Dutch Parliament Votes 150 to 0 to Sanction the Russian Officials Who Killed Sergei Magnitsky

Hermitage Capital Press Release

Originally Published 4 July 2011


The Dutch parliament, by a vote of 150 to 0 has passed a resolution demanding that the Dutch government impose visa and economic sanctions on the Russian officials who were responsible for the false arrest, torture and death of 37-year old anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.

Eighteen months have passed since Sergei Magnitsky died in Interior Ministry custody after testifying against corrupt state officials in Russia.  Despite President Medvedev calling for an investigation, not a single person has been charged.  Instead, the senior officials responsible for Magnitsky’s torture and death have been promoted and in some cases have received state honors. Despite worldwide calls for prosecution, these officials enjoy absolute impunity in Russia.

On December 16 last year, the European Parliament called on all EU member states to impose visa and economic sanctions on the Russian officials behind the Magnitsky case. In May 2011, the US Senate submitted legislation entitled “The Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act”, that will give these sanctions the force of a law in the United States.

The motion in the Dutch parliament, entitled “Over de dood van Sergei Magnitsky,” was passed unanimously by the lower House of Parliament.  It reads:

“The Chamber, hearing the proceedings, noting that the Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky died under suspicious circumstances in a Russian prison, after a major corruption scandal was uncovered in Russia … noting that among other things, the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives have put measures to restrict visas and freezing assets of Russian officials who
were involved in the death of Magnitsky, calls on the Government to take steps in a European context, in line with the initiatives of the U.S. Senate and the European Parliament, so that those responsible for the death of Sergei Magnitsky be held to account.”

Commenting on the vote, one of the initiators of the resolution, Kathleen Ferrier MP (Christian Democrats), said, “The fact that this resolution was adopted unanimously by all 150 members of the House of Representatives shows the strong commitment of Dutch parliament with the case of Sergei Magnitsky. For me, impunity is unacceptable. That is why I am satisfied with this result. But I also realise that, though this is a very important step, there are many more steps to come. We will continue to fight for justice for Sergei Magnitsky.”

Sergei Magnitsky represented the Hermitage Fund, once the largest foreign portfolio investor in Russia. He was arrested by the Russian Interior Ministry after he exposed how Russian officials stole $230 million of public funds. He was detained by the same officials he had named in his testimony and tortured for one year in custody to withdraw his testimony. After he refused and filed numerous complaints, he was found dead in an isolation cell in a  pre-trial detention center. While in custody, despite his extreme illness and more than twenty official requests for medical attention, he was refused medical care.

Coskun Çörüz, the head of the Dutch delegation to OSCE and Dutch MP, who was the sponsor of the Sergei Magnitsky Motion in the Dutch parliament, said:

“As a member of Dutch Parliament and a lawyer, I am pleased that the Dutch Parliament unanimously adopted my motion about the case of Sergei Magnitsky. This is a strong signal from the Dutch Parliament to the Dutch Government. I believe that human rights are for everybody, everywhere and any time. I believe the Dutch government, which is known as advocate of human rights, will act in the spirit of this resolution.”

The Sergei Magnitsky motion in the Dutch parliament was supported by deputies from both ruling and opposition parties. In addition to Mr Çörüz (Christian Democrats), the motion was co-sponsored by Mr Joël Voordewind (Christian Union), Mr Han Ten Broeke (Liberal Party), and Mr Kees van der Staaij  (Dutch Reformed Party). Senior Dutch lawmaker Frans Timmermans also voted for the resolution.

The co-sponsor of the Sergei Magnitsky motion, Joël Voordewind MP, said:

“I sincerely regret the death of Mr. Magnitsky … Now is the time to raise the pressure on Russia to bring to justice those responsible for this cowardly act. Unfortunately the death of Mr. Magnitsky is not a isolated incident but part of a much larger problem of the lack of human rights in Russia. Freezing assets and banning visa’s is therefore a clear signal to the Russian authorities that this is unacceptable.”

“The Sergei Magnitsky story touches every person who hears it, which is why the Dutch parliament responded so robustly to his tragedy and what it symbolizes for human rights and the rule of law in Russia,” said William Browder, CEO of Hermitage Capital.

Hermitage Capital
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See the reference to the Sergei Magnitsky Motion 32 735, nr. 14 on the
Dutch Parliament website:

http://www.tweedekamer.nl/images/30-06-2011_tcm118-222571.pdf (р. 11)

Agencies “Cover” Officials Involved In Magnitsky Case – Rights Activist

Originally published by Interfax News, The Russia And CIS Business And Financial News Wire
July 1st, 2011

MOSCOW. July 1 (Interfax) – Human rights activists intend to name the officials who may be involved in Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky’s case, who died in a Moscow detention facility.

