The European Union will begin exercising its power to impose sanctions such as asset freezes and travel bans on individuals involved in human rights abuses from next month after EU member states provisionally approved the European Magnitsky Act, it has been reported.
The Guardian reported on November 27 that the restrictive measures will be signed on December 10, International Human Rights Day, to mark the 77th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly. They will target individuals involved in human rights violations such as genocide, torture, arbitrary arrest or detention. According to a copy of the decision obtained by the newspaper, the bill “establishes a framework of targeted restrictive measures to address serious violations and abuses of human rights around the world. The EU does not currently have the power to impose travel bans on individuals, as competence rests with national governments, while the EU’s other sanctions powers are geographically targeted, not personal.
The Dutch government initiated discussions about developing its own version of the U.S. Global Magnitsky Act on Human Rights Accountability within the EU last November, following a resolution in the Hague parliament. It was named in honor of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian tax accountant who was known for his involvement in exposing the Russian government. He was arrested by Russian law enforcement authorities in November 2008 for his involvement in exposing corruption in the Russian government. He was mistreated in custody and died on November 16, 2009, in a prison northeast of Moscow due to his deteriorating health. The law, passed by the U.S. Congress, authorizes the U.S. government to impose sanctions for human rights violations and significant corruption abroad, such as bans on entry into the country and freezes and prohibitions on officials’ property transactions in the United States.
In an October 31 blog post, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and EC Vice President Josep Borrell noted that the EU is now in the final stages of a long and complex process to establish a global Magnitsky mechanism for human rights accountability. He said that once the European Council next adopts the relevant legal instruments, the mechanism will enable the EU to sanction perpetrators of human rights violations around the world. He continued, noting that the EU’s forthcoming mechanism would focus only on human rights violations, while the U.S. version would also include combating corruption.
The European Parliament has repeatedly called on the EU to adopt legislation similar to that enacted in the United States that would allow the bloc to target individuals regardless of nationality. Eight members of the Nordic Council-Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland-have said they will pass their own bill if the EU disagrees. Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, which share a border with Russia, already have such legislation in place.
The EU framework will not bear Magnitsky’s name after lobbying by the Dutch government, which argues that no particular country should feel targeted, the newspaper reported. Vladimir Putin had been so incensed by the corresponding legislation in the United States that he subsequently banned Americans from adopting Russian children. The EU’s new human rights sanctions regime was agreed on Thursday by foreign policy experts from the 27 member states, and will next be formally approved by foreign ministers on December 7, most likely through a written procedure on December 10.
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