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Congressional Record—Senate S6183 August 1, 2013 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6183 where he received a commendation for thrown in jail for having the temerity A few weeks ago, hundreds of pro- outstanding service. to run against his country’s testers were detained by Russian Inte- Following his military service, Dr. strongman, President Lukashenko. rior Ministry personnel when pro- Poshard returned to Illinois and used Many of my colleagues here have testing Navalny’s dubious conviction— the G.I. bill to earn a bachelor’s degree helped with these efforts, including 11 a fate met by scores of nonviolent pro- in secondary education, a master’s de- other Senators who recently joined in a testers in recent years; gree in health education, and a Ph.D. letter to Uzbek President Karimov ask- As of March of this year, the Russian in higher education administration. He ing for the release of activist Akzam Federal Security Service accompanied received all three degrees from South- Turgunov and journalists Dilmurod by tax enforcement and other govern- ern Illinois University at Carbondale. Saidov and Salijon Abdurakhmanov. ment personnel has raided thousands of Appointed to the Illinois State Sen- Others have also championed the NGOs across Russia, seizing documents ate in 1984, Dr. Poshard held the seat cause of political freedom around the and interrogating staff—all in an or- until the people of the 22nd Congres- world, including Senators MCCAIN and chestrated intimidation campaign; sional District sent him to the U.S. CARDIN, who have been leaders in try- Opposition leader Boris Nemtsov has House of Representatives in 1989. Dur- ing to hold our Russian friends to a been arrested multiple times for peace- ing his 10 years in Congress, Dr. higher standard of political and human fully protesting government policies; Poshard was a strong proponent of rights freedom. Deputy editor-in-chief of Russian campaign finance reform. When he ran In fact, Senator CARDIN was tireless newspaper Novaya Gazeta Sergei for Governor in 1998, he limited indi- in his effort to pass the Magnitsky Sokolov fled Russia after the chief fed- vidual donations to his campaign and law—a law that I supported—that tried eral investigator took him into the for- refused to accept contributions from to bring about some measure of ac- est and threatened to decapitate him; political action committees. countability regarding the death of Doctor of Political Sciences at Kuban Following his tenure in Congress, Dr. Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who State University Mikhail Savva, who Poshard and his wife Jo founded the was jailed after exposing official cor- was a member of the that region’s Pub- Poshard Foundation for Abused Chil- ruption and later died from mistreat- lic Oversight Committee and an out- dren. For the last 14 years, the Poshard ment while in custody. spoken voice against corruption was Foundation has helped children who I have also watched with great dis- arrested in April and has been held have been victims of abuse, abandon- may the deterioration of democracy without bail on flimsy charges; ment, or neglect in southern Illinois. and human rights in Russia. Leader of For Human Rights, Lev After a 40-year affiliation with the A few years ago I had the chance to Ponomaryov, a prominent human university, Dr. Poshard is leaving his speak to the Lithuanian Parliament on rights advocacy group in Moscow, was beloved SIU in good shape. At SIU, Dr. that country’s—the country of my kicked and beaten during a forceful Poshard has been a student, a student mother’s birth—20th anniversary of eviction of his organization from their worker, a civil service worker, an ad- independence from the Soviet Union. headquarters. The assault was carried junct professor, vice chancellor for ad- One of the other speakers on that out by men dressed in civilian clothing, ministration, and now as he retires— memorable occasion was Russian dem- but was observed by riot police officers; the second longest serving president in ocrat small ‘‘d’’ democrat—Yuriy Lastly—and very symbolic of the the history of the Southern Illinois Afanasyev. hundreds arrested at recent protests— University system, an experience he Many probably did not realize or human rights activist Nikolay calls ‘‘the greatest honor of my life.’’ have forgotten that during those heady Kavkazsky was arrested last year at I congratulate Glenn on his distin- days in the early 1990s a number of his home for allegedly hitting a police- guished career and thank him for dedi- countries—such as Lithuania—were man during a protest although an inde- cating his life to public service. I wish early in declaring independence and, as pendent investigation implies he was in him and his family all the best. a result, helped change history in East- fact dodging blows from a policeman. f ern Europe. Let me take a moment to pause and And who helped support many such mention an