Chair Cardin Marks 15 Years Since Sergei Magnitsky’s Death, Calls for Accountability for Human Rights

WASHINGTON - This week, U.S. Senator Ben Cardin, Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered a Senate floor speech honoring the life and legacy of Sergei Magnitsky - a brave whistleblower who was tortured and killed for exposing corruption within Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime. This speech follows the 15^th anniversary of Magnitsky's death, highlighting the urgent need to defend human rights, protect those who champion them, and confront authoritarian governments worldwide. As the author of the Sergei Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and Global Magnitsky Human Rights and Accountability Act, Chair Cardin has worked to hold human rights violators and corrupt foreign officials accountable through financial sanctions and travel restrictions.

"Sergei Magnitsky was about values - his bravery, his honesty, and his willingness to stand up to a corrupt authoritarian state," said Chair Cardin. "We must not give up hope in striving for a good cause. Because if we do not give up hope, we will overcome oppression and violence and build a world that is safe and peaceful and prosperous."

WATCH THE CHAIR'S FULL REMARKS HERE

A copy of the Chair's remarks, as delivered, have been provided below.

I come to the floor today to honor the legacy of Sergei Magnitsky, who was killed 15 years ago this weekend. Sergei was born in 1972 in Odessa, Ukraine. He was brilliant. He won the Physics and Mathematics Olympiad when he was just 15 years old. He knew right from wrong, and was willing to stand up for what he believed in. Working as a tax attorney in Moscow, he uncovered a scheme that included the theft of $230 million of taxes by corrupt Russian officials. He not only filed criminal complaints against the Russian police officers involved, he testified against them. He named names. He did what any lawyer, any responsible citizen, should do.

He believed that individuals should be held accountable for their corrupt actions. In response, they arrested Sergei. They held him in custody for 358 days. They refused visits from his wife and mother, and telephone calls with his children. They denied him medical care. They tortured him, trying to get him to recant his testimony. Most people would have given in, but Sergei refused. So, they had him chained to a bed as eight guards with rubber batons beat him to death.

I want to read what his colleagues wrote about him in memorial. They said that Sergei,

"Wasn't involved in politics."

"He wasn't an oligarch and wasn't a human rights activist. He was just a highly competent professional.

"The kind of person you would call up when the workday was finishing at 7 pm with a legal question, and he would cancel his dinner plans and stay in the office until midnight to figure out the answer."

"He was what many people would describe as the good face of modern Russia: a smart and honest man working hard to better himself and to make a good life for his family."

And he was murdered because he sought the truth in Russia. When I talk about values in foreign policy, I think about the values of Sergei Magnitsky.

Mr. President, the two of us have the honor of serving on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. I must tell you, our presiding officer [Senator Cory Booker] is one of the great champions to advance human rights - a bedrock of our values-based foreign policy. America's strength is in its foreign policy. It's based upon values - supporting human rights, anti-corruption, democratic institution building - as compared to autocratic regimes that have foreign policy-based transactional goals - immediate goals - that they enforce many times by corruption and force. We see that today with Mr. Putin in Russia, as he tries to take over Ukraine.

We have values-based foreign policy - our strength. Sergei Magnitsky was about values - his bravery, his honesty, and his willingness to stand up to a corrupt authoritarian state.

Looking around the world today, we see war in Europe and the Middle East and Africa. We see growing autocracy and kleptocracies across states like Russia and China, a rise of anti-democratic sentiments. I believe one of the keys to fighting back against these forces starts with holding the perpetrators of human rights violations accountable. If we hold the perpetrators accountable, others will not follow in that path. If there's impunity and no accountability, it breeds more perpetrators that violate individuals' rights. This idea has informed how I think about foreign policy and the rule of law. It also informed two pieces of legislation I am proud of writing in my time in the United States Congress: the 2012 Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act and the 2016 Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.

At the time of Sergei Magnitsky's killing, our main policy tool for penalizing human rights abusers and corruption was country-based sanctions. This is a blunt tool, useful to respond to major events like Russia's invasion of Ukraine or Iran's enrichment of uranium to nuclear weapon-grade. You go against the country, there's penalty to be paid, but it's less effective to provide accountability for human rights violators, which are individuals that are perpetrating those violations. We needed something more responsive, more targeted, and inspired by the tragedy of Sergei Magnitsky murder. I set out to write legislation to hold his murderers accountable. I didn't know at the time the profound impact the bill would have for human rights and accountability.

The original bill targeted the individuals who were complicit in the jailing and murdering of Sergei Magnitsky. It blocked these individuals from enjoying the benefits of America. It stopped them from traveling to the United States and it stopped them from using our banking system. It gave the United States government the authority to seize their properties. It stopped them from violating human rights with impunity.

