,,iii #aafth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,s4 ,,res4 #ebd ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,march #b1 #bjbj,mr4 ,cardin 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,rubio1 ,mr4 ,coons1 ,mr4 ,johnson1 and ,mrs4 ,shaheen7 submitted the following resolution2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,foreign ,relations ,,resolution ,condemning the practice of politically motivated imprisonment1 calling for the immediate release of political prisoners in the ,russian ,federation1 and urging action by the ,united ,states ,government to impose sanctions with respect to persons responsible for that form of human rights abuse4 ,whereas the right to liberty and security of a person and the protection from arbitrary imprisonment are among the principal human rights guaranteed by ,article #i of the ,international ,covenant on ,civil and ,political ,rights1 ,article #bc of the ,concluding ,document of the ,vienna ,meeting of the ,conference on ,security and ,cooperation in ,europe1 and ,article #e of the ,european ,convention on ,human ,rights2 ,whereas the ,russian ,federation1 as a member of the ,united ,nations1 the ,organization for ,security and ,co-operation in ,europe 7,,osce71 and the ,council of ,europe1 is bound by international commitments with regard to human rights and the rule of law2 ,whereas1 on ,october #c1 #bjab1 the ,parliamentary ,assembly of the ,council of ,europe adopted ,resolution #aijj 7#bjab7 that defined anyone whose detention has been imposed in violation of one of the fundamental guarantees set out in the ,european ,convention on ,human ,rights and its ,protocols or is the result of proceedings which were clearly unfair and this appears to be connected with political motives of the authorities as a political prisoner2 ,whereas1 on ,july #b1 #bjad1 the ,,osce ,parliamentary ,assembly adopted the ,baku ,declaration in which it endorses the adoption by the ,parliamentary ,assembly of the ,council of ,europe of a resolution confirming the definition of political prisoners and strongly urges participating states to co-operate with international institutions like the ,,osce1 to help ensure that ''' there will be no political prisoners in the ,,osce area2 ,whereas1 based on the criteria of the ,parliamentary ,assembly of the ,council of ,europe ,resolution #aijj 7#bjab71 the ,memorial ,human ,rights ,center1 one of the most respected nongovernmental organizations in the ,russian ,federation1 estimates that there are currently more than #cjj political prisoners in the ,russian ,federation2 ,whereas the list of ,russian political prisoners designated by the ,memorial ,human ,rights ,center includes journalists1 civil society activists1 human rights advocates1 participants of peaceful demonstrations1 adherents of prohibited religious groups1 members of undesirable organizations1 and ,ukrainian citizens from the illegally annexed ,crimea2 ,whereas the longest-serving political prisoner in the ,russian ,federation1 ,alexey ,pichugin1 has been incarcerated since ,june #ai1 #bjjc1 in violation of #b rulings by the ,european ,court of ,human ,rights and the opinion by the ,united ,nations ,working ,group on ,arbitrary ,detention2 ,whereas opposition activist ,konstantin ,kotov was sentenced to #d years' imprisonment on ,september #e1 #bjai1 for participating in peaceful demonstrations1 in a ruling ,human ,rights ,watch has described as an outrageous violation of the right to peaceful protest2 ,whereas ,anastasia ,shevchenko1 an activist in the ,open ,russia movement1 has been held under house arrest since ,january #bc1 #bjai1 on the charge of belonging to an undesirable organization and has been designated by ,amnesty ,international as a prisoner of conscience2 ,whereas ,yuri ,dmitriev1 a historian and the leader of the ,memorial ,human ,rights ,center's branch in the ,republic of ,karelia who has worked to document mass burial sites from ,stalin-era executions1 is being held in pretrial detention on charges of child pornography that ,human ,rights ,watch has described as bogus and part of an ongoing smear campaign2 ,whereas ,dennis ,christensen1 a ,jehovah's ,witness and a citizen of ,denmark1 was sentenced to #f years' imprisonment on ,february #f1 #bjai1 in a decision condemned by the ,united ,states ,commission on ,international ,religious ,freedom as part of the broader pattern of the ,government of the ,russian ,federation engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom2 ,whereas1 on ,february #aj1 #bjbj1 a court in ,penza sentenced #g activists to prison terms ranging from #f to #ah years for participation in what authorities alleged was a terrorist organization called ,network after a trial marked by incommunicado detention1 torture1 and other ill treatment to extract confessions1 in what ,human ,rights ,watch has described as an example of the ,russian authorities abusing counterterrorism laws to silence critics and deny fundamental human rights2 ,whereas1 on ,june #ah1 #bjah1 the ,department of ,state affirmed that the ,united ,states is deeply concerned by the growing number of individuals ''' identified by credible human rights organizations as political and religious prisoners held by the ,government of the ,russian ,federation and called on the ,government of the ,russian ,federation to release all those identified as political or religious prisoners immediately and cease its use of the legal system to suppress dissent and peaceful religious practice2 ,whereas1 on ,january #bh1 #bjbj1 #dc parliamentarians from #af ,european countries introduced a resolution in the ,parliamentary ,assembly of the ,council of ,europe calling for the appointment of a rapporteur to examine the growing crisis with politically motivated imprisonments in the ,russian ,federation2 and ,whereas1 according to the ,memorial ,human ,rights ,center1 the number of political prisoners in the ,russian ,federation has increased more than #f-;fold since #bjae3 ,now1 therefore1 be it ,that the ,senate-- 7#a7 expresses support for those unjustly imprisoned in the ,russian ,federation2 7#b7 condemns the practice of politically motivated imprisonment in the ,russian ,federation1 which violates the commitments of the ,russian ,federation to international obligations with respect to human rights and the rule of law2 7#c7 calls on the ,government of the ,russian ,federation to immediately release political prisoners1 including ,alexey ,pichugin1 ,konstantin ,kotov1 ,anastasia ,shevchenko1 ,yuri ,dmitriev1 and ,dennis ,christensen2 7#d7 urges the ,united ,states ,government1 in all its interactions with the ,government of the ,russian ,federation1 to raise individual cases of political prisoners held by the ,russian ,federation and to press for their release2 and 7#e7 urges the ,secretary of ,state and the ,secretary of the ,treasury to use their authority under the ,sergei ,magnitsky ,rule of ,law ,accountability ,act of #bjab 7title ,,iv of ,public ,law #aab-bjh2 #bb ,u4,s4,c4 #ehaa note71 the ,global ,magnitsky ,human ,rights ,accountability ,act 7subtitle ,f of title ,,xii of ,public ,law #aad-cbh2 #bb ,u4,s4,c4 #bfef note71 and other applicable provisions of law to designate for the imposition of sanctions officials of the ,government of the ,russian ,federation who are responsible for human rights abuses in the form of politically motivated imprisonment4