Russia has banned entry to dozens of U.S. officials allegedly involved in human rights violations in response to Washington's blacklisting of Russian officials involved in the prison death of Sergei Magnitsky.
The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it was blacklisting unspecified U.S. officials it claims were involved in the abductions of alleged terrorism suspects, the torture of inmates at Guantanamo prison, the killings of civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq, and abductions or abuse of Russians in the United States.
In July, the U.S. State Department banned entry to dozens of unidentified Russian officials allegedly involved in the death of Magnitsky. Magnitsky, an attorney who was jailed after accusing Interior Ministry officials of involvement in a massive corruption scandal, died in pretrial detention in 2009 after suffering abuse and medical neglect.
The Russian Foreign Ministry today said the U.S. move was a "political provocation". It said it will expand the list of banned U.S.officials if the United States keeps pushing for the prosecution of those involved in Magnitsky's death.
compiled from agency reports