The names will be mentioned in the interim report on the Magnitsky case, which the presidential Human Rights Council plans to pass to President Dmitry Medvedev on July 5, Kirill Kabanov, the head of the public organization National Anti-Corruption Committee, told Interfax on Friday.

“We will raise questions about the names of the people who may be interested in the Magnitsky case,” Kabanov said.

The working group of the presidential Human Rights Council is actively working with the Russian Investigations Committee, which is investigating Magnitsky’s death.

“We have come to the following interim conclusion: Unfortunately, it may be impossible to subject all participants in this trial to criminal liability. Agencies are covering them. Courts have made many illegal decisions. Dealing with courts is a big problem,” Kabanov said.

The interim report will not state the final conclusion on the cause of Magnitsky’s death, Lyudmila Alekseyeva, a member of the presidential human rights council, a member of the Council’s working group on the Magnitsky case, and head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, said.

Magnitsky, a lawyer for the investment foundation Hermitage Capital, died in the Matrosskaya Tishina detention facility on November 16, 2009, at the age of 37. He was charged with tax evasion.

Magnitsky’s death drew a broad public response. The Investigations Committee opened a criminal case on charges of failure to provide assistance to a patient and negligence.

According to two forensic evaluations, Magnitsky died of acute heart insufficiency. The experts confirmed that Magnitsky was suffering from the illnesses he was diagnosed with earlier, but said those illnesses were not at an acute stage.

Despite the dismissals in the Federal Service for the Enforcement of Punishments, human rights activists believe no real investigation into the causes of Magnitsky’s death was conducted.

Syrian government tries to curb unrest in symbolic city

By Tyler Yates
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

HAMA, Syria — After anti-government protests last Friday, Syrian troops began a now continuing barrage of raids and arrests, aimed at quelling the country’s unrest in many of its more notorious trouble spots.

Thousands protest in Hama (Photo courtesy of The Guardian).
Thousands protest in Hama (Photo courtesy of The Guardian).

Hama, a city of around 800,000 people, still quaking with scars from a previous governmental onslaught of nearly a generation ago, is one of those trouble spots. The city, located in a corridor between Damascus and Aleppo, has become a symbolic center for what has become a four-month uprising against the ruling Assad family.

Recently, the city’s protests have been gaining momentum.  This was clearly evidenced on Friday, by a demonstration of tens of thousands; gathering in Hama’s appropriately renamed Freedom Square.

Hama is considered by some to be liberated, but this did not stop the Syrian security forces from raiding the city’s outskirts and making numerous arrests on Monday.

One resident saw “at least 30 buses carrying soldiers and security police.”  The soldiers were “firing randomly in residential neighborhoods.” The random shooting has injured at least 21 people, and killed around 7.

The city’s inhabitants are not taking the military’s actions sitting down.  Activists threw rocks, while others attempted to build barricades out of whatever they could find – burning tires, stones, and trash bins.  There are accounts of self-defense committees being created to patrol some of the neighborhoods.  Their purpose appears to be both to maintain order and to protect from governmental crackdowns.

The Syrian forces retreated almost as quickly as they appeared, but the people of Hama don’t think they are gone for good.  “People are waiting.  They can’t control Hama unless they wipe out the people here,” said a 24-year-old student who identified himself only as Abdel-Rahman.

Prior to Monday’s events the government had cited Hama as an example of the leadership’s good will, allowing dissent as long as it didn’t cause too much harm.  This recent uprising has shown that Hama is in reality a vexing problem for the government.

The city’s name echoes with memories of the government’s historic brutality.  In 1982, the Syrian military stormed the city to suppress an armed Islamic opposition group, killing at least 10,000 people.  For this reason, the government has gone out of its way to avoid stirring too much trouble in the city.  In June, after around 73 people were killed during a protest in Hama, the government ordered a military withdrawal and fired a group of security officials.

Despite this reluctance for the government to fight the conflict in the very city that symbolizes the opposition’s struggle, it appears it was inevitable.  The opposition has deep roots in Hama, and the uprisings momentum shows no sign of letting up.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera — Several ‘shot dead’ in Hama crackdown — 5 July 2011

Al Jazeera — ‘Shooting and arrests’ in Syrian city — 4 July 2011

BBC News — Syria unrest: ‘Arrests in Hama as tanks move on Idlib’ — 4 July 2011

New York Times — Fears Rise With Arrests in Restive Syrian City — 4 July 2011

Four Colombian Teachers Murdered

By Emilee Gaebler
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTÁ, Colombia – Four teachers have been murdered in Colombia over the past two months.  On May 15, Dionis Alfredo Sierra Vergara was killed; on May 26 Carlos Julio Gómez was shot.  Freddy Antonio Cuadrado Núñez was murdered on May 27 and Alejandro José Peñata López on June 20.

