An Amnesty International activist holds a sign during a protest in front of the Russian embassy as part of a global day of action for Ukraine following the Russian invasion in Mexico City, Mexico March 24, 2022. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido
April 8 – Russia’s Justice Ministry said on Friday it had revoked the registration of 15 foreign organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW).
The Russian units of the organizations, which included the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, were “disfellowshipped due to the discovery of violations of applicable legislation of the Russian Federation,” the ministry said in a statement.
The decision, which gave no details on violations, was announced days after New York-based HRW said it had found “several cases of violations of the laws of war by Russian forces” in Ukraine. Continue reading
Russia has repeatedly denied war crimes allegations by Ukraine and Western countries during its six-week invasion of Ukraine and denied targeting civilians.
“There is little doubt that the move was in response to our coverage of the war in Ukraine,” HRW said.
“The Russian government has already made it clear that it has no use for facts about the protection of civilians in Ukraine. This is just a little further proof of that,” it said on Twitter.
Russia says it is conducting a “special military operation” to demilitarize and “denazify” Ukraine. The Kiev government and its Western allies dismiss this as a false pretext for an unjustified invasion.
Other organizations whose registration was revoked on Friday included a branch of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, the Aga Khan Foundation and the Institute of International Education.
Nine German organizations took part, three from the USA, one from Great Britain, one from Poland and one from Switzerland.
Reporting by Conor Humphries in Dublin and David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Adaptation by Grant McCool, Bernard Orr