In a recent article published by this newspaper, I commented on the way in which Jersey had acted in ground-breaking and original ways to orchestrate the return to Nigeria of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of sovereign funds stolen by its former military dictator, Sani Abacha, at the expense of a widely impoverished population. I offered the view that, apart from the fundamental justice of the case, it mattered greatly both at home and abroad that Jersey should be recognised to be in the front rank of the international fight against injustice and corruption.
In the words of UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab: ‘If you’re a kleptocrat or an organised criminal you will not be able to launder your blood money in this country… this is a very clear message on behalf of the British people. Those with blood on their hands, the thugs of despots, the henchmen of dictators, will not be free to waltz into this country, to buy up property on the Kings Road, to do their Christmas shopping in Knightsbridge or frankly to siphon dirty money through British banks or other financial institutions.’
Strong words indeed used in the context of naming 49 individuals under the UK’s Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020. And in Jersey, a further notable step in that regard has now taken place, with the introduction of further legislation which significantly steps up the fight against global corruption.
Put simply, individuals named in the new legislation will not be able to travel to Britain or to use the British banking system and other institutions, and the authorities will freeze any property within the country which can be identified as belonging to the named individuals.
Context is useful here. Britain has imposed sanctions on 49 human rights abusers, including on 20 Saudis involved in the death of Jamal Khashoggi and 25 Russian nationals involved in the mistreatment and death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. Legislation introducing sanctions of this kind has become known as Magnitsky legislation in memory of the death of Russian tax lawyer Magnitsky in a Moscow prison in 2009. It is worth setting out the Magnitsky facts in a little more detail, as they explain the need for legislation of this sort and remind us of the extent to which human rights can be insulted.
Magnitsky was a 37-year-old tax lawyer and auditor who worked for the Moscow legal and audit firm Firestone Duncan, and was married and a father of two. In 2008, he uncovered a massive fraud committed by Russian government officials that involved the theft of US $230 million of state taxes. Magnitsky testified against the officials involved and was subsequently arrested, imprisoned, systematically tortured and killed in Russian police custody on 16 November 2009. Following Magnitsky’s death, the Russian authorities covered up his murder, exonerated all the officials involved and went so far as to offer promotions and state honours to some of those most complicit in his persecution. Bizarrely, the Russian government put Magnitsky on trial three years after they killed him.
Those who perceived that there was no possibility of justice in Russia resorted to seeking justice outside the country from the international community. The reasoning was that it became evident that the people responsible for Magnitsky’s murder killed him in order to cover up the theft from the Russian Treasury. People of this stamp keep their money in the West, where property rights and the rule of law exists. This led to the idea of the Magnitsky Act, which freezes assets and bans visas of human rights violators. It is a variation on the old theme of hurting criminals in the pocket.
The others on the current list are two high-ranking Myanmar military generals involved in the systematic brutality against the Rohingya and other ethnic minorities, and two organisations involved in the enforced labour, torture and murder which is endemic in the North Korean gulags.
So where does Jersey come into this? What stance has the Island taken in this matter of international sanctions? As previously reported, Jersey has, with immediate effect, adopted the list of individuals and associated sanctions specified under the UK legislation. It has done this swiftly and seamlessly, by way of a ministerial order by the External Relations Minister, Senator Ian Gorst, under the Sanctions and Asset Freezing (Jersey) Law, 2019.
This move is in keeping with Jersey’s determination to transparently meet the obligations which are the natural responsibility of all successful international financial centres. It already implements all UN and EU sanctions against countries, regimes and individuals believed to be violating international law, including human rights abuses. Jersey has maintained its track record by the speed by which it has comprehensively adopted the British use of this novel and eminently worthwhile legislation.
Jersey was early onto the field opened up by the US, and can take some pride in its timely association with the initiative taken by that country. The United States was the first country to pass a Sergei Magnitsky Accountability Act in 2012. Vladimir Putin had an extremely negative reaction to it, and retaliated by banning the adoption of Russian orphans by American families. He then went on to announce that repealing the Magnitsky Act was among his top foreign policy priorities. Rather than being intimidated by Putin’s aggressive reaction, the US Senators who backed the Magnitsky Act decided to expand this piece of legislation to dictators, kleptocrats and human rights abusers from all over the world. As a result, in 2016 the US Congress passed the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. Jersey can properly take pride in deciding to stand early within this humanitarian tradition.
If the list of those who have adopted Magnitsky legislation makes slightly strange reading, the list of those who haven’t is even stranger. Countries with such laws now include Canada, the United Kingdom, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Jersey and Gibraltar – but those conspicuously absent include Australia and, most notably, the EU. In December, the EU agreed to adopt a Magnitsky law but has yet to follow through. There is good reason to state that Jersey has outstripped every EU country in fighting human rights abuse and the corruption so often associated with it. The UK’s ability now to pursue its own initiatives has carried Jersey with it. In this regard, it is a happy association.
Magnitsky legislation was the product of tireless work by individual campaigners. It may be apposite to close with mention of two of them – UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and Bill Browder, head of the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign. According to Browder: ‘The UK Magnitsky Act will be a particularly powerful tool because every tin-pot dictator wants to keep a mansion in Belgravia and send their kids to the best British boarding schools.’
Jersey has proudly played a significant role in being among those taking such significant first steps to combat graft and corruption on a global scale. The fight doesn’t end today, however, and we have much further to go.
