[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 96 (Monday, June 10, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3294-S3296]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CALLING FOR ACCOUNTABILITY AND JUSTICE FOR THE ASSASSINATION OF BORIS
NEMTSOV
Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 104, S. Res. 81.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The senior assistant bill clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 81) calling for accountability and
justice for the assassination of Boris Nemtsov.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the
resolution, which had been reported from the Committee on Foreign
Relations, with an amendment to strike all after the resolving clause
and insert the part printed in italic, and with an amendment to strike
the preamble and insert the part printed in italic, as follows:
S. Res. 81
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--
(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
[[Page S3295]]
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).
Mr. DAINES. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported
substitute amendment to the resolution be agreed to; that the
resolution, as amended, be agreed to; that the committee-reported
amendment to the preamble be agreed to; that the preamble, as amended,
be agreed to; and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and
laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The committee-reported amendment in the nature of a substitute was
agreed to.
The resolution (S. Res. 81), as amended, was agreed to.
The committee-reported amendment to the preamble in the nature of a
substitute was agreed to.
The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
The resolution, as amended, with its preamble, as amended, reads as
follows:
S. Res. 81
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--
(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;
[[Page S3296]]
(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).
____________________