The Russian government has submitted a bill to the State Duma, which would allow for imposing visa and financial sanctions against any foreign citizens and stateless persons.
The proposed amendments would be made to the “Dima Yakovlev law,” which currently only allows for imposing sanctions against U.S. citizens. In an explanatory note, the authors of the bill underscored that it’s “not just U.S. citizens” who are responsible for “violating the rights of Russian citizens.”
According to the “Dima Yakovlev law, ” a U.S. national come under Russian sanctions for:
- Involvement in “violations of fundamental human rights and freedoms”;
- Committing a crime against Russian citizens abroad;
- Helping people who committed crimes against Russian citizens to evade liability;
- Involvement in the abduction and illegal imprisonment of Russian citizens;
- Imposing “unfounded and unfair sentences” against Russian citizens;
- Carrying out the “unjustified legal persecution” of Russian citizens;
- Making “unreasonable decisions that violate the rights and legitimate interests” of Russian citizens and organizations.
The sanctions include a ban on entry into the Russian Federation, the seizure of assets, and a ban on any property and investment transactions with people who come under these restrictions.
The authors of the bill noted that the proposed changes do not prohibit foreign nationals from adopting Russian children. Though this ban “will continue to apply only to U.S. citizens” due to Washington’s “aggressive sanctions policy,” the explanatory note said.
Amendments to the Dima Yakovlev law adopted in 2020 allow the Russian authorities to label almost any Russian citizen a “foreign agent.”
The Dima Yakovlev law
The law “on measures against individuals involved in violations of fundamental human rights and freedoms and Russian citizens’ rights and freedoms” was Moscow’s retaliation against the U.S. Magnitsky Act. On December 17, 2012, United Russia State Duma deputy Ekaterina Lakhova and LDPR deputy Elena Afanasyeva introduced amendments banning all U.S. citizens from adopting children in Russia. President Putin signed the law 11 days later, putting an end to adoptions by U.S. families, who took in roughly 60,000 orphans between the late 1990s and 2012, when Americans were some of the likeliest foreig
The Dima Yakovlev law
Adopted in December 2012 in retaliation against the U.S. Magnitsky Act, the Dima Yakovlev law bans all U.S. citizens from adopting children in Russia. Officially called the law “on measures against individuals involved in violations of fundamental human rights and freedoms and Russian citizens’ rights and freedoms,” it provides a number of restrictions for U.S. citizens in Russia. It was named the “Dima Yakovlev law” after a Russian child who was adopted by U.S. citizens and died due to parental negligence in 2008. The ECHR has deemed the law discriminatory.