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Russia's human rights commissioner says about 1,000 extremist groups operating in US

Among them are the National Socialist Movement, White Aryan Resistance and the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan

A neo-Nazi rally in the US, 2011 (archive) AP Photo/Mel Evans

A neo-Nazi rally in the US, 2011 (archive)

© AP Photo/Mel Evans

MOSCOW, April 23. /TASS /. US reference to freedom of speech and refusal to support Russia’s resolution on countering the glorification of Nazism do not stand up to criticism, Russian Foreign Ministry human rights ombudsman Konstantin Dolgov said on Thursday. He was speaking at the TASS presentation of the ministry’s report titled "Neo-Nazism - a Dangerous Challenge to Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law".

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"The United States is one of the four countries, in addition to Ukraine, Canada and Palau, that voted against the draft resolution of the UN General Assembly on countering the lionization of Nazism," Dolgov noted, adding that Moscow would continue to promote this initiative.

According to Dolgov, by voting against this draft resolution, Washington is referring to the First Amendment to the US Constitution on human rights. "Such an approach does not stand up to criticism," he added.

"About a thousand extremist groups are operating in the United States, even though Washington claims to be an outpost of democracy in the world. Among them are the National Socialist Movement, White Aryan Resistance and the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan," Dolgov said. "Their activities are not prohibited by US laws, they continue to brainwash young people."

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