tol.org 21 December 2016
Finally some good news at the end of a year that saw a worsening of human rights and freedoms in many countries in TOL’s coverage area. In case you missed it, on the eve of international Human Rights Day celebrated on 10 December, Estonia became the first country in the European Union to pass legislation banning entry into the country for human rights abusers.
The new amendment is unofficially named for the late Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who discovered and reported a massive tax fraud allegedly orchestrated by Russian officials. He was imprisoned without charges and died from an apparent beating, possible torture, and medical neglect in 2009 in a Moscow prison.
The amendment to Estonia's 1998 Obligation to Leave and Prohibition on Entry Act was unanimously passed in Estonia's parliament, the Riigikogu. It targets people who “have participated in or contributed to the violation of human rights of another person anywhere in the world, that has resulted in the death, serious physical harm, or unfounded conviction of a person, or some other serious consequences.”
“Authoritarian regimes have taken advantage of Western nations to advance their own interests. We don't want those individuals whose actions are in direct conflict with our values to come to Estonia, even if those are not directly connected with Estonia,” Eerik-Niiles Kross (pictured), the parliamentarian who introduced the amendments, said, according to UpNorth, a news and culture site covering the Nordic and Baltic Sea region.
On the same day as the law was passed in Estonia, 8 December, the U.S. Senate extended the scope of the country’s own Magnitsky Act, Reuters writes. The new Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act extends the human rights-based sanctions beyond Russia. It also adds “significant” acts of corruption to the list of offenses that the sanctions should apply to.
Applicable to all persons wishing to enter Estonia, the law is seen as a symbolic gesture specifically pointed in Russia's direction.
As Estonia is part of the Schengen zone, denied entry to Estonia means denied entry to all 26 countries within the Schengen area.
The Estonian amendment, however, does not mean an automatic entry ban for those on the U.S. Magnitsky list, Merje Klopets, spokesperson for the Estonian Ministry of the Interior, told BNS. "The decision will be made based on the circumstances related to each specific person, i.e. the decision will be made for each concrete person separately," Klopets said.
While Russian media have been quiet about the Estonian amendments, the move has been hailed by human rights advocates around the world. “Canada and our other Western allies should take note of Estonia's bravery and leadership,” Canadian human rights advocate and former Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler said, according to UpNorth.
• The first Magnitsky Act was passed in the U.S. in 2012, and consisted of a ban from entering the country on Russians connected to Magnitsky's murder. At the time of its adoption, opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, cited by the World Affairs Journal, said that Russian elites would be exponentially affected by a similar law adopted in Europe, “where the overwhelming majority of corrupt functionaries have assets, children, property, and bank accounts.”
• The Estonian amendment is also a step forward in establishing the credentials of the new Estonian government, initially seen as possibly having close ties with Moscow elites.
• Russian authorities have claimed that Magnitsky's story was made up by his former employer Bill Browder, whom they accused of stealing the money and fabricating the entire story, EUobserver writes.