Georgia Discussed at US Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee Hearing on Implementation of Magnitsky Act
On December 5 the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on the implementation of the Global Magnitsky laws, to discuss ways to further strengthen and improve the implementation of the sanctions tool and to better coordinate with other countries. Discussions, among other issues, focused on Georgia and the continuing human rights abuses of demonstrators by the Georgian government, with a hope expressed that Magnitsky sanctions would be helpful in addressing the human rights abuses of the Georgian people by the ruling authorities.
The two witnesses heard at the Committee hearing were Adam Kieth, Senior Director of Human Rights First, and William Browder, Chief Executive Officer of Hermitage Capital Management, one of the initiators of the Magnitsky Act, a sanctions tool designed to impose global individual sanctions for human rights abuses and corruption.
During the deliberations, the Ranking Member Senator James Risch noted that: “In the past weeks the Georgian government has brutally cracked down on pro-EU demonstrations. We have to consider how we can use tools at our disposal to defend basic rights and preserve the environment where people can freely and fairly decide their future.” He referred to the telephone call the same morning between the Committee members and the President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili, which he said was “enlightening”.
Chairman Senator Ben Cardin further added: “We hope the Magnitsky sanctions will be helpful to get Georgia to the right path”, adding the actions of the “current authorities” towards the population of Georgia are “unacceptable.”
Senator Jeanne Shaheen said that “the situation in Georgia is getting increasingly dire. We’ve had on this committee a long-standing commitment to the Georgian people, I think we are all watching with great concern the deteriorating situation that we are seeing, with thousands of people in the streets to protest the Georgian Dream’s decision to suspend EU accession talks.”
She asked witnesses a question about the link between corruption and human rights abuses, and “what role the corruption played in fueling a crisis in Georgia?”
Bill Browder, one of the witnesses, said that “corruption is a crucial issue”. He stressed that Bidzina Ivanisvili, an oligarchic billionaire and informal ruler in Georgia, made his money in Russia through GASPROM and other state companies, which he said were “highly corrupt”. He said that Ivanisvhili then went back to Georiga. “So, how do Russians control him? They say: you made your money in ways that are potentially dubious, we can take it all away from you, open criminal cases, or we may do none of that, if you help us. So he’s been actively helping them ever since,” Boll Brodwer noted.
He said: “So, it would be fair to say that the current illegitimate Georgian government is a Russian puppet government and Bidzina Ivanishvili plays a very active role in this situation.”
He further added that the other side of the story is that “people who are corrupt and are in power, they don’t want the next government to investigate them” adding that they refuse to relinquish power and rig elections. “That’s the role corruption plays,” concluded the US Senator.
Commenting on the general challenge to sanctions, particularly those imposed on Russia, which lies in the effective ways to avoid them he noted that Russians have found every way around sanctions, noting that „the Georgians, they are soft on it, so all the staff that’s not supposed to go to Russia is all coming in through Georgia. We know that there is a supply line coming in that way, there are a lot of leaks.”
Senator Jeanne Shaheen said: “It’s important for us to send a message that there is a bilateral consensus in Senate and Congress on this issue regarding Georgia and we are not going to tolerate [this situation] without taking action against this gross abuse that’s taking place in the country.”
The political processes in Georgia, including the democratic backsliding, contested elections, the stopping of the EU accession negotiation process, and the violent dispersals of peaceful protesters by the police, have caused a critical reaction from Georgia’s Western partners. On December 2 the three Baltic states announced sanctions against Bidzina Ivanishvili and several high-ranking MIA officials. The Netherlands and Canada said they are going to sanction the GD government. Ukraine has imposed sanctions on Ivanishvili and his associates on December 5.
On November 30 the United States suspended the strategic partnership with Georgia. On December 4, U.S. State Secretary Anthony Blinken said the US is prepared to take further actions, including additional sanctions, to ensure those responsible face full accountability for their unlawful actions. Prior to that, in May 2024, Secretary of State Blinken announced a visa restriction policy for undermining democracy in Georgia and as well a Comprehensive Review of all US-Georgia cooperation the US indefinitely postponed the Noble Partner joint exercises with Georgia, suspended USD 95 million assistance to the Georgian government, and sanctioned members of the corrupt Georgian judiciary clan and former Prosecutor General and Bidzina Ivanishili’s crony, Otar Parstkhaladze. In June, 2024 the US State Department implemented the first tranche of sanctions against Georgian individuals. Two bipartisan bills – MEGOBARI and Georgian People’s Act are initiated in the US Congress envisaging a number of measures to respond to undermining democracy in Georgia, including sanctions against GD officials.
Also Read:
- 04/12/2024 – U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson Calls for Sanctions on Georgian Authorities Responsible for Crackdown on Activists, Opposition
- 03/12/2024 – Watchdog Details “Inhuman and Degrading Treatment” Against Protesters by Police
- 03/12/2024 – Civil Society Foundation Calls for Immediate Stop to Police Violence
- 02/12/2024 – GYLA: Instead of Maintaining Law and Order, MIA Commits Crimes
- 01/12/2024 – CSOs: Physical Force Used Against Protesters Amounted to Torture
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