29 March 2019 – Yesterday, on 28 March 2019, 40 organizations and individuals, including Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), sent a joint letter requesting the United States (US) Congress to provide additional funding for the implementation of Global Magnitsky sanctions. The letter expressed how a funding increase “would enable the identification and vetting of a greater number of case files, thus ensuring more robust enforcement of the law, and the advancement of a critical US policy priority.”
The Global Magnitsky Act, which became law in December 2016, authorizes the Executive Branch to impose visa bans and freeze the assets of foreign individuals responsible for human rights abuses and government officials or their associates who have engaged in corruption. In practice, those placed on what is referred to as the Magnitsky list can be prevented from entering the US, and any property they hold in the US can be seized, a stinging blow to those who oppress citizens in their home countries and then use their status or wealth to travel freely. The law also allows entities in addition to individuals to be put on the list. In this case, a named corporation or even a government institution would see any property and interests within US jurisdiction blocked. The Global Magnitsky Act helps to fight impunity for individuals responsible for such abuses.
Read the full text of the letters here:
Letter to US House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science & Related Agencies
Letter to US Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science & Related Agencies
Letter to US House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government
Letter to US Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government
Letter to House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations
Letter to Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations
