Russian President Vladimir Putin has been roundly criticised by western powers for many years, and numerous human rights activists have expressed their dismay at his draconian policies, particularly when it comes to the Russian government's extremely bigoted and prejudicial treatment of LGBT+ people. Since the very beginning of the Putin administration, tensions between the United States and the Russian Federation have been gradually building but have not been helped by Russia's intervention in the Ukrainian Civil War, the conflict in Syria, and Putin's supposed collusion with Donald Trump at the height of the 2016 US election.
Indeed, Russian hackers working at the behest of the Kremlin are suspected to be responsible for swinging votes in favour of Brexit in the UK and the Republican party in the US. Suspicion is now so strong that the FBI has been forced to investigate Trump's campaign, and earlier this week British Prime Minister Theresa May stated: "Russia has repeatedly violated the national airspace of several European countries and mounted a sustained campaign of cyber espionage and disruption ... We know what you are doing and you will not succeed. Because you underestimate the resilience of our democracies, the enduring attraction of free and open societies and the commitment of Western nations to the alliances that bind us."
It appears clear that, since his ascension, Putin has done everything in his power to destabilise or undermine foreign powers that he views as a threat to his own supremacy, and has been engaged in a legislative campaign of anti-diplomacy against the US in particular. However, the bad blood between the two countries has now seemingly reached a crescendo; all thanks to a little-known Russian law known as the "Dima Yakovlev Law" - a law which, bizarrely enough, prevents American citizens from adopting Russian children.
The controversial bill has its roots in a 2009 incident when Russian tax accountant Sergei Magnitsky was supposedly beaten to death in a Moscow prison by his guards. Magnitsky had been imprisoned by police after investigating fraud involving Russian tax officials at the behest of American-British financier and hedge fund manager Bill Browder. Magnitsky discovered that three of Browder's holding companies had been used by the Russian mafia to embezzle approximately $230 million in tax rebates from Russian people. Browder reported his findings to the authorities, and suddenly Magnitsky was arrested.
He spent a year behind bars in appalling conditions and, before his death, developed gallstones, pancreatitis and calculous cholecystitis and was refused medical treatment for months. Police told him that he would be released if he recanted his allegations. Magnitsky refused and died a martyr. Browder has been evading the Russian authorities himself ever since, and has stated that he has become paranoid about the possibility of assassination at the hands of a Putinite agent.
Incensed that his own employee had been unjustly tortured and murdered at the hands of the Russian authorities, Browder lobbied Congress until they agreed to pass the "Magnitsky Act." This law, signed in 2012 by former-president Barack Obama was intended to punish Russians guilty of human rights violations. According to political insiders, the Russian Federation is incensed by the existence of the "Magnitsky Act" since it drew international attention to one of Putin's indiscretions. In retaliation, Putin decided to enact the Dima Yakovlev Law.
The law gets its namesake from the tragic case of Russian toddler Dima Yakolex, who was adopted at a young age by Miles Harrison of Virginia. Dima was renamed Chase Harrison by his father, but in July 2008, less than three months after arriving in the US, he died of sunstroke caused by neglect. His father had left him alone in a car for more than eight hours. The law, which claims his story is reason to ban citizens of the United States from adopting children from Russia, was signed by Putin on 28 December 2012, taking effect on 1 January 2013.
The reaction from activists has been one of shock and disapproval. Jo Becker, children’s rights advocacy director at Human Rights Watch claimed that "The adoption ban harms Russia’s orphans by diminishing their chances of being adopted. It’s wrong to make vulnerable children pawns in a cynical act of political retribution ... The executive order improving conditions for Russia’s orphans is laudable, but no substitute for using all options to ensure they grow up in a family environment."
John Dalhuisen, Programme Director at Amnesty International in Europe and Central Asia added: "Quite apart from it’s clearly discriminating of Russian citizens of dual nationality there is a huge risk that the vaguely worded provisions in this bill will be used to clamp down on government critics and exposers of abuses. Indeed this would appear to be its real purpose."
It's clear that many Russian children who have lost parents or been given up for adoption have benefited from American intervention. In 2011, of the 120,000 children in Russia who were eligible for adoption, around 7,400 of them were adopted by Russian families, and 3,400 adopted by families abroad. In contrast, UNICEF has estimated that approximately 740,000 children are without parental custody, while only 18,000 Russians are currently on the waiting list to adopt. Who knows how many will have to live in state care as a result of Putin's vindictive law?
It has also been met with resistance in Russia and in 2013, nearly 20,000 Russians marched against the bill. Those opposed to the ban accused Putin of stoking anti-American sentiments in order to solidify support among the working classes. Only time will tell whether the ban will ever be redacted. But in an age in which Russian and US civil polices seem to be inextricably bound up in a game of coercion, espionage and bartering, the possibility seems more and more unlikely.
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