[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 156 Reported in Senate (RS)]
<DOC>
Calendar No. 96
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 156
Calling on the Government of the Russian Federation to release United
States citizen Paul Whelan.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 30, 2023
Mr. Peters (for himself, Ms. Stabenow, and Mr. Cornyn) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign
Relations
June 13, 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]
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Calling on the Government of the Russian Federation to release United
States citizen Paul Whelan.
Whereas United States citizen Paul Whelan is a resident of Novi, Michigan, and a
veteran of the Marine Corps;
Whereas, on December 22, 2018, Paul Whelan traveled to Moscow, Russia, for the
wedding of a personal friend;
Whereas, on December 28, 2018, the Federal Security Service of the Russian
Federation arrested Paul Whelan at the Metropol Hotel in Moscow and
charged him with espionage;
Whereas the Federal Security Service has never provided any evidence of supposed
wrongdoing with respect to Paul Whelan;
Whereas Paul Whelan was imprisoned in Lefortovo Prison and was held in pretrial
detention at the prison for more than 19 months after his arrest;
Whereas a Moscow court extended Paul Whelan's pretrial detention multiple times
without publicly presenting justification or evidence of wrongdoing;
Whereas even Vladimir Zherebenkov, the lawyer appointed by the Federal Security
Service to represent Paul Whelan, said on May 24, 2019, ``[The Federal
Security Service] always roll[s] out what they have, but in this case,
we've seen nothing concrete against Whelan in five months. That means
there is nothing.'';
Whereas then-United States Ambassador to the Russian Federation, Jon Huntsman,
responded on April 12, 2019, to a question about the detention of Paul
Whelan, ``If the Russians have evidence, they should bring it forward.
We have seen nothing. If there was a case, I think the evidence would
have been brought forward by now.'';
Whereas then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov on May 14, 2019, and urged him to ensure United States
citizens are not unjustly held abroad;
Whereas the Kremlin has refused to provide Paul Whelan with full access to his
lawyer, and the so-called evidence against Paul Whelan and any evidence
he has seen is in Russian, a language Whelan does not read or speak;
Whereas the Lefortovo pretrial detention facility and the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs refused to provide medical treatment for Paul Whelan's medical
condition, despite being aware of its worsening state, resulting in
emergency surgery on May 29, 2020;
Whereas Paul Whelan was wrongfully convicted on June 15, 2020, and sentenced to
16 years in a Russian labor camp by a three-judge panel, in a trial
witnessed by United States Ambassador John Sullivan, who referred to the
trial as ``a mockery of justice'' due to the denial of a fair trial and
the exclusion of defense witnesses;
Whereas, in August 2020, on an unknown day, Paul Whelan was secretly transferred
to camp IK-17, a penal labor camp in Mordovia, Russia, where he is
forced to work 6 days a week in a garment factory;
Whereas Ambassador John Sullivan, while visiting Paul Whelan at the labor camp
in Mordovia, stated that ``Russian authorities . . . have never shown
the world evidence of his guilt,'' and reiterated his call for the
Russian authorities to correct this injustice and release Paul Whelan;
Whereas Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov on February 4, 2021, and urged him to release United
States citizens detained in the Russian Federation, including Paul
Whelan and Trevor Reed, so that they are able to return home to their
families in the United States;
Whereas, on July 23, 2021, the Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution
calling for the release of Whelan;
Whereas, in August 2021, Whelan was released from a month-long stay in a
solitary confinement at the IK-17 penal colony in the region of
Mordovia;
Whereas Secretary Blinken ``pressed'' the Kremlin to accept an offer by the
United States that would bring Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner home in
July 2022;
Whereas, in November 2022, Paul Whelan was unable to contact his family for more
than a week, during which time Russian authorities claimed Whelan had
been sent to the hospital;
Whereas Russian authorities refused to release Paul Whelan as part of the
prisoner exchange in December 2022;
Whereas Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated, ``His detention remains
unacceptable, and we continue to press for his immediate release at
every opportunity''; and
Whereas President Biden stated that his administration had ``not forgotten about
Paul Whelan,'' and promised to ``keep negotiating in good faith for his
release'': Now, therefore, be it
Whereas United States citizen Paul Whelan is a resident of Novi, Michigan, and a
veteran of the Marine Corps;
Whereas, on December 22, 2018, Paul Whelan traveled to Moscow, Russia, for the
wedding of a personal friend;
Whereas, on December 28, 2018, the Federal Security Service of the Russian
Federation arrested Paul Whelan at the Metropol Hotel in Moscow and
charged him with espionage;
Whereas the Federal Security Service has never provided any evidence of supposed
wrongdoing with respect to Paul Whelan;
Whereas Paul Whelan was imprisoned in Lefortovo Prison and was held in pretrial
detention at the prison for more than 19 months after his arrest;
Whereas a Moscow court extended Paul Whelan's pretrial detention multiple times
without publicly presenting justification or evidence of wrongdoing;
Whereas even Vladimir Zherebenkov, the lawyer appointed by the Federal Security
Service to represent Paul Whelan, said on May 24, 2019, ``[The Federal
Security Service] always roll[s] out what they have, but in this case,
we've seen nothing concrete against Whelan in five months. That means
there is nothing.'';
Whereas then-United States Ambassador to the Russian Federation, Jon Huntsman,
responded on April 12, 2019, to a question about the detention of Paul
Whelan, ``If the Russians have evidence, they should bring it forward.
