnitsky and other targeted sanctions on six
Russians involved in Mr. Kara-Murza's ongoing arbitrary detention,
recognized his role as ``a major advocate for the adoption of Magnitsky-
style sanctions authorities by the United States, Canada, European
Union, and United Kingdom to target human rights abusers and corrupt
actors in Russia'', and called for his immediate release; and
Whereas Mr. Kara-Murza remains a political prisoner and a victim of Vladimir
Putin's authoritarian state: Now, therefore, be it
Whereas, on April 11, 2022, Vladimir Kara-Murza was unjustly detained by Russian
authorities for spreading supposedly ``false information'' in a speech
in March 2022 to the Arizona House of Representatives;
Whereas, on February 24, 2022, Vladimir Putin launched another unprovoked,
unjustified, and illegal invasion into Ukraine in contravention of the
obligations freely undertaken by the Russian Federation to respect the
territorial integrity of Ukraine under the Budapest Memorandum of 1994,
the Minsk protocols of 2014 and 2015, and international law;
Whereas, since February 24, 2022, Mr. Kara-Murza has used his voice and platform
to join more than 15,000 citizens of the Russian Federation in
peacefully protesting the war against Ukraine and millions more who
silently oppose the war;
Whereas, on March 5, 2022, Vladimir Putin signed a law criminalizing the
distribution of truthful statements about the invasion of Ukraine by the
Russian Federation and mandating up to 15 years in prison for such
offenses;
Whereas Mr. Kara-Murza, in his March 15, 2022, speech presented a defiant
condemnation of Vladimir Putin's policies and leadership outlining his
corruption and malign intentions, and condemning the illegal war of
aggression Putin has unleashed against Ukraine;
Whereas, prior to his arrest in April 2022, Mr. Kara-Murza was poisoned twice by
agents of the Russian government and the Russian Federation in 2015 and
2017 with a military-grade agent banned internationally, likely in
retaliation for his defiant stance in support of rule of law and
democracy in Russia;
Whereas, despite having survived two assassination attempts and the subsequent
side effects of these poisonings, Mr. Kara-Murza regularly returned to
Russia to advocate for democratic representation in Russia;
Whereas independent investigations conducted by Bellingcat, the Insider, and Der
Spiegel found that the same unit of the Federal Security Service of the
Russian Federation responsible for poisoning Mr. Kara-Murza was also
responsible for poisoning Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and
activists Timur Kuashev, Ruslan Magomedragimov, and Nikita Isayev;
Whereas Mr. Kara-Murza has consistently advocated for democracy in Russia and
insisted that democracy in Russia must be advanced by Russians for all
those living in Russia;
Whereas, on May 26, 2022, the United States Senate unanimously agreed to Senate
Resolution 632 (117th Congress) calling for the immediate release of Mr.
Kara-Murza, Alexei Navalny, and other citizens of the Russian Federation
imprisoned for opposing the regime of Vladimir Putin and the war against
Ukraine;
Whereas, on July 27, 2022, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation
charged Mr. Kara-Murza for his engagements with Free Russia Foundation
and Open Russia, both of which are nongovernmental organizations
targeted by the law of the Russian Federation on undesirable
organizations;
Whereas, in August 2022, new charges were brought against Mr. Kara-Murza for
``carrying out the activities'' of an ``undesirable foreign
organization'' and his arrest was extended for his work as a leading
member of Russian civil society;
Whereas, in October 2022, Mr. Kara-Murza was further charged unjustly with
``high treason'' due to his public condemnations of the Kremlin's
military aggression on Ukraine and domestic repressions;
Whereas, on April 17, 2023, Mr. Kara-Murza was sentenced to 25 years in prison,
one of the highest sentences given to any Russian opposition figure;
Whereas, since Mr. Kara-Murza's arrest, the state of his health has deteriorated
and in addition to losing over 45 pounds, he was diagnosed with
polyneuropathy, a condition that under Russian law, should preclude him
from incarceration;
Whereas, as a result of his diagnosis, he has lost feeling in both his feet and
has experienced symptoms similar to those he experienced following his
2015 poisoning due to peripheral nerve damage;
Whereas section 5599F of the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act
for Fiscal Year 2023 (Public Law 117-263) condemned Mr. Kara-Murza's
unjust detention, expressed solidarity with Mr. Kara-Murza, his family,
and all individuals imprisoned in Russia for their beliefs, and urged
