Nataliya Magnitskaya holds a portrait of her late son, Russian whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky, in a 2009 file photo.The Associated Press
Two outspoken opponents of Vladimir Putin appeared before a parliamentary committee Thursday and urged Canada to rename its main sanctions legislation after a Russian whistleblower whose name has become synonymous with holding governments accountable for human-rights abuses.
One of them was Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian politician and activist who survived two suspected poisonings in Moscow, in 2015 and 2017, before being jailed for criticizing Mr. Putin’s war on Ukraine. He was released and flown out of Russia in a 2024 prisoner exchange with Western countries.
The Russian activist, who appeared in person, was joined via teleconference at the hearing by U.S.-born financier Bill Browder, who led a global campaign for targeted human-rights sanctions legislation.
They are backing Bill C-219, a private member’s bill sponsored by Conservative MP James Bezan that proposes changes including renaming Canada’s main sanctions tool, the Special Economic Measures Act (SEMA), in favour of deceased Russian whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky.
C-219 would also expand, and toughen, Canadian sanctions law. It would make transnational repression an offence punishable by sanctions. This type of repression is when foreign states harass or harm critics to silence them or stifle activism. Those persecuted often include elected officials, political dissidents, human-rights defenders or journalists.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting at the Palace of Independence during an official visit to Astana, Kazakhstan, on Thursday.ALEXANDER KAZAKOV/AFP/Getty Images
Bill C-219 would compel Ottawa to publish an annual list of all prisoners of conscience detained by foreign states on whose behalf Canada has been advocating. A prisoner of conscience is an individual who has been detained by their government for their political or religious beliefs. This list would also include details of efforts Canada has made on their behalf.
Canada already has a law with Mr. Magnitsky’s name attached to it: the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, or JVCFOA. It’s also called the Sergei Magnitsky Law and took effect in late 2017.
Mr. Kara-Murza and Mr. Browder were instrumental in persuading Canada and more than 30 countries including European Union states to pass Magnitsky-style laws – legislation that allows governments to place sanctions on foreign nationals responsible for human-rights abuses or corruption.
Ottawa has made relatively little use of the JVCFOA legislation, preferring to implement sanctions through SEMA.
“That is not a cosmetic change,” Mr. Browder told MPs of the proposal to rename SEMA after Mr. Magnitsky. “It is a statement of moral purpose.”
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Mr. Magnitsky, Mr. Browder’s tax adviser, was arrested in 2008 and died in a Russian detention centre in 2009 after being beaten, according to investigators. The death followed his uncovering of a massive fraud scheme by Russian officials.
This prompted Mr. Browder to lead a global campaign for accountability. Russia responded by convicting Mr. Browder in absentia, repeatedly trying to have him arrested through Interpol, and waging a legal and propaganda war against him.
If Mr. Magnitsky’s name is embedded in SEMA, it would tell the world and “every abuser, every corrupt official, every torturer exactly what these sanctions are for and exactly who they are named after,” Mr. Browder told MPs. “That clarity has power.”
Mr. Kara-Murza thanked MPs Thursday during his testimony for Canada’s support during his incarceration at a Siberian penal colony. He was made an honorary Canadian citizen in 2023 during this ordeal.
The Russian recalled how former Liberal justice minister Irwin Cotler, a champion of human rights, has said the worst nightmare for a political prisoner is to be forgotten.
Mr. Kara-Murza said he never felt forgotten by Western countries while in Siberia.
Vladimir Kara-Murza speaks at a press conference after being freed in a multi-country prisoner swap in Bonn, Germany, in 2024.Leon Kuegeler/Reuters
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s governing Liberal Party, which has a majority in the House of Commons, says Mr. Bezan’s bill contains worthwhile reforms that would modernize Canada’s role in defending human rights. But it has declined to signal outright support, saying the government wants changes before it could back the measure.
Robert Oliphant, the Liberal MP who is parliamentary secretary to the Foreign Affairs Minister, raised concerns Thursday about requiring Ottawa to publicly identify all the prisoners of conscience it is advocating for around the world.
Mr. Kara-Murza said democratic governments must publicize their work on behalf of those wrongly imprisoned.
“The one thing that never works is so-called quiet diplomacy,” he said.
He advised MPs not to believe politicians who insist that they will raise concerns politely in private with authoritarian states.
“That’s the best way of knowing they’re not going to do anything about it,” the Russian said of these officials.
“The only defence for a political prisoner – the only defence, the only hope, the only lifeline – for someone who is sitting in a prison cell in Siberia, in Xinjiang or in Venezuela, or wherever it may be, is publicity and advocacy and public attention,” he said.
“I’m in a very literal sense living proof that this is the case.”