We have seen nothing. If there was a case, I think the evidence would
have been brought forward by now.'';
Whereas then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov on May 14, 2019, and urged him to ensure United States
citizens are not unjustly held abroad;
Whereas the Kremlin has refused to provide Paul Whelan with full access to his
lawyer, and the so-called evidence against Paul Whelan and any evidence
he has seen is in Russian, a language Whelan does not read or speak;
Whereas the Lefortovo pretrial detention facility and the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs refused to provide medical treatment for Paul Whelan's medical
condition, despite being aware of its worsening state, resulting in
emergency surgery on May 29, 2020;
Whereas Paul Whelan was wrongfully convicted on June 15, 2020, and sentenced to
16 years in a Russian labor camp by a three-judge panel, in a trial
witnessed by then-United States Ambassador John Sullivan, who referred
to the trial as ``a mockery of justice'' due to the denial of a fair
trial and the exclusion of defense witnesses;
Whereas, in August 2020, on an unknown day, Paul Whelan was secretly transferred
to camp IK-17, a penal labor camp in Mordovia, Russia, where he is
forced to work 6 days a week in a garment factory;
Whereas then-Ambassador John Sullivan, while visiting Paul Whelan in September
2020 at the labor camp in Mordovia, stated that ``Russian authorities
... have never shown the world evidence of his guilt,'' and reiterated
his call for the Russian authorities to correct this injustice and
release Paul Whelan;
Whereas Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov on February 4, 2021, and urged him to release United
States citizens detained in the Russian Federation, including Paul
Whelan and Trevor Reed, so that they are able to return home to their
families in the United States;
Whereas, on July 23, 2021, the Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution
calling for Whelan's release;
Whereas, in August 2021, Whelan was released from a month-long stay in a
solitary confinement at the IK-17 penal colony in the region of
Mordovia;
Whereas Secretary Blinken pressed the Kremlin to accept an offer by the United
States that would bring Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner home in July
2022;
Whereas, in November 2022, Paul Whelan was unable to contact his family for more
than a week, during which time Russian authorities claimed Whelan had
been sent to the hospital;
Whereas Russian authorities refused to release Paul Whelan as part of prisoner
exchanges for Trevor Reed and Brittney Griner;
Whereas Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that Whelan's ``detention
remains unacceptable, and we continue to press for his immediate release
at every opportunity''; and
Whereas President Biden stated that his administration had ``not forgotten about
Paul Whelan,'' and promised to ``keep negotiating in good faith for his
release'': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
<DELETED> (1) implores the Government of the Russian
Federation to immediately release Paul Whelan from
imprisonment;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) implores the Government of the Russian
Federation to comply with international treaty obligations and
provide unrestricted consular access to Paul Whelan while he
remains imprisoned in the Russian Federation;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) calls on the Government of the Russian
Federation to provide Paul Whelan and all other political
prisoners their constitutionally afforded due process rights
and universally recognized human rights;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (4) expresses the sincere thanks of the United
States to the Governments of Canada, Ireland and the United
Kingdom for their support in attempting to release Paul Whelan;
and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (5) expresses sympathy to the family of Paul
Whelan for this travesty to justice and personal hardship and
expresses hope that their ordeal can soon be brought to a just
end.</DELETED>
That the Senate--
(1) implores the Government of the Russian Federation to
immediately release Paul Whelan from imprisonment;
(2) implores the Government of the Russian Federation to
comply with international treaty obligations and provide
unrestricted consular access to Paul Whelan while he remains
imprisoned in the Russian Federation;
(3) calls on the Government of the Russian Federation to
provide Paul Whelan and all other political prisoners their
constitutionally afforded due process rights; and
(4) expresses sympathy to the family of Paul Whelan for
this travesty of justice and personal hardship and expresses
hope that Whelan will soon be returned home.
Calendar No. 96
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 156
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Calling on the Government of the Russian Federation to release United
States citizen Paul Whelan.
_______________________________________________________________________
June 13, 2023
Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the preamble