Authorities also designate the Anti-Corruption Foundation as a ‘terrorist’ group and consider imposing a complete ban on WhatsApp.
Russian authorities have outlawed Human Rights Watch as an “undesirable organization”, a label that, under a 2015 law, makes involvement in it a criminal offense.
Friday’s designation means the international human rights group must cease all work in Russia, and prosecute those who cooperate with or support the organization.
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HRW has repeatedly accused Russia of suppressing dissidents and committing war crimes during its ongoing war against Ukraine.
“For more than three decades, Human Rights Watch’s work on post-Soviet Russia has pressured the government to uphold human rights and freedoms,” Philip Bolopian, executive director of Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
“Our work has not changed, but what has changed dramatically is the government’s full embrace of dictatorial policies, a stunning increase in repression, and the scope of war crimes being committed by its forces in Ukraine.”
The decision by the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office is the latest step in a crackdown on Kremlin critics, journalists and activists, which has intensified since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In a separate statement Friday, the office said it was opening a case against Russian feminist punk band Pussy Riot that would designate the group as an “extremist” organization.
Separately, Russia’s Supreme Court on Thursday designated the anti-corruption foundation founded by late opposition activist Alexei Navalny as a “terrorist” group.
The ruling targeted the foundation’s United States-registered entity, which became the focal point for the group when the original Anti-Corruption Foundation was designated an “undesirable organization” by the Russian government in 2021.
Russia’s list of “undesirable organizations” currently includes more than 275 entities, including major independent news outlets and rights groups.
These include major news organizations such as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, think tanks such as Chatham House, anti-corruption group Transparency International and environmental advocacy organization World Wildlife Fund.
Founded in 1978, Human Rights Watch monitors human rights violations in various countries around the world.
WhatsApp may be ‘completely blocked’
Meanwhile, Russia’s state communications watchdog threatened on Friday to completely block WhatsApp if it fails to comply with Russian law.
In August, Russia began limiting some calls on Meta platform-owned WhatsApp and Telegram, accusing the foreign-owned platforms of refusing to share information with law enforcement in fraud and “terrorism” cases.
On Friday, the Roskomnadzor watchdog again accused WhatsApp of failing to comply with Russian requirements designed to prevent and combat crime.
“If the messaging service fails to meet the demands of Russian law, it will be blocked completely,” the Interfax news agency quoted it as saying.
WhatsApp has accused Moscow of trying to prevent millions of Russians from accessing secure communications.
Russian officials are pushing for a state-backed rival app called MAX, which critics claim could be used to track users. State media have dismissed those allegations as false.
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