Congress is considering several bills that would warp how the U.S. applies sanctions—through the Global Magnitsky Act—against foreigners who violate human rights. The changes would redefine human rights to enforce the left’s abortion-and-gender agenda. That would hobble the fight against real abuses of human rights.
This problem has already appeared in trade bills related to Russia and Belarus. The legislation would replace the current definition of human rights abuses with a new undefined term. The current standard in the Global Magnitsky Act is “gross violation of human rights.” If revised, this would become “human rights abuses and corruption” or “serious human rights abuses.”
But what is a human right? And which rights are we protecting?
Currently, the Global Magnitsky Act uses the same definition as the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act. “Gross violations of internationally recognized human rights” mean: “torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, prolonged detention without charges and trial, causing the disappearance of persons by the abduction and clandestine detention of those persons, and other flagrant denial of the right to life, liberty, or the security of person.”
