Magnitsky Laws Around the World Support Human Rights

 

Leaders in Europe and the United States are introducing new laws to hold foreign human rights abusers and corrupt officials accountable for their crimes. The laws are named after Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who was murdered for exposing a $230-million corruption scheme in his home country. On December 9, 2016, Estonia became the first European country to ratify a Magnitsky law that denies entry into the country to individuals guilty of human rights violations. British lawmakers are also hoping to add a Magnitsky Amendment to the UK’s current Criminal Finances Bill. Under the amendment, high court judges can pass “two-year freezing orders” on individuals who use money laundering tactics in the UK’s lucrative real estate capital banks sectors. While individuals under investigation have the right to appeal, the government can seize UK luxury properties purchased by those found guilty of money laundering. The Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC) will also discuss the prospects of a Global Magnitsky Act at their hearing in February 2017 in Oslo, Norway.

 

Finally, the United States Congress passed the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act last week, which grants the President the “authority to impose sanctions on non-U.S. citizens guilty of corruption or gross human rights violations perpetrated against whistleblowers.” The law goes beyond the Magnitsky Act that passed in 2012 which denied U.S. entry to human rights abusers involved with the death of Sergei Magnitsky.