Every November, Human Rights First and our partners in the targeted human rights and anti-corruption sanctions coalition mark “Magnitsky Month.”
Magnitsky Month honors the legacy of Sergei Magnitsky, who was killed in a Russian prison in November 2009 after exposing corruption by government officials.
The month coincides with the anniversary of his death and precedes the annual International Anti-Corruption Day and Human Rights Day (December 9 and 10), when new Magnitsky-style sanctions are typically announced.
We use this time to advocate for the expanded and improved multilateral use of Magnitsky-style sanctions in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and the European Union, hold a series of virtual panel events, and release new reports.
Magnitsky Month 2024
Events
November 13, 10:00 am EST
Authoritarian regimes around the world regularly use arbitrary detention as a tool of repression to silence dissidents, human rights defenders, journalists, and other perceived government critics and detain U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents as bargaining chips. Advocacy for their release often involves coalition building and engagement with multiple governments and legal mechanisms — from targeted Magnitsky-style sanctions, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the U.S. Levinson Act, and other domestic, regional, and international tools.
This virtual panel of experts and individuals impacted by arbitrary detention will discuss how civil society can mobilize collective global action to counter these authoritarian tactics and advocate for the release of political prisoners and others arbitrarily detained around thew world.
Moderator:
- Adam Keith, Senior Director for Accountability at Human Rights First
Panelists:
- Evgenia Kara-Murza, International Advocacy Director at the Free Russia Foundation and spouse and advocate for the release of her husband, Vladimir Kara Murza, a Russian dissident and former political prisoner who was arbitrarily detained in Russia for more than 2 years
- Angelita Baeyens, Vice President of International Advocacy and Litigation at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights
- Richard Ratcliffe, spouse and advocate for the release of his wife Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian charity worker who was arbitrarily detained in Iran for six years
November 21, 10:00am EST
Over the past four years, the Biden administration has established a mixed record on its use of Global Magnitsky sanctions, making important advancements in how such tools are used to respond to different types of abuses and cases, while leaving behind ongoing gaps that civil society has long called on the administration to address. With the U.S. elections on November 5, the priorities of the next administration could dramatically reshape how, where, and why Global Magnitsky sanctions are used — or not — with ramifications for efforts to multilateralize such sanctions and hold perpetrators of human rights abuses and corruption accountable.
This virtual panel discussion will bring together activists for a conversation to reflect on what the Biden administration achieved and where it fell short over the past four years of Magnitsky sanctions, and to identify the potentially significant changes in human rights and anti-corruption sanctions that the next administration might pursue.
Moderator:
- Amanda Strayer, Senior Counsel for Accountability at Human Rights First
Panelists:
- Brad Brooks-Rubin, a partner at Arktouros, a boutique law firm specializing in sanctions, anti-money laundering, and regulatory advice, and formerly a Senior Advisor in the Office of Sanctions Coordination at the U.S. Department of State
- Chloe Zoeller, Senior Program Manager at the Pan American Development Foundation
- Natalia Kubesch, Legal Officer at REDRESS focusing on the use of Magnitsky sanctions to provide accountability for serious human rights violations.
November 26, 10:00am EST
Hosted by the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights and co-sponsored by Human Rights First, Open Society Foundations, Pan American Development Foundation, and REDRESS
Transnational repression has become a common and systematic practice used by authoritarian governments to control diaspora and exile communities beyond their borders in order to silence or curtail dissent. Individuals who publicly criticize and counter regime narratives are frequently targeted, including journalists, human rights defenders, political opponents, and civil society activists.
This online panel will explore the nexus between transnational repression and targeted sanctions as a mechanism for accountability and deterrence. The panel will discuss the use of extraterritorial repression by Iran, Russia, and China, its impact, and the role that targeted sanctions can play in countering these threats.
Moderator:
- Sir William Browder, CEO Hermitage Capital Management, Head of the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign and author of Red Notice and Freezing Order
Remarks by The Honorable Professor Irwin Cotler, Founder and International Chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Panelists:
- Ti-Anna Wang, Human rights advocate and lawyer
- Evgenia Kara-Murza, International Advocacy Director of the Free Russia Foundation
- Nazanin Afshin-Jam MacKay, Human and democratic rights activist, author, public speaker, and founding member of the Iranian Justice Collective
Publication
November 13, 2024 | Just Security
In September, the U.S. government announced a set of sanctions against Cambodian tycoon and ruling-party senator Ly Yong Phat, along with several related companies, for their role in subjecting trafficked workers to forced labor in online scam centers. This was only the third time the U.S. government has used the Global Magnitsky program to respond to human trafficking, and it continued the trend of using this program for trafficking cases that involve physical abuse.
