By Soleo Goudswaard
How does one deal with brutal regimes? Liberal democracies have struggled with this question for decades. When faced with the worst atrocities, the best of intentions often result in diplomatic trade-offs allowing oppressors to get off scot-free.
Human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC argues in his latest book Bad People and How To Be Rid of Them that international justice has largely failed to end impunity for perpetrators of genocide and ‘crimes against humanity’. This is because one-party states such as China and Russia are themselves guilty of state-sponsored oppression and wield a veto at the UN Security Council. Robertson’s Plan B is for freedom-loving nations to take human rights justice into their own hands through targeted sanctions. If perpetrators cannot be brought to justice in their home countries a coalition of the willing must unite to force accountability.
Almost ten years since the passage of the US Magnitsky Act, the name of a humble Russian tax lawyer still strikes fear into the hearts of kleptocrats and authoritarian leaders. Sergei Magnitsky was a law-abiding citizen who uncovered tax fraud involving senior members of the Russian regime. He told the truth about what he found and was detained, denied medical treatment and ultimately beaten to death.
The Magnitsky Act of 2012 required the naming of the people responsible for Magnitsky’s treatment – the jailors, the interior ministry officials, the corrupt judges, the doctors who withheld treatment – and froze their US assets. They were also denied entry into the US. It followed in the footsteps of the Nuremburg trials, which established the principle that individuals, not sovereign states, are responsible for ‘crimes against humanity’. In 2016 the law was updated to apply globally. Canada, the UK and the EU now have similar legislation, allowing them to designate perpetrators of human rights abuse and deny them access to their financial systems.
The intent of Magnitsky sanctions is to address the culture of impunity that underpins corrupt authoritarian regimes. They have an exceptional ability to get under the skin of autocrats and their proxies. In fact, Putin was so enraged that he made it his foreign policy priority to have the US Magnitsky Act repealed and also banned American couples from adopting Russian orphans with disabilities.
Enablers of kleptocratic regimes such as Russia live to defraud their countries so they can live in luxury elsewhere. They buy property in Italy or France and send their children to private schools in the UK using their ill-gotten gains. But international sanctions put all this at risk and remove the incentive to do the regime’s dirty work.
So far the use of these sanctions has been rather timid. There is scope to be much more assertive and respond to persecution of journalists and human rights advocates, for example. It might not be clear immediately, but over time they will have a material impact on the way such regimes operate and the ordinary people who live under their oppressive rule. When imposed collectively, without fear or favour, Magnitsky sanctions have the potential to unravel corrupt authoritarian regimes and the incentive structure that sustains them.
A parliamentary committee recommended in December 2020 that Australia join this global movement and enact Magnitsky legislation. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon. Marise Payne, has not yet responded to the committee’s report. In March the US, UK, EU and Canada imposed Magnitsky sanctions on officials responsible for the oppression of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in China’s Xinijang region. Australia was notably absent. This is unsustainable. Australia wants to be seen as a strong advocate for global human rights, but drags its feet on something that would show we mean it. Revelations of resistance in the bureaucracy are not surprising, but it shouldn’t matter if there is political will and a commitment to see this through.
Australia must play its part in this global effort. A coalition of the willing can isolate authoritarian regimes and their enablers and make sure they cannot exploit our freedoms to enjoy the privileges they deny their own citizens.
Picture source: https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2012/11/22/why-obama-should-sign-the-magnitsky-act-a19602