Russia Threatens Tough Response If U.S. Backs Rights Bill

[Purveyor]

Source: Reuters

By Steve Gutterman
MOSCOW | Thu Nov 15, 2012 10:48am EST

(Reuters) - Russia warned the United States on Thursday to expect a tough response if Congress passes "unfriendly and provocative" legislation designed to punish Russian officials for human rights violations.

The Foreign Ministry said U.S.-Russian ties were sure to suffer if lawmakers back a move directing the U.S. government to deny visas to Russian officials involved in the detention, abuse or death of Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer who died in jail in 2009.

"Such a step will unavoidably have a negative effect on the whole range of Russian-U.S. relations," Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told a news briefing.

"We will certainly not leave the introduction of essentially anti-Russian visa and financial sanctions without consequences," he said. "We will have to react, and react toughly, depending on the final version of this unfriendly provocative act."


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/15/us-russia-usa-idUSBRE8AE10Y20121115

[lalalu]

1. Time to rejuvenate the cold war.

Just in time for our leaving Iraq and Afghanistan.

[FreeBC]

2. I'm all for Human Rights legislation

but I think that we should be required to adhere to the regulations too.

[ccavagnolo]

5. +1

my thoughts exactly. who are we to talk about human rights violations.

[leftyohiolib]

6. agreed look at how we treat our ill and homeless

[happyslug]

3. More on the person who died, Sergei Magnitsky

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Magnitsky

http://www.president-sovet.ru/meeting_with_president_of_russia/meeting_with_russian_president_07_05_2011_in_nalchik/materials/proceedings_of_the_rg_in_the_case_of_s_magnitsky.php

[L0oniX]

4. We have plenty of our own human rights violations.

[pampango]

7. Other countries should hold us accountable for our human rights violations rather than

avoiding them. The more sanctions there are for these violations, the better. Ignoring violations in your own country or elsewhere in the world accomplishes nothing for progress in improving human rights in the world.

[Posteritatis]

9. Agreed.

"We need to ignore everyone else's abuses until we're a utopia" isn't a terribly productive mindset, even if it is a nice code for a lot of peoples' isolationism or indifference to the rest of the world.

(And that's before going into the people deluded enough to, e.g., believe the US is less free than North Korea or something.)

[BlueMan Votes]

8. well...they are our number 1 geopolitical foe.

at least according to some dumbass that ran for president once.