Human Rights Watch wants to continue reporting on Russia despite they being banned in Russia
Human Rights Watch said it wouldn’t stop reporting on Russia or its military’s practices in Ukraine, despite Moscow’s announcement earlier Friday that the organization was non grata.
The organization said in an interview that it wasn’t surprised by the Russian designation, which criminalizes its activities and those who work with it in Russia, vowed to continue its work remotely.
Moscow didn’t explain its decision to ban the activities of Human Rights Watch, which was forced to close its offices in Russia in 2022.
“We’ll work harder to expose the Kremlin’s blatant repression against Russian civil society, and to report on Russian crimes in Ukraine,” Tania Lokshina, co-director of Human Rights Watch’s Europe and Central Asia division said.
Human Rights Watch, which investigates and reports on abuses by militaries and governments around the world, has repeatedly condemned the war and accused the Russian military of committing a “series of violations” that Moscow denies.
Other organizations classified as undesirable in Russia include the World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace, Transparency International, and the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
The designation makes anyone who does business with or donates money to the organization vulnerable to prosecution in Russia.
