MOSCOW, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- Many non-governmental organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, were temporarily barred Thursday from operating in Russia.
Russia's Justice Ministry said the suspensions were only temporary because the groups had not complied with new registration requirements, The New York Times reported.
Many of the organizations involved have been critical of the Russian government. Among the 41 U.S. non-profits approved, 33 were adoption agencies.
"It is important to note that lack of re-registration does not entail the liquidation of the organization," the ministry said in a statement. "The talk here is only that these organizations cannot carry out the activity envisaged by their charters before they are brought into the register."
The ministry said it received re-registration applications from 185 organizations and that 108 had been approved.
Among the other suspended groups were the American Bar Association, the American-Russian Business Council, the American Trade Chamber, the Danish Refugee Council and the French and Belgian offices of Doctors Without Borders.
