HRW: authorities should compensate Sochi family for demolition of their house for Olympic construction

The Russian government must suspend the demolition of the house of the Khlystov family in Sochi, which is planned in order to clear the space for Olympic construction, until the family is provided compensatory housing in another district, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) has stated.

Sergey Khlystov has lived for 16 years in his house in the Adler District of Sochi; now wife, daughter, son-in-law and two grandsons, aged 3 and 8, live with him. In 1994, the local authorities gave a land plot to Khlystov and allowed to use it for horticulture and at the same time – for building a dwelling house. The permission by the authorities of two different uses of the land plot was illegal, the HRW says.

In February 2010, officials from the "Olimpstroy" informed the Khlystovs that their house was in the area of Olympic construction and that the family would move to a new house nearby. However, in October 2011 the Sochi administration went to court against the family claiming that the house had been built illegally. The Adler District Court ruled that the Sochi authorities had the right to demolish the house. Thus, the authorities got a chance to leave the owners of the house alienated for Olympic construction without compensation. On June 6, the family was informed that the house would be demolished, says the press release of the HRW dated June 9.

"Expelling a family with two small children out to the street is contrary to the Olympic ideals of human dignity," Jane Buchanan, Deputy Director of the HRW for Europe and Central Asia, said in her comment on the situation and noted that it is quite easy to settle the problem: the authorities need to admit that the state had made mistakes when drafting the documents and agree that the family cannot be arbitrarily deprived of their rights.

Besides, the Prosecutor's Office of the Krasnodar Territory, where the Khlystovs had turned, admitted on June 3 that the house had been built on legal grounds and that the Sochi administration was to independently eliminate the contradictions in the documents. Based on the conclusion of the Office, the Khlystovs are now preparing a lawsuit against the Sochi administration on recognition of the construction of the house legitimate.

The HRW believes that the way the authorities and the courts treat the family violates the international legal obligations of Russia in the area of human rights. "The International Olympic Committee (IOC) should promptly intervene and demand that the authorities don't start the demolition, until the Khlystovs are given an option for resettlement," called Ms Buchanan.

So far, the "Caucasian Knot" has no comments of the officials of Sochi Administration and the Prosecutor's Office on the situation.