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Russia Blacklists Human Rights Watch, Banning Operations
Moscow, Russia – The Russian Ministry of Justice has officially designated Human Rights Watch (HRW) as an “undesirable foreign organization,” effectively banning the global human rights group from operating within the nation’s borders. The announcement, made on Friday, marks a significant escalation in Russia’s efforts to curtail the activities of independent organizations.
The decision means HRW, an organization founded in 1978 and active in 78 countries, can no longer conduct its work in Russia. This move comes as HRW has extensively documented human rights violations within Russia and alleged war crimes committed by the Russian military in Ukraine.
Philippe Bolopion, executive director at Human Rights Watch, sharply criticized the designation in a news release. “Designating rights groups undesirable is brazen and cynical,” Bolopion stated. “It only redoubles our determination to document the Russian authorities’ human rights violations and war crimes, and ensure that those responsible are held accountable.”
Bolopion emphasized HRW’s long-standing commitment to Russia. “For over three decades, Human Rights Watch’s work on post-Soviet Russia has pressed the government to uphold human rights and freedoms,” he said. “Our work hasn’t changed, but what’s changed, dramatically, is the government’s full-throttled embrace of dictatorial policies, its staggering rise in repression, and the scope of the war crimes its forces are committing in Ukraine.”
The “undesirable” law, introduced by Russia in 2015, has been widely criticized as a tool to silence independent media, opposition groups, and foreign organizations. Under this legislation, the Prosecutor’s Office can ban organizations deemed to undermine Russia’s security, defense, or constitutional order. The Prosecutor General’s Office initially banned HRW on November 10.
To date, at least 280 organizations, including the Moscow Times, have been labeled “undesirable.” HRW reports that hundreds of individuals have faced administrative and criminal sentences, some in absentia, for their alleged involvement with these banned groups.
Engagement with “undesirable” organizations, whether within Russia or abroad, carries severe penalties, including administrative sanctions and criminal charges, with potential prison sentences of up to six years. HRW notes that authorities interpret “engagement” broadly and arbitrarily. Organization leaders specifically risk up to six years in prison under Russian law.
Past cases highlight the harsh enforcement of this law. In 2021, political activist Andrei Pivovarov received a four-year prison sentence for social media posts allegedly promoting Open Russia, an “undesirable” political opposition movement.
He was later released and expelled from Russia in 2024 as part of a prisoner exchange. Similarly, in May 2025, Grigory Melkonyants, a prominent Russian rights defender, was sentenced to five years in prison after a Moscow court equated his election monitoring group, Golos, with the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations, which had been designated “undesirable” in 2021.
HRW’s Moscow offices were among several international and non-governmental organizations that were shut down after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The organization had been active in Russia since 1992, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and its work in the region dates back to 1978 during the Soviet era.
The “undesirable” organization legislation has drawn widespread criticism from international bodies, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a rapporteur for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the Venice Commission, an advisory body to the Council of Europe.