21:23, 3 October 2013

HRW urges IOC to pay attention to