Human Rights Watch chief says denied Russian visa

[maddezmom]

Source: AFP

MOSCOW (AFP) - The head of US-based Human Rights Watch said Wednesday he had been refused a visa to travel to Russia in a decision he described as an example of "harassment" of non-governmental groups.

"It is the first time that a Human Rights Watch official has not been given a visa since the fall of the Soviet Union," Kenneth Roth told a press conference in Moscow, speaking by telephone from New York.

He said the refusal was consistent with a pattern of harassment of non-governmental organisations by Russian authorities outlined in a new study released by Human Rights Watch on Wednesday.

Roth had applied for his Russian visa to attend the launch of the report.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080220/pl_afp/russiausrights_080220145756

[tom_paine]

1. Ahhhhh, just like Amerika.

BushPutinism, it's not just for our Empire, but for the entire world. Think about it: Amerika, Russia and China ALL governed by essentially the same methods. We are only the luckiest, due to our long history of freedom now ended, that we are by far treated the most nicely (for the moment) of any of the Big Three BushPutinist States.