Russia Declares Human Rights Watch 'Undesirable' and Bans Its Activities

Russia's Ministry of Justice announced on Nov. 28 that it has designated Human Rights Watch (HRW) as an "undesirable foreign organization," effectively banning the group's activities inside the country. The Prosecutor General's Office moved to place HRW on the list on Nov. 10, and the new designation bars the organization from operating, collaborating with partners inside Russia, or publicizing its work within the country.

"Designating rights groups undesirable is brazen and cynical," said Philippe Bolopion, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "It only redoubles our determination to document the Russian authorities' human rights violations and war crimes, and ensure that those responsible are held accountable."

Human Rights Watch, which began work in the Soviet period in 1978 and has operated in the region since 1992, maintains programs in roughly 78 countries. It has documented human rights abuses inside Russia and alleged war crimes by Russian forces in Ukraine.

Legal basis and consequences

The designation relies on a 2015 law that allows the Prosecutor General's Office to label foreign organizations "undesirable" if they are judged to threaten Russia's security, defense or constitutional order. Critics say the law has been used to silence independent media, opposition groups and foreign non-governmental organizations.

Russian authorities have placed at least 280 organizations on the "undesirable" list. Under the law, individuals and groups who continue to engage with such organizations — domestically or from abroad — may face administrative or criminal penalties, including prison terms of up to six years. Human Rights Watch warns that the authorities interpret "engagement" broadly and often arbitrarily, and organization leaders are also exposed to criminal liability under the same framework.

Context and precedent

The move follows a pattern of restrictions against international and domestic rights groups since Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, when many foreign NGOs had their local offices closed. HRW has long focused on post-Soviet rights issues and says its reporting has not changed, even as it alleges a dramatic increase in repression and the scale of abuses linked to the war in Ukraine.

Human Rights Watch and other observers point to previous cases illustrating the law's reach. In 2021 political activist Andrei Pivovarov was sentenced to four years over social media posts the state said promoted Open Russia, an organization listed as "undesirable"; he was released and expelled in 2024 as part of a prisoner exchange. In May 2025, rights defender and election monitor Grigory Melkonyants received a five-year prison sentence after authorities equated the Russian monitoring group Golos with a European network previously declared "undesirable."

International reaction

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, a rapporteur from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the Venice Commission — the Council of Europe's advisory body — have criticized Russia's "undesirable organizations" legislation as excessively broad and harmful to civil society and free expression.

Human Rights Watch says it will continue documenting abuses and holding perpetrators to account, while warning that the designation exposes Russian citizens and activists to legal risk if they remain connected to the organization.