the United States and other ally governments to work to secure the
release of Mr. Kara-Murza and other citizens of the Russian Federation
imprisoned for opposition to Vladimir Putin's regime and his illegal war
in Ukraine;
Whereas, in April 2022, Vladimir Kara-Murza was presented the McCain Institute's
Courage and Leadership Award for his unwavering commitment to
fundamental values and his acts of selfless courage which have inspired
the world;
Whereas, in October 2022, Mr. Kara-Murza was awarded the Vaclav Havel Prize
honoring outstanding civil society action in defense of human rights;
Whereas the late Senator John McCain said Mr. Kara-Murza ``is a brave,
outspoken, and relentless advocate for freedom and democracy in Russia''
and introduced Mr. Kara-Murza as ``a personal hero whose courage,
selflessness and idealism I find awe-inspiring'';
Whereas, in March 2023, the Department of the Treasury and the Department of
State imposed Global Magnitsky and other targeted sanctions on six
Russians involved in Mr. Kara-Murza's ongoing arbitrary detention,
recognized his role as ``a major advocate for the adoption of Magnitsky-
style sanctions authorities by the United States, Canada, European
Union, and United Kingdom to target human rights abusers and corrupt
actors in Russia,'' and called for his immediate release;
Whereas, in April 2023, 81 Members of Congress sent a letter to Secretary of
State Anthony Blinken urging that Mr. Kara-Murza be designated under the
Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act
(22 U.S.C. 1741 et seq.) as ``unlawfully and wrongfully detained''; and
Whereas Mr. Kara-Murza remains a political prisoner and a victim of Vladimir
Putin's authoritarian state: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring),
That Congress--
<DELETED> (1) condemns in the strongest possible terms the
unjust and arbitrary detention of Russian democratic opposition
leader Vladimir Kara-Murza;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) calls on the Russian Federation to immediately
release Mr. Kara-Murza and all other Russian opposition leaders
who are detained as a result of their opposition to the Putin
regime;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) calls on all Russian citizens to outright
condemn Russia's illegal and unjust invasion of Ukraine in the
spirit of Mr. Kara-Murza's defiant opposition stance in front
of the Arizona House of Representatives in March
2022;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (4) expresses solidarity and calls for the release
of all political prisoners in Russia and Belarus as well as
Ukrainian citizens illegally held as prisoners by Putin's
regime in violation of the rule of law as a result of their
support for liberal democratic values; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (5) calls on the President of the United States
and leaders from across the free world to work tirelessly for
the release of political prisoners in Russia and increase
support for those advocating for democracy in Russia as well as
independent media and civil society which Mr. Kara-Murza has
worked to further.</DELETED>
That Congress--
(1) condemns in the strongest possible terms the unjust and
arbitrary detention of Russian democratic opposition leader
Vladimir Kara-Murza;
(2) calls on the Russian Federation to immediately release
Mr. Kara-Murza and all other Russian opposition leaders,
including Alexei Navalny, who are detained as a result of their
opposition to the Putin regime;
(3) calls on all Russian citizens to outright condemn
Russia's illegal and unjust invasion of Ukraine in the spirit
of Mr. Kara-Murza's defiant stance in front of the Arizona
House of Representatives in March 2022;
(4) expresses solidarity with and calls for the release of
all political prisoners in Russia and Belarus, as well as
Ukrainian citizens illegally held as prisoners by Putin's
regime in violation of the rule of law as a result of their
support for liberal democratic values; and
(5) calls on the President of the United States and leaders
from across the free world to work tirelessly for the release
of political prisoners in Russia and increase support for those
advocating for democracy in Russia, as well as independent
media and civil society which Mr. Kara-Murza has worked to
further.
Calendar No. 52
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. CON. RES. 7
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Condemning Russia's unjust and arbitrary detention of Russian
opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza who has stood up in defense of
democracy, the rule of law, and free and fair elections in Russia.
_______________________________________________________________________
May 4, 2023
Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the preamble