Russia bans Human Rights Foundation chaired by Yulia Navalnaya as 'undesirable'

LONDON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - ‌Russia has ​designated ​the New York-based Human Rights Foundation, chaired by Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of ‌late Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, as an "undesirable organisation".

The "undesirable" ⁠tag is used by Russian authorities to ban the ‌activities of organisations it deems ‌to pose a threat to the state, and means that any Russians who cooperate with ​them or share their content can face prosecution.

In its announcement, the Russian prosecutor's office noted ⁠that HRF had designated Russia as a "fully authoritarian regime" in its "Tyranny ​Tracker" project.

It said HRF was engaged in discrediting the Russian armed forces — which was ​made a criminal offence after ‌Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — as well as promoting anti-Russian sanctions and ⁠supporting other undesirable organisations.

HRF Chief Legal and Policy Officer Javier El-Hage responded: "We couldn't have said it better ourselves. ⁠By criminalising our organization — even threatening with imprisonment those ​who collaborate with us — for having a research project that documents how (President Vladimir) Putin’s dictatorship is a ‘fully authoritarian regime,’ the ‌Kremlin does nothing but confirm our assessment."

Since 2015, Russia has placed hundreds ‌of organisations on its "undesirable" list, including rights groups ⁠such as Amnesty International, ‌Russian and Western ​media outlets, and universities including Yale and Stanford.

(Reporting by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Kate ‌Mayberry)

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