Magnitsky-style sanctions seem like a foregone conclusion today, but not when we got it enacted. Although it passed the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support, it was not an easy fight. Different parts of our foreign policy community were vehemently opposed. It was something new. It was a change, and change is hard. The executive branch doesn't like the legislative branch interfering in how they conduct their business, but that's our responsibility - the legislative branch's responsibility: to set the policies.

We pushed ahead in 2016; we expanded the bill to reach human rights violators and corrupt actors around the world. We've expanded it to the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, and we made that permanent. I want to acknowledge that one of the ways we got this done is because it was bipartisan. Senator Lugar helped me as I was a freshman member of this body in the Foreign Relations Committee in getting the attention on the need for this legislation. The late Senator John McCain was my principal co-sponsor and helped to get the original Sergei Magnitsky Accountability Act included in a bill that could pass the United States Senate. And my good friend and the leader with me on the Helsinki Commission, Senator Roger Wicker, was principally responsible, working with, me to get the Global Magnitsky bill made permanent with a place in the National Defense Authorization Act.

In 2017, Executive Order 13818 was issued to structure the implementation of the law and broaden the scope of the law. In 2022, we made the law permanent by repealing the sunset clause. In 2023, the United States sanctioned 78 foreign persons under the Magnitsky sanctions program. And as of November 7, this year, the program has sanctioned over 712 foreign persons and entities since its inception.

Now, Mr. President, I can tell you specific examples. I can tell you about being in Bulgaria and being treated as a hero, because it was the Magnitsky sanctions against their corrupt leaders that allowed their country to move forward with the reforms that the people of Bulgaria wanted. It meant real change. I can tell you about recently being in Guatemala where we see hope… It was Magnitsky sanctions that helped get to that point. These sanctions have real consequences, because corrupt leaders want the protection of a country's rule of law for their wealth, even though they live in countries that don't believe in the rule of law. We take that away from them by the Magnitsky sanctions.

It's had profound impact on human rights where now individual actors have to consider their own conduct, even when acting on behalf of a state. Their reputation, ability to travel, and ensure access to assets are at risk. I've seen a lot in 58 years of public service, much of which I have devoted to human rights advocacy. I remain inspired by the heroism of Sergei Magnitsky and can confidently say that he did not die in vain. His death jarred the global conscience forever.

Today the Magnitsky name is synonymous with an approach by dozens of leading democracies to respond to human rights abuses and official corruption. The United States led on this issue. We were the ones that were able to get it started. When we lead and we lead with values and we lead on behalf of democracies, other countries will follow our leadership. Shortly after we passed the Magnitsky sanctions, there was action in the United Kingdom, there was action in Canada. The EU has adopted and now two dozen countries have Magnitsky-type sanctions.

We've got to do more. We've got to figure out a way to coordinate these sanctions so we can really isolate those human rights violators and have a global approach to the imposition of the Magnitsky sanctions. There's more we need to do to fight corruption, so we have a lot more work to do.

But I will tell you, Magnitsky is a name that strikes fear in the hearts of Vladimir Putin and corrupt oligarchs around him. As government officials and responsible citizens, we have an obligation to advance policies that respect human freedom and the dignity of the individual. That is especially true of those of us who live in democracies. I know that at times, our tasks may seem difficult or impossible, but we must never give up hope. We must continue to have faith that our work is worthwhile.

There were days where I thought the Magnitsky quest would not have any main consequences. I look back today with pride that we did not give up hope and we were able to get that law passed.

Václav Havel once wrote, "There is only one thing I will not concede: that it might be meaningless to strive in a good cause." I will never concede either. The struggle for human rights can sometimes seem insurmountable.

Let me just share with you one of my experiences in life. I've been very fortunate to have had an incredible career. In 1987, as part of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, I traveled to Germany and went to West Berlin, went through Checkpoint Charlie to East Berlin, walked up to the Brandenburg Gate, and saw East German machine guns focused at me so I would not cross back into West Berlin by trying to sneak across. I met with East Berliners who were desperate for someone to listen to their cause. They never gave up hope. They were living in a very oppressed country. They fought for their freedom and we helped them. We didn't give up hope. They didn't give up hope.

Two years later, I returned to Berlin with a hammer in hand to help knock down the Berlin Wall. I've returned to Berlin many times since and see a unified city. We can never give up hope. What we do in this chamber - the leadership we take to go after those abusers - affects real people and the future of real countries.

We must not give up hope in striving for a good cause. Because if we do not give up hope, we will overcome oppression and violence and build a world that is safe and peaceful and prosperous. It's not only the right thing to do, it's the right thing for our national security.

I'm proud of the work that we've been able to do in this chamber. I thank my colleagues who've helped in this effort, including the distinguished presiding officer, who's been incredible. We got a lot more work yet to be done. Thank you for all your help.

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