Russian MPs Mull Potential Response To USA’s Magnitskiy Law
(RIA Novosti – November 20, 2012) Russian MPs have put forward various proposals for how Russia should respond to the USA’s “Magnitskiy list”, such as compiling a similar list of US officials or stepping up cooperation with the USA’s opponents, state news agency RIA Novosti reported on 20 November. The House of Representatives of the US Congress approved the “Magnitskiy Act” on 16 November.
One Russia (United Russia)
Member of One Russia’s General Council and State Duma deputy Vladimir Burmatov said that he thinks that a symmetrical response is the most preferable option. He proposed introducing a “Guantanamo list” banning entry to Russia for individuals involved in violating human rights at Guantanamo Bay. He added that such a list would be a lot more extensive than the “Magnitskiy list”.
He said that an asymmetrical response, such as economic measures, would be less preferable as they could have other serious consequences for bilateral relations and they could affect Russia too. However, he added that the USA’s actions should not remain unanswered.
A Just Russia
Leader of the A Just Russia party Sergey Mironov also advocates introducing a list of US officials involved in human rights violations.
“What answer can there be? Let’s ask ourselves questions: is everything in order with human rights in the USA? What do we have there – is it perfect, are there no problems? Of course there are,” he said.
He noted that that compiling such a list would not be any trouble and such people would not be able to visit Russia.
Liberal Democratic Party of Russia
Vladimir Ovsyannikov first deputy head of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) faction in the State Duma said that Russia’s list would be a lot longer than the “Magnitskiy list”.
“To keep the response balanced, I think that a similar list is needed. It should include those individuals who at present are committing quite serious violations of human rights on the territory of the United States. We can propose a far bigger list than the ‘Magnitskiy list’ they presented to us,” Ovsyannikov said.
Igor Lebedev, head of the LDPR’s Supreme Council and deputy speaker of the State Duma, said that the only response which the authorities could propose for the US law could be measures restricting entry to Russia for a number of US officials. However, he added that a serious reason is needed for this.
Lebedev also suggested the deployment of nuclear weapons on Cuban territory as a “fanciful” response.
Communist Party
First deputy chairman of the Communist Party’s Central Committee Ivan Melnikov said that Russia’s response to the USA’s Magnitskiy law should not be symmetrical. Instead, he proposed stepping up cooperation with friendly countries, with which Russia has not unlocked the full potential of cooperation in the interests of relations with the USA.
“It is more advantageous to do it (to respond) through something positive, which will be useful to Russia. I mean the following: the current Russian authorities sometimes artificially refrain from unlocking the whole potential of cooperation for only one reason: there is caution as to how this will affect the so-called ‘reset’ with the USA,” Melnikov said, adding that there are quite a few such states, including Cuba, states in Asia and in the Arab world.
“It is necessary to opt for more daring projects, including military-political ones. The majority of these countries are quite ready to consider such options for combining efforts as part of forming a multipolar world,” he said, adding that such a response would be strong and productive.
Duma International Affairs Committee head
For his part, Aleksey Pushkov, the chairman of the Russian State Duma International Affairs Committee, wrote in an entry his Twitter microblog on 20 November that “If the USA and NATO countries include all opponents of Euro-Atlantic ‘values’ in the Magnitskiy list, they will have to shut themselves off from half the world”. (https://twitter.com/Alexey–Pushkov)