WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration has imposed travel restrictions on 60 Russian officials suspected of involvement in the imprisonment and killing of a lawyer.
Sergey Magnitsky died of an untreated illness in late 2009 after spending almost a year in a Russian jail.
Investors working in Russia have said the lawyer’s death and allegations of torture highlight corruption in the judicial system and presents a litmus test for President Dmitry Medvedev’s pledge to cement the rule of law in the country.
Magnitsky worked for Hermitage Capital Management, an investment fund owned and run by U.S.-born investor William Browder.
The lawyer had accused Interior Ministry officers of seizing ownership documents of three of its subsidiaries in 2007, then using those documents to register their own people as owners.
He was arrested for tax evasion by the same police officials he had accused of the tax fraud. Family and supporters say he was never properly examined by a doctor despite pleas for medical assistance and surgery for three months.
Some U.S. lawmakers have been pushing for legislation that would impose a travel ban and asset freeze on the 60 Russians who they allege were involved in Magnitsky’s persecution.
In comments sent to lawmakers on the proposed law, the Obama administration said that it had already flagged those officials for restrictions.
In the document, which was first reported on in The Washington Post, the administration argues that the legislation is unnecessary in part because of the restrictions already in place.
The restrictions are likely to complicate U.S.-Russian relations.
The administration’s memo to lawmakers notes that the draft legislation could undermine U.S. efforts to push for sanctions against Iran, North Korea and Libya and could also jeopardize transit routes through Russia to Afghanistnan.
State Department spokeswoman Heide Fulton said that U.S. immigration law requires the department to deny visas to people involved in human rights violations, including torture.
She would not confirm the names of the individuals implicated in Magnitsky’s death.
But the administration’s comments say that Russian officials on a list of 60 compiled by Hermitage are already flagged in a database used by U.S. immigration officials.
That list has been posted by U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin on the website of the Helsinki Commission, a federal board that advises on U.S. policy about security, human rights and other issues involving Europe.
The list includes judges, prosecutors, prison officials and others from the Interior Ministry and the Federal Security Service (FSB).
