|
Several protesters have been detained outside Russia’s parliament on Wednesday ahead of a vote by the upper chamber on a bill which would ban Americans from adopting Russian children.
The State Duma endorsed the bill last week in a quick vote, a move which President Vladimir Putin calls an appropriate response to a new US law.
“This will not lead to any infringement of international rights,” Dmitry Pesko, Kremlin spokesperson, said on Tuesday.
“Russia is fully implementing the rights it has under international law,” he added.
Protesters handed out black ribbons in opposition to the bill, which is widely regarded as a retaliatory response to a newly passed US law that applies sanctions on Russian human rights violators.
“These black mourning ribbons in our opinion symbolize today’s draft law which is useful neither for our children nor our national security and our priorities,” said protester Kirill Goncharov.
The Federation Council upper chamber, comprises of Putin allies and ruling party members, and is expected to approve the measure after it was backed in a committee meeting on Tuesday.
The contentious bill has received condemnation from cabinet members including Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister and Mikhail Fedotov, head of the president’s human rights council.
“The entry of this bill into law in its present form… could lead to negative consequences for the Russian legal system and in other areas,” said a statement from the council.
If signed into law, the measure would put an end to 46 pending adoptions. Last year, almost 1000 Russian babies were adopted by American parents.
259
|