Stop the Untouchables. Justice for Sergei Magnitsky.

Russia’s Adoption Ban Triggers a Diplomatic Crisis

Harvard Law School

On December 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a ban on adoptions of Russian children by American citizens. The ban was part of a broader law tailored to retaliate against the United States for passing a recent law intended to punish Russian human rights violators, the New York Times reports. Yet it may have spawned a need for crisis negotiations between the two countries.

The U.S. law honored a Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, who attempted to expose tax fraud by the Russian government. Magnitsky was arrested and died in prison in 2009 after allegedly being denied medical attention. The U.S. law bars Russians who have been accused of human rights abuses – such as the doctor who refused requests to treat Magnitsky – from traveling in the United States.

Russian Retaliation

Angered, Russian policymakers sought a diplomatic tit-for-tat. But given that few Americans travel to Russia or own homes there, a reciprocal response would have little effect. They stumbled upon an imperfect equivalent: a ban on American adoptions of Russian children. The ban was named after a Russian-born toddler, Dmitri Yakovlev, who died of heatstroke after his adoptive father accidentally left him in a parked car for nine hours.