The Russian government on Friday forced 15 non-governmental organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, to shut down their offices in the country.
The Ministry of Justice cited “discovered violations of the Russian legislation” in order to remove government authorization of the organizations, prohibiting their operations in the country, but did not share specific infractions.
Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard said that the organization would “redouble our efforts to expose Russia’s egregious human rights violations both at home and abroad” as a result of the move.
“In a country where scores of activists and dissidents have been imprisoned, killed or exiled, where independent media has been smeared, blocked or forced to self-censor, and where civil society organizations have been outlawed or liquidated, you must be doing something right if the Kremlin tries to shut you up,” she wrote in a statement.
“The authorities are deeply mistaken if they believe that by closing down our office in Moscow they will stop our work documenting and exposing human rights violations,” Callamard added.
Last month, the state-run Russian media regulator also blocked access to the Russian-language version of Amnesty International’s website, according to the organization’s statement.
Human Rights Watch, which had situated an office in Russia for 30 years before Friday’s changes, said that “there is little doubt the move is part of the government’s multi-year efforts to stifle critical voices in Russia.”
“Forcing us to close our office strengthens our determination to call out Russia’s turn toward authoritarianism,” said Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth. “This new iron curtain will not stop our ongoing efforts to defend the rights of all Russians and to protect civilians in Ukraine.”
The change in government authorization of NGOs occurred a day after the United Nations voted to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council.
Earlier this week, a Russian appeals court upheld a liquidation order that will shut down Russian human rights organization Memorial, and the country adopted laws criminalizing anti-war protests and independent war reporting.