White House urged to punish Russians backing US adoption ban

WASHINGTON. December 25. KAZINFORM The White House has been flooded with tens of thousands of requests to blacklist Russian officials supporting a ban on US adoptions of Russian children amid an escalating diplomatic feud, according to RIA Novosti.
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A petition asking the White House to slap sanctions on Russian legislators who vote for the adoption ban - which was approved by Russia's lower house of parliament last week - had collected more than 52,000 signatures  as of Monday morning.

The petition calls for the lawmakers to be punished in accordance with the Magnitsky Act , a newly enacted US law that denies visas to Russian officials deemed by Washington to be complicit in human rights abuses and freezes their American assets.

"We ...are outraged with the actions of Russian lawmakers, who breached all imaginable boundaries of humanity, responsibility, or common sense and chose to jeopardize lives and well-being of thousands of Russian orphans," reads the petition, which was launched last Friday.

A similarly worded second petition  asking that the Magnitsky Act sanctions be extended to Russian lawmakers supporting the ban had collected more than 8,000 signatures as of Monday morning.

The adoption ban is part of a broader bill that targets US officials accused of violating Russian citizens' rights. The legislation is Moscow's response to the Magnitsky Act, which Russia has called a hypocritical attempt by the United States to meddle in its internal affairs.

The Federation Council, Russia's upper house of parliament, is set to consider the bill Wednesday. If passed there, it will be sent to Russian President Vladimir Putin for final consideration.

The call to punish Russian officials backing the adoption ban was submitted as a "We the People " petition, a White House initiative that allows people to request the US president to take action on just about any issue imaginable.

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