Protesters hold the bleeding flag of Colombia. (Photo Courtesy of International Trade Union Confederation)
Protesters hold the bleeding flag of Colombia. (Photo Courtesy of International Trade Union Confederation)

Vergara was shot three times outside of the school at which he taught.  Witnesses said that he was attacked as he stepped outside to take a phone call.  Gómez was injured by gunmen early in the morning on May 26.  He was later taken to a nearby hospital where he passed away three days later on May 29.

Núñez was shot in the head by a hired gunman as he was celebrating his 46th birthday.  López disappeared after leaving the school he taught at.  His body was hung with barbed wire and found days later; it also showed signs of being tortured.

The four teachers were members of the teachers’ unions ADEMACOR (Asociación de Maestros de Córdoba) and SUTEV (Sindicato Único de Trabajadores de la Educación del Valle).  Their murders are the most recent in a long line of trade unionist slayings.  Since December of 2008 there have been 20 teachers murdered in the Department of Córdoba alone.

After the killing of Vergara in early May, Domingo Ayala, president of ADEMACOR,   declared that he was going to make a complaint to the International Criminal Court.  For Ayala, the continuing pattern of unionist killings shows that no deterrent has been provided by Colombia.

The International Trade Union Confederation (“ITUC”) called for immediate government action saying, “[t]he context of almost total impunity for these murders has led to an alarming humanitarian crisis in the education sector and has put teaching and trade union actions at risk, [it] clearly refutes the Colombian governments’ statements in international forums about human rights’ improvements.”

The United Steelworkers also condemned the Colombian government’s lack of action in bringing those responsible to justice.  They expressed outrage that U.S.  representatives are considering passing the Free Trade Agreement between the two countries when the Colombian government is unable to address the brutality against unionists in its own country.

For more information, please see;

Colombia Reports – 17 Murdered Unionists a Grim Record for Colombia: US Union – 30 June 2011

Teacher Solidarity – Two More Teachers Murdered in Colombia – 27 June 2011

Education International – EI Condemns the Murders of More Teachers in Colombia – 26 June 2011

CNN World – Union Group Slams Colombia Over Recent Killings of 2 Teachers – 24 June 2011

Colombia Reports – Teacher’s Murder in North Colombia Sparks Complaint to ICC – 17 May 2011

Students and teachers demand education reform in Chile through organized protests

By Paula Buzzi
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SANTIAGO, Chile –The Chilean government’s efforts to improve Chile’s deteriorating education system have proved ineffective for some. In response, the Chilean Students Federation and the Teacher’s Association took to the streets once again on Thursday to demand public education.

Student movement rejects government proposal. (Photo Courtesy of National Turk)

Over the past month, more than 200,000 people have participated in organized protests held on the streets of Santiago. Protest organizers claim that such mass protests are necessary to grab the government’s attention and put education reform high up on their agenda.

Education Minister Joaquin Lavin responded to the strike earlier this week by drafting the 75 million USD “Public University Education Revitalizing Fund;” an act which some believe to be a superficial solution to the education crisis. Additionally, Lavin has moved up winter break by 12 days, claiming that the shorter winter break will allow students to make up the class time they have missed while being on strike.

Some protestors, however, are not satisfied with Lavin’s response, claiming that the government’s recent action reflects its inability to solve conflicts. Many are demanding an end to for-profit education fueled by the unstable market. Jaime Gajardo, president of the College of Professors, believes educational policies must be redesigned. “We cannot continue on this path of privatization,” he tells CNN Chile.

Other groups in support of public education include: The Center Labor Federation (“CUT”), the Communist Party, and the Allende Party of Socialism (PSA).

CUT president, Arturo Martinez, defended his position to join the mobilization based on the fact that the high cost of education is being funded by working families.

For more information, please see:

Associated Press — Chile moves up school vacations as protests rage —29 June 2011

Inside Costa Rica — Chile: New National Strike against For-Profit Education — 28 June 2011

Escambray – Deeper Reforms Are Needed, Chilean Students  – 27 June 2011

El Universal — Protestan en Chile 20 mil estudiantes —24 June 2011

CNN — Chileans rally in capital to demand better education policies — 16 June 2011