[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 35 (Monday, March 2, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1219-S1220]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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SENATE RESOLUTION 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

  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:

                               S. Res. 93

       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;

[[Page S1220]]

       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 Nemstov, 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 
     Sates 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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