ICTJ World Report: Thursday, 20 March 2014
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Press Release: European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee Adopts First European Magnitsky List with 32 Names
Press Release
For Immediate Distribution
18 March 2014 – Today the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for targeted asset freezes and visa sanctions on 32 individuals in the Magnitsky case in Europe.
The top officials on the proposed sanctions list are Russian Deputy General Prosecutor Victor Grin, and Head of FSB Financial Counter-Intelligence Department Victor Voronin, two key officials who oversaw the case against Sergei Magnitsky and the proceedings in which officials Magnitsky had exposed for the $230 million theft had been exonerated.
“Russia should understand that civilized people in the West won’t tolerate impunity of Russian officials who participated in the torture and murder of Sergei Magnitsky,” said William Browder, leader of Magnitsky Justice campaign.
The resolution calls for sanctions be imposed as a first step on 32 individuals, including 16 officials that have already been sanctioned by the U.S. Government under the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act.
The EU list includes the names of previously convicted Dmitry Klyuev, former beneficial owner of Universal Savings Bank which received a portion of the stolen $230 million, and his associates Andrei Pavlov and Yulya Mayorova, who took part in collusive court proceedings orchestrated to disguise the $230 million theft.
The proposed EU list further targets those involved in the posthumous trial of Sergei Magnitsky, including judge Igor Alisov, and prosecution witness Konstantin Ponomarev.
The resolution calls on EU Council to:
“Establish a common EU list of officials responsible for the death of Sergei Magnitsky, for the subsequent judicial cover up and for the ongoing and continuing harassment of his mother and widow.”(http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+COMPARL+PE-528.148+01+DOC+PDF+V0//EN&language=EN)
For more information, please see:
Magnitsky Sanctions List of 32 Persons Adopted by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament
- ALISOV, Igor, born 11 March 1968;
- DROGANOV, Aleksey (a.k.a. DROGANOV, Alexei), born 11 October 1975;
- EGOROVA, Olga, born 29 June 1955;
- GAUS, Alexandra, born 29 March 1975;
- GERASIMOVA, Anastasia, born 22 January 1982;
- GRIN, Victor, born 1 January 1951;
- KARPOV, Pavel, born 27 August 1977;
- KHIMINA, Yelena (a.k.a. KHIMINA, Elena), born 11 February 1953;
- KLYUEV, Dmitry (a.k.a. KLYUEV, Dmitriy or KLYUEV, Dmitri), born
10 August 1967;
- KOMNOV, Dmitriy (a.k.a. KOMNOV, Dmitri), born 17 May 1977;
- KRIVORUCHKO, Aleksey (a.k.a. KRIVORUCHKO, Alex or KRIVORUCHKO,
Alexei), born 25 August 1977;
- KUZNETSOV, Artem (a.k.a. KUZNETSOV, Artyom), born 28 February 1975;
- LOGUNOV, Oleg, born 4 February 1962;
- MAYOROVA, Yulya (a.k.a. MAYOROVA, Yulia), born 23 April 1979;
- PAVLOV, Andrey (a.k.a. Pavlov, Andrei), born 7 August 1977;
- PECHEGIN, Andrey (a.k.a. PECHEGIN, Andrei), born 24 September 1965;
- PODOPRIGOROV, Sergei, born 8 January 1974;
- PONOMAREV, Konstantin, born 14 August 1971;
- PROKOPENKO, Ivan Pavlovitch, born 28 September 1973;
- REZNICHENKO, Mikhail, born 20 February 1985;
- SAPUNOVA, Marina, born 19 June 1971;
- SHUPOLOVSKY, Mikhail, born 28 September 1983;
- SILCHENKO, Oleg, born 25 June 1977;
- STASHINA, Yelena (a.k.a. STASHINA, Elena or STASHINA, Helen), born
5 Nov 1963;
- STEPANOVA, Olga, born 29 July 1962;
- STROITELEV, Denis, born 23 January 1973;
- TAGIEV, Fikhret, born 3 April 1962;
- TOLCHINSKIY, Dmitry (a.k.a. TOLCHINSKY, Dmitriy or TOLCHINSKIY,
Dmitri), born 11 May 1982;
- UKHNALYOVA, Svetlana (a.k.a. UKHNALEV, Svetlana or UKHNALEVA,
Svetlana V.), born 14 March 1973;
- URZHUMTSEV, Oleg, born 22 October 1968;
- VINOGRADOVA, Natalya, born 16 June 1973;
- VORONIN, Victor, born 11 February 1958
The Interview: France 24 Interview with Professor David Crane
President Obama Addresses Iranian Nuclear Talks
By Darrin Simmons
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
TEHRAN, Iran-US President Barack Obama has informed Iranians that they “deserve better” and that a comprehensive agreement on the nuclear issue will help move Iran “along the new path that so many Iranians seek.”
