A Foreign Ministry official said Russia had prevented several U.S. officials from entering the country.
Russia's recent legislation closes the country to Americans implicated in human rights abuses at the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo and is a response to U.S. law that punishes Russian officials suspected of wrongdoing in the prison death of whistle-blowing Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Russia had applied the "Guantanamo list" legislation a few times since it went into effect several months ago, Interfax reported. He declined to name the individuals who were denied entry.
The list of banned officials released by the Foreign Ministry in April included former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff David Addington, former U.S. Justice Department adviser John Yoo and various other Justice Department officials alleged to have violated Russian citizens' human rights.
United States Admiral Jeffrey Harbeson, the former head of the Guantanamo prison, was denied a Russian visa in January, Komsomolskaya Pravda reported.
Other government responses to the U.S. Magnitsky Act have included banning the adoption of Russian children by Americans.
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