[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1666-E1667]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

MR. LEONID NEVZLIN'S STATEMENT BEFORE THE HELSINKI COMMISSION

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HON. ELIOT L. ENGEL

of new york

in the house of representatives

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, some major news organizations have been
reporting current developments in Russia, directed by the Kremlin, that
clearly undermine democratic institutions in that country. The latest
initiative, a measure just approved by the Upper House of Parliament,
further consolidates political control in Vladimir Putin's party and
reduces any opportunity for opposition parties in future elections. It
also greatly limits outside groups from monitoring or observing vote
tabulation and reporting in national elections.
This week, my colleagues heard directly from a prominent ``victim''
of Mr. Putin's effort to purge political opposition. In an appearance
before the Helsinki Commission, Mr. Leonid Nevzlin, who is a major
share holder in the YUKOS Oil Company, discussed his situation and the
political deterioration in Russia. When he visited Washington three
years ago, Mr. Nevzlin was Deputy Chairman of the Upper House
International Relations Committee, and advisor to the government on
Middle East Policy, and head of the Russia Jewish Congress. Today, Mr.
Nevzlin is forced to live in exile in Israel because he, like his long
time associate and friend, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, dared to oppose the
forces within the Kremlin.
Mr. Speaker, Leonid Nevzlin's statement before the Helsinki
Commission clearly states the current situation in Russia today. I ask
that it be included in the Record at this point.

Statement to the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
``Helsinki Commission''

(By Leonid Nevzlin, July 13, 2005)

Mr. Chairman, I welcome the opportunity to appear before
the Helsinki Commission to discuss the current situation in
Russia and the concerns of all of us about the Putin
government and the future of Russia.
First, I wish to emphasize the value of the Commission's
mandate and stated criteria to promote compliance with the
fundamental standards of civil society in Russia and the
other former Soviet republics.
Second, those of us who have witnessed first-hand the
travesty of justice in Russia much appreciate the concerns
expressed by the co-chairmen about the improper handling of
the Yukos trial and the sentencing of Mikhail Khodorkovsky
and his colleagues by Russian authorities. Your formal
statement to the world's press that the ``case appears to the
world to be justice directed by politics'' and that the
``selective prosecution such as appears to be the case here
will wreak havoc on Russia's legal system'' reflects that the
chairmen of this commission have an accurate view of the
Khodorkovsky trial and the weakened state of the legal system
in Russia.
Third, it is vitally important that the Helsinki Commission
continue monitoring the implementation of the provisions of
the 1975 Helsinki Accords as they relate to Russia and report
its findings to the public. While the U.S. Administration and
Congressional leaders must necessarily balance many variables
in the bilateral relationship, the Helsinki Commission has a
clear mandate to insure that human rights and basic freedoms
are maintained in the countries under its jurisdiction.
Mr. Chairman, it is my opinion that the rule of law is the
cornerstone of civil society because it serves to protect the
rights and freedoms of all citizens. What we have witnessed
this past year in Russia is a legal system that differs very
little from the Soviet days. The state prosecutor is an
instrument of the Kremlin and the judiciary is not truly
independent. When the finest lawyers in Russia cannot get a
fair and just trial for their clients when the whole world is
watching, no one in Russia can expect to obtain justice.
The lives of many hundreds or even thousands of people have
been harmed forever as a result of the abuses of the Russian
government, which has violated basic human rights and its own
laws again and again. Many of those cases do not receive wide
attention, but some do, and human rights groups have begun to
document them. They are worthy of your attention and your
future labors.
I am most familiar with the cases involving Yukos. Beyond
Mr. Khodorkovsky and myself, Alexei Pichugin, a mid-level
Yukos executive, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in
a secret murder trial conducted entirely behind closed doors.
Mr. Pichugin has been drugged, interrogated without his
lawyers present, kept from his wife and denied independent
medical treatment--even after he lost nearly 70 pounds while
in the custody of the FSB. My colleague, Platon Lebedev, who
is suffering from liver ailments and who was arrested in his
hospital bed, has also subsequently been denied independent
medical care. He was tried in the same cage with Mr.
Khodorkovsky in a show trial in which Russian and
international legal norms were repeatedly violated. He, like
Mr. Khodorkovsky, has now been sentenced to 9 years in
prison.
The scope of the attack on those associated with Yukos has
been broad in scope and terrible in its tactics. For example,
Svetlana Bahkmina, a young Yukos lawyer, was arrested in
December. She has been interrogated by FSB or other Russian
officials to the point where her lawyers report that she has
lost consciousness. She has been isolated from her children,
ages 3 and 7. In the meantime, Russian government officials
have said that Ms. Bahkmina will be released when her boss,
Yukos' chief in-house lawyer, returns to Russia from England,
where he is effectively a political refugee.
Other Yukos employees have had to flee Russia, too, and
have found refuge in the democracies of the world. In a stark
example of how the world now recognizes Russian ``justice''
for what it is, the Bow Street Magistrate's Court in London
rejected a Russian extradition request for two such Yukos
employees charged in the anti-Yukos campaign. Having heard
all of the evidence, and noting President Putin's personal
involvement in the cases, the judge concluded that no Russian
court could be expected to withstand the Kremlin's political
pressure such that it could provide a fair trial to these
men. Subsequently, the British Home Office has given
political asylum to a half dozen additional Yukos
``refugees.''
Beyond Yukos, just recently, it was reported that Russian
prosecutors have opened a criminal case against former
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov. Mr. Kasyanov was
dismissed by Mr. Putin last year and has been critical of the
administration since then. He has specifically criticized the
handling of the Yukos case and has expressed his own higher
political aspirations. The Kasyanov case has all the earmarks
of another Yukos-style campaign, in which the powers of the
FSB and Russian federal prosecutors are misused by the
Kremlin to destroy a political opponent.
The West, and particularly America, is rightfully concerned
by the Kremlin's co-opting of Russia's criminal justice
system as a tool to crush political opposition. The West is
further properly concerned because, in the Yukos case, the
Kremlin's campaign attacked what had become a model for
corporate governance and transparency.
No one should doubt for a minute President Putin's motive
in the dismemberment of the Yukos Oil Company and the state
take-over of its major production unit. Energy is both very
profitable and, given that major industrial companies depend
on imports for their energy needs, inherently political. It
is the Kremlin's aim to control Russia's energy sector to
insure its dominant role in the world energy market. This
will most certainly enhance President Putin's standing
given that Europe and other countries become more
dependent on Russia as a major supplier. The respected
Count Lambsdorff of Germany warned last week that his
country was on a perilous course by increasing its
dependence on natural gas imports from Russia.
On civil society, whatever progress was made in developing
democratic institutions during the Yeltsin years have all but
disappeared under the current regime. The major tenets of
democracy, as we know them, barely exist in Russia today.
While there may be a degree of freedom and liberty, the
institutions that protect those rights have been usurped by
forces within the Kremlin. The government now owns or
controls all media outlets, the courts are not truly
independent, there is no viable political opposition, and the
list goes on. It is increasingly apparent that former KGB and
FSB officers are now dominant in the Kremlin and whatever
transparency existed a few years ago is not in evidence
today. The result is an emerging form of corruption at the
highest levels in the Russian government. This corruption
threatens to corrode the foundation of the Russian government
to a degree that could put at risk Russian security and
stability as well as the long-term economic well-being of the
Russian people. I fear this will be Vladimir Putin's legacy.
This current view of Russian authorities is not confined to
me or to opponents of the Kremlin. Valentin Gefter, the
Director of the Human Rights Institute in Moscow said to your
committee just a few short weeks ago that ``very often,
political, corporate and even personal reasons prevail over
the rule of law [in Russia].'' I absolutely agree. Michael
McFaul, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations
and executive director of the Council's Task Force on Russian
American Relations, headed by former U.S. Vice Presidential
nominees Jack Kemp and John Edwards, said that ``Four or five
years ago, there was a debate about whether Putin was a
democrat. The debate is now over. The question today concerns
the nature and extent of Putin's authoritarianism.'' Finally,
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that the Russian
government's handling of the Yukos case ``shook people's
confidence,'' and that Russian officials must demonstrate
that laws and regulations are fair and applied ``consistently
over time, applied over various cases.''
It is not just Yukos that is under persecution by Russian
authorities. As reported by Irina Yasina, the head of the
Open Russia Foundation, a non-profit organization established
by Mr. Khodorkovsky, myself and our colleagues to promote a
democratic Russia, non-governmental organizations have been
under ``direct pressure and threats from the Ministry of
Interior Affairs, Public Prosecutor's Office and Federal
Security Services.'' This year, the Ministry of Justice has
suspended the activity of the Nijny Novgorod Society of Human
Rights and frozen the accounts of the Society of Russian-
Chechen