In his address, Obama said, “A comprehensive agreement on the nuclear issue would help move Iran along the new path that so many Iranians seek.”
Obama remarked on Thursday in a message marking Nowruz, the Persian New Year, a day after the conclusion of the latest round of negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program.
This is Obama’s first Nowruz address since talks began in earnest to reach a lasting settlement about Iran’s nuclear activities and the first since Hassan Rouhani was elected to the office of president.
Iran has denied developing the capability to produce atomic weapons. The US, the European Union and the United Nations have imposed sanctions on Iran because of its refusal to suspend enrichment and other sensitive atomic activities.
“But the economic hardship that so many Iranians have endured in recent years – because of the choices of Iranian leaders – has deprived your country and the world of the extraordinary skills and contributions you have to offer. And you deserve better.”
On Wednesday Catherine Ashton, the European Union foreign policy chief, and Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, told reporters in Vienna that they had held “substantive” and “useful” talks.
The P5+1, a group comprised of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the US, hope to honor the July deadline set in November for a long-term nuclear deal between the six powers and Iran.
Obama said: “If Iran meets its international obligations…It means more economic growth and jobs for Iranians…more opportunities for Iranian students…real diplomatic progress this year can help open up new possibilities and prosperity for the Iranian people for years to come.
That deadline was agreed as part of an interim deal, reached in November, under which Iran stopped some parts of its program in exchange for limited sanctions relief.
“That’s the message the Iranian people sent at the ballot box last year. I hope that the entire Iranian government hears that message too.”
A meeting between the P5+1 and Iran is set for April 7th in Vienna.
For more information, please see the following:
Aljazeera-Obama: Iranians ‘deserve better’ from leaders-20 March 2014
Daily Star-Obama calls on Iran to seize opportunity of nuke talks-20 March 2014
White House-Statement by President Obama on Nowruz-20 March 2014
Zee News-Obama calls on Iran to seize opportunity of nuclear talks-20 March 2014
South Korea Seeks China’s Support to Refer North Korea to the ICC
By Brian Lanciault
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
SEOUL, S. Korea– South Korea has requested China’s support for a United Nations resolution seeking to hold North Korea’s leadership responsible for human rights violations. To date, Beijing has opposed referring the case to an international court.
The U.N. Human Rights Council is seeking to pass a resolution on North Korea’s bleak human rights record this week in Geneva after a U.N. Commission of Inquiry concluded last month that “crimes against humanity” have been, and continue to be, committed by ranking officials in the socialist country.
The United States, the European Union and Japan are working to bring North Korea’s human rights situation before the U.N. Security Council, which has the power to refer the issue to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Prospects remain dismal because China, key ally of the North, holds a veto.
“We have continued to discuss the issue with the Chinese side, but Chinese officials told us that it would not be an appropriate approach to try to openly address North Korea’s human rights situation,” a South Korean diplomat said on the condition of anonymity.
“The Chinese side maintains that North Korea’s human rights situation should be handled through constructive dialogue and that it opposes such an explicit way” of referring North Korea’s leaders to the ICC, the diplomat said.
China has publicly announced that it would vigorously oppose any move at the U.N. to bring North Korea’s leaders before the global criminal court.
“To bring the human right issues to the International Criminal Court does not help improve a country’s human rights conditions,” China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Feb. 17, when the U.N. commission published the report.
Concluding a year-long investigation, the U.N. commission reported widespread executions of people, enslavement and sexual violence by North Korea. It marked the clearest indictment against North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, in his speech at the U.N. human rights session in early March, proposed strengthening the role of the U.N. commission on North Korea’s human rights.
“For the international community, it is now time to begin the discussions on next steps to effectively follow up on the commission’s recommendations to improve the human rights situation in North Korea,” Yun said.
“In this vein, we strongly support the strengthening of the U.N. mechanisms to implement the commission’s recommendations. We also look forward to the leading role of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in North Korea,” Yun said.
For further information, please see:
Global Post– North Korea Newsletter No. 305— 20 March 2014
Mail Online– A smoking Un! Kim Jong smiles from ear to ear as he oversees army shooting exercise— 18 March 2014
Korea Joongang Daily– EU rep says North Korea felt stable— 20 March 2014
Washington Post– While slaughtering thousands, North Korea’s dictators published children’s books— 18 March 2014