As part of Magnitsky Month, Human Rights First attorneys Nina Moraitou-Politzi, Amanda Strayer, and Suchita Uppal published a piece in Just Security arguing that Magnitsky sanctions should be used to address all forms of human trafficking, including cases where no physical abuse is present. From using digital technologies to exploit sex trafficking victims to governments coercing labor by threatening to withhold public benefits, trafficking without physical abuse is prevalent. This too, should be a focus of the U.S. government when imposing targeted sanctions to combat human trafficking.
Magnitsky Month 2023
Events
November 20, 10:00 am EST
This Magnitsky Month, Human Rights First and its partners will publish a new framework for evaluating the impact of targeted human rights and anti-corruption sanctions. Led by REDRESS, the report features a series of case studies using the framework to illustrate the various impacts of these forms of sanctions and drawing on the perspectives of civil society partners. This is one of the first frameworks to consider the impact of Magnitsky-style sanctions not just on perpetrators of serious human rights violations and corruption but also on survivors and communities affected by these actions and on government actions in response. The case studies include U.S., UK, EU, or Canadian sanctions in response to specific violations occurring in Bangladesh, Belarus, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Paraguay, and Ukraine.
This moderated discussion with human rights experts will delve into the real-world impact of Magnitsky sanctions and how governments can improve the use of sanctions in advancing human rights and combatting corruption around the world.
Moderator:
- Olivia Dehnavi, Advocacy Officer at REDRESS
Panelists:
- Natalie Lucas, Legal Officer at REDRESS
- Amanda Strayer, Supervising Staff Attorney at Human Rights First
- Tika Tsertsvadze, Senior Policy Analyst at Open Society Foundations
- Chloe Zoeller, Program Manager at Pan American Development Foundation
Event name: Evaluating Australia’s Magnitsky sanctions framework: challenges, opportunities and the role of civil society
Date: Wednesday 29 November 2023
Time: 1.00pm – 2.15pm AEDT
Format: Webinar/online/virtual only
Description: In December 2021, Australia adopted a targeted human rights sanctions framework through the passing of the Autonomous Sanctions Amendment (Magnitsky-style and Other Thematic Sanctions) Bill 2021. This Bill amended the Autonomous Sanctions Act 2011, thereby creating a thematic sanctions regime to address serious violations of human rights, serious violations of international humanitarian law, serious corruption and other matters of concern.
Some heralded the introduction of Australia’s human rights sanctions framework as representing a unique opportunity for Australia to protect and promote human rights globally, by targeting human rights abusers and corrupt actors, as well as offering some measure of deterrence and accountability. Yet, Australia appears to have taken a cautious approach in imposing Magnitsky sanctions. Since the framework came into effect almost two years ago, it has only been utilized a small number of times. Moreover, there are issues with the framework’s ability to account for humanitarian exemptions as well as a lack of transparency as to how effectively sanctions measures are being enforced.
This webinar brings together a panel of experts to discuss the challenges and opportunities of Australia’s Magnitsky sanctions framework, and reflect upon the role that civil society may have in influencing aspects of the framework.
Speakers:
- Tasneem Roc, Campaign Manager at Myanmar Campaign Network:
- Anton Moiseienko, Lecturer in Law and Sanctions Expert at the Australia National University
- Simon Henderson, Head of Policy at Save the Children Australia
- Melissa Chen, Senior Lawyer at the Australian Centre for International Justice
Human Rights First and our partners in the targeted human rights and anti-corruption sanctions coalition lead “Magnitsky Month” to advocate for the expanded and improved multilateral use of Magnitsky-style sanctions in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and the European Union. As a follow-up to our November 2023 events and reports, we welcome you to join us this month for a discussion on our latest report.
Visa sanctions have become an increasingly popular and, in some cases, quite effective tool in the U.S. government’s response to human rights abuse, corruption, and attacks on democracy. Unlike with the Global Magnitsky program or other financial sanctions, though, the U.S. government is often restricted by law from publicly naming the individuals on whom it imposes visa sanctions. Even when it uses visa sanctions tools that do not require confidentiality, it sometimes chooses nonetheless not to name names.
Join our expert panel on Thursday, January 25, 2024 at 11:00 EST for a discussion on our findings.
Moderator:
- Adam Keith, Senior Director, Accountability at Human Rights First
Panelists:
- Mutasim Ali, Legal Advisor at Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights
- Annie Boyajian, Vice President for Policy and Advocacy at Freedom House
- Tim Rieser, Foreign Policy Advisor to Retired U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy
Reports
In partnership with REDRESS, Open Society Foundations, the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, and the Pan American Development Foundation Human Rights First released this report detailing the impact in several countries that Magnitsky-style sanctions have had on perpetrators of human rights abuses and corruption, on survivors and communities affected by these actions, and on the responses of government and private actors.
In a follow up from a 2022 report on Magnitsky sanctions at 5 years, Human Rights First released, Slow Progress: U.S. Global Magnitsky Sanctions in their Sixth Year, which finds a significant decline over the past year in the U.S. government’s use of Global Magnitsky sanctions against human rights abusers and corrupt actors.