extraordinary story and POLITICAL PRISONERS AND PO- efforts? photo from the Washington Post of LITICAL REPRESSION IN RUSSIA Russian democrats in the streets of Russian schoolteacher Marina Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, over the Moscow—the same ones who were also Rozumovskaya, standing alone in front years I have come to the floor to raise instrumental in bringing a transition of Moscow City Hall in the freezing the plight of political prisoners being to democracy in their own country. Russian winter in January of 2011. held around the globe. These have in- Afanasyev was just such a Russian. In the photo she is holding an 8 by 11 cluded journalists, activists, bloggers, He helped lead large public protests in inch sign that said ‘‘Freedom to polit- musicians, and opposition candidates Moscow during the January 1991 crack- ical prisoners’’ in response to the ar- who all had the misfortune of landing down against Lithuania’s independence rest and jailing of a prominent opposi- in an autocrat’s jail for exercising or movement. tion leader who had criticized the Rus- advocating for basic freedoms that That is why I find myself so saddened sian government. most of the world takes for granted. by what is happening in Russia today— Watching and waiting for her to Many of these cases are ones that the systematic state-sponsored harass- break the law across the street in the have received little attention or are ment and dismantling of those Russian 10 degree weather were a dozen or so not in the world’s media spotlight, in- citizens and organizations that are still Russian police officers. cluding: Gambian journalist Ebrima hoping for a democratic and free Rus- This brave schoolteacher told the Manneh, who has been held incommu- sia so many years later. Washington Post, ‘‘If you don’t exer- nicado since 2006 and probably has died Just 2 weeks ago, the Russian gov- cise your rights as a citizen, nothing in detention; Vietnamese blogger Dieu ernment tried and convicted popular will ever change.’’ Cay, who was jailed for 12 years for opposition leader and candidate for The Russian government has also anti-state propaganda and is in poor mayor of Moscow Alesksei Navalny on used almost paranoid legislation to re- health due to a hunger strike amid his charges that had already been thrown strict Russian human rights and elec- president’s recent visit to Washington; out as baseless after a local investiga- tion monitoring organizations from Saudi blogger Hamza Kashgari, who tion. doing their work. was grabbed off a plane in Malaysia If his conviction is upheld, he will be For example, in March of 2013, Rus- while fleeing for his safety and re- banned from public office for life. sian officials raided the offices of hun- turned to Saudi Arabia to face charges Navalny’s case is just one of a long dreds of non-governmental organiza- of blasphemy; Turkmen political dis- list of politically motivated charges tions, including Amnesty Inter- sident and human rights activist and actions in recent years used to national. Gulgeldy Annaniyazov, who has been in squash any criticism of the Russian Equally troubling, Russia’s largest jail since 2008; and Belarusian opposi- government or those who might want elections watchdog GOLOS, and its ex- tion candidate Mikalai, who was to run for political office: ecutive director Lilia Shibanova, were VerDate Mar 15 2010 06:40 Aug 02, 2013 Jkt 029060 PO 00000 Frm 00043 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G01AU6.067 S01AUPT1 pwalker on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with SENATE S6184 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 1, 2013 fined for failing to register as a ‘‘for- than we did 30 years ago. For example, dren who were forced to grow up with- eign agent,’’ even after receiving the in 1980 we had fewer than 25,000 in Fed- out their mother. prestigious Sakharov Prize by the Nor- eral custody, and today there are more Even the sentencing judge acknowl- wegian Helsinki Committee and reject- than 219,000. edged the injustice of Eugenia’s sen- ing the monetary portion of the award. Our Federal prison system is at near- tence, lamenting ‘‘there is nothing this Russia has also passed draconian ly 40 percent over capacity—with more court could do’’ because of the laws laws that include fines equivalent to an than 50 percent overcrowding at high- that existed. Eugenia was a model pris- average annual salary for taking part security facilities. As the Government oner winning awards, completing sub- in unsanctioned protests, stiffer libel Accountability Office has explained, stance abuse programs, and serving as penalties, a broader definition of trea- this overcrowding is not only creating a model employee who worked at a call son, and restrictions on websites—laws financial strain, but it is jeopardizing center and sewed thousands of pairs of that former Soviet leader Mikhail the safety of both inmates and prison shorts for the military.
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