[[Page E1667]]

Friendship. The Kremlin has also thought to dismantle and put
pressure a number on of international civil society
organizations, including the Soros Foundation, the National
Democratic Institute & British Council.
Mr. Chairman, I regret that Russia is moving in a direction
that is contrary to Western values and traditions. This must
be troubling to America as well. The question is what can
America and other Western democracies do about it. Obviously,
what does not work are casual refrains and diplomatic
overtures. Given that the hardened and cynical forces in the
Kremlin understand and respond only to sanctions that
threaten their own interests, I offer two thoughts:
I applaud Senators McCain and Lieberman and Congressmen
Lantos and Cox for their sponsorship of the G-8 Resolution.
In examining the criteria for membership, it is clear Russia
meets neither the economic nor democratic requirements for a
seat at the
G-8 table. Making clear that Russia's continued membership
depends on its adherence to democratic principles and the
rule of law will gain the attention of a leader who clearly
relishes his position in the G-8 Club. At least America and
other G-8 members should not allow Vladimir Putin to head the
group given the circumstances in Russia today.
Russia aspires to be in the World Trade Organization for
understandable reasons. But is it possible that a major
country that uses extralegal means to seize control of
private assets, selective prosecution, businessmen,
renationalizes private enterprises, harasses companies with
bogus tax charges and fails to erect a legal system that
protects investments, shareholders and commercial contracts,
deserves membership in the WTO? Capital outflows and the
decline in investments are clearly due to perceptions inside
and outside Russia that it is not safe for investment. If
responsible nations ignore these trends and do not take
effective action to combat them, it will only encourage
Russian authorities to continue down the path of
authoritarianism.
Finally, Mr. Chairman, I wish to make it clear I want to
see an open, uncorrupted, prosperous and free Russia. On my
last visit to Washington in June 2002, I was Deputy Chairman
of the Russia Federation's International Relations Committee,
president of the Russia Jewish Congress, a major shareholder
in Group Menatep, the holding company of YUKOS oil, and
heavily involved in education and philanthropic causes.
Today I am a proud citizen of Israel, the country whose
democracy protects me from false accusations of undocumented
crimes by a prosecutor who is on a political witch hunt. My
sins, as viewed by the Kremlin, were to work with Mikhail
Khodorkovsky and Yukos to promote greater freedom, an open
civil society, business transparency and democratic values in
Russia to help the Russian people. This is a dark time for
those of us who cherish freedom and embrace democracy. If the
Russian people had a greater faith in democracy and
recognition of their power to demand it, there would be an
uprising in the country. But their experience is too limited.
Our only hope is that America, the author and inspiration of
democracy, will use its prestige to convince Mr. Putin to
change his ways.
Again, I thank the Helsinki Commission for maintaining its
commitment to democratic values and willingness to confront
Russia and other nations whenever those values are put into
jeopardy.

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