Risch Eyes Better Use of Global Magnitsky Act Sanctions Under Trump
Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jim Risch, R-Idaho, said Dec. 5 that he will seek to enhance implementation of sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act when he becomes the panel’s chairman in January.
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Risch said at a hearing focused on the act that while the eight-year-old law requires the president to reply within 120 days when a committee leader recommends Global Magnitsky Act sanctions, the Biden administration has not responded substantively to his sanctions recommendations, including an April letter calling for sanctions against Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces militia group and its leader (see 2404190068). “We’re going to pursue this into the next administration, and I’ve already opened negotiations to see if we can’t do better in that regard,” the senator said.
Risch also criticized the application of the U.S. law as “haphazard,” evidenced by the delayed sanctioning of former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa and the lack of sanctions against former Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. Both were convicted of corruption by their own countries' judicial systems. "Congress does not have insight into the process and has seen unbalanced approaches to which individuals are sanctioned," Risch said.
Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., the committee’s current chairman, said problems occurred with implementation of the Global Magnitsky Act during the first Trump administration as well, and he attributed such difficulties to bureaucratic delays in the State and Treasury departments. "I think we have to look at ways that we can get our will done quicker, regardless of whether a Democrat or Republican's in the White House," he said.
Risch endorsed Cardin's idea to improve coordination with the dozens of other countries that have similar Magnitsky laws. “We’ve had several hundred individuals who have been sanctioned under Magnitsky, but there isn’t a coordination among those nations that have Magnitsky-type sanctions,” Cardin said. "The more you coordinate the sanction regimes and the more that you enforce them, the better chance you have to change behavior, and that's one of our issues."
During the hearing, William Browder, chief executive officer of Hermitage Capital Management and head of the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign, recommended several changes, including cracking down on those who evade sanctions.
“They know it’s coming and they pass off all the assets to their family members, and so we need to consider how we deal with that,” Browder testified. “We’ve also seen all sorts of enablers, bankers, trust companies, etc., helping them hide their assets. We need to deal with the enablers.”
Browder also suggested altering the U.S. approach to allow assets to be seized instead of frozen. "It seems to me that if someone is guilty of gross human rights abuse or kleptocracy, there is no reason why they should ever get the assets back," he said. "Furthermore, this would provide a means to compensate victims."