The Foreign Service Journal, June 2013

34 JUNE 2013 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL whether the president was a Democrat or Republican, has alternated between sparring with Capitol Hill and making common cause on key issues. A Russian Rights Watershed The case of Russia provides a useful example. Determined to “reset” relations to advance arms control and other initia- tives that eroded during the Bush administration, the Obama administration promised a different sort of engagement, while pledging to maintain support for allies in the Russian orbit, like Georgia. The administration was also eager to wind down Jackson- Vanik, which prevented the United States from granting Permanent Normal Trade Relations status to Russia, even though Moscow had long ago lifted restrictions on citizens who wished to leave the country. The measure mainly served to create barriers for American exporters seeking access to Russian markets. A number of lawmakers had been equally determined to make sure any plan to wind down Jackson-Vanik included new levers for pressing Russia on a backsliding human rights record. As early as 2010, U.S. lawmakers were vowing to hold Moscow accountable for Magnitsky’s death. For the administration, there was a precedent of sorts in the way Congress treated China’s application to join the World Trade Organization in 2001. In exchange for agreeing to lift the provisions of Jackson-Vanik, which barred U.S. approval of Beijing’s accession, it created two commissions to review U.S.- China relations, Beijing’s observance of WTO commitments and the status of human rights in China. In the case of Russia, members of the Obama administra- tion and Congress shared deep misgivings about Moscow’s ongoing crackdown on political and other freedoms. But in dealing with the Magnitsky matter, the administration indicated a preference for exercising a travel ban on Russians implicated in the case through existing visa powers, or issuing an executive order freezing the travel of some individuals. Nonetheless, Congress voted overwhelmingly to restrict travel and threaten to freeze the assets of Russians tied to the case. Some administration officials say the inclusion of asset controls adds unnecessary complications, while rights activ- ists say the asset controls were important to give the measure bite. “For this to be an effective mechanism for supporting and promoting human rights in Russia, it is important to fully implement it,” says Susan Corke, director for Eurasia programs at U.S.-based rights watchdog Freedom House.