Bad People And How to Be Rid of Them: A Plan B for Human Rights

At a time when international criminal law is faltering, the global justice movement must look to local Magnitsky laws as a means of naming, blaming and shaming human rights violators. Sergei Magnitsky was a Moscow tax lawyer who was tortured and killed for exposing Russian state corruption. In 2012, President Obama ratified the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act, but this applied only to Russian officials. Although several countries have extended the law to include all listed human rights abusers, no initiatives currently go far enough. In this powerful book, Geoffrey Robertson tells Magnitsky’s story and examines the connection between human rights abuses and corruption, and how both thrive on links with western financial institutions, casinos and even private schools. He argues for a comprehensive system of sanctions against individuals and corporations, rather than against states.