[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1084 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1084
Condemning the killing of Alexei Navalny and calling for the release of
all political prisoners in the Russian Federation.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 15, 2024
Ms. Wild (for herself and Mrs. Wagner) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Condemning the killing of Alexei Navalny and calling for the release of
all political prisoners in the Russian Federation.
Whereas Alexei Navalny (referred to in this preamble as ``Mr. Navalny'')
dedicated himself to building a future of democracy and rule of law for
the people of the Russian Federation;
Whereas Mr. Navalny worked to expose systemic corruption and abuse at the
highest levels of the Kremlin and to call for democratic reforms over
the course of his work as an independent journalist, advocate, attorney,
and opposition candidate for elected office;
Whereas Russian state authorities led by President Vladimir Putin retaliated
against Mr. Navalny for his activism, including multiple politically
motivated arrests, convictions, and an assassination attempt with the
Novichok nerve agent on August 20, 2020;
Whereas investigations conducted by Bellingcat, the Insider, Der Spiegel, and
multiple governments found that the same unit of the Federal Security
Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation responsible for poisoning Mr.
Navalny was responsible for poisoning Russian activists Vladimir Kara-
Murza, Timur Kuashev, Ruslan Magomedragimov, and Nikita Isayev;
Whereas upon his decision to return to the Russian Federation in 2021 after
recovering abroad from the FSB assassination attempt, Mr. Navalny was
sentenced and imprisoned on politically motivated charges;
Whereas Mr. Navalny's 2021 arrest and imprisonment led to mass demonstrations in
support of Mr. Navalny, in which authorities detained an estimated
11,000 protestors;
Whereas, on February 17, 2021, the European Court of Human Rights issued a
ruling finding that Mr. Navalny's rights had been violated and demanding
his immediate release;
Whereas after a meeting with President Putin in June 2021, President Biden vowed
that Russia would face ``devastating consequences'' if Mr. Navalny were
to die in prison;
Whereas Mr. Navalny condemned Vladimir Putin's unprovoked, unjustified, and
illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine launched on February 24, 2022;
Whereas President Putin has further repressed Russian citizens who have
expressed opposition to his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, including a
March 2022 law signed by President Putin criminalizing the distribution
of information contradicting the Russian government's claims about the
invasion of Ukraine and mandating up to 15 years in prison for such so-
called ``offenses'';
Whereas, during a court proceeding in Moscow on May 24, 2022, Mr. Navalny
declared Russia's war on Ukraine as ``built on lies'';
Whereas Mr. Navalny was imprisoned in the IK-6 prison colony in the Vladimir
region, a facility widely and credibly documented by former prisoners
and watchdog organizations for its systemic mistreatment of prisoners
and the widespread use of inhumane practices including torture;
Whereas, in late 2023, Mr. Navalny was transferred from IK-6 prison colony to
the remote Artic IK-3 prison colony of Kharp in grossly inhumane
conditions in the Yamalo-Nenets region;
Whereas throughout his detention period, credible media sources reported that
Mr. Navalny was subjected to dangerous practices and systematic abuse by
Russian prison authorities, including the denial of medical care and
torture;
Whereas, on February 16, 2024, Russian authorities announced the death of Mr.
Navalny in IK-3 prison colony; and
Whereas, on February 16, 2024, President Biden affirmed that ``Putin is
responsible for Navalny's death'': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) condemns the politically motivated killing of Alexei
Navalny by the Russian Federation;
(2) establishes that the Government of the Russian
Federation is fully responsible for Mr. Navalny's death given
its documented attempt to assassinate him on August 20, 2020,
and systemic abuse and negligence of his health and safety
throughout his imprisonment;
(3) expresses solidarity with Mr. Navalny's widow, Yulia
Navalnaya, his family, attorneys, and colleagues of Mr.
Navalny, as well as all prisoners of conscience in the Russian
Federation imprisoned and subjected to state-sponsored violence
and intimidation for exercising their fundamental freedoms of
speech, assembly, and belief;
(4) condemns the Russian Federation's continued
imprisonment of thousands of prisoners on politically motivated
charges, including numerous United States citizens such as Evan
Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, and Alsu Kurmasheva;
(5) urges the United States Government and other allied
governments to work to secure the immediate release of all
political prisoners in the Russian Federation; and
(6) calls on the Secretaries of State and Treasury to
impose additional sanctions on Russian authorities who played a
role in the killing of Mr. Navalny in coordination with United
States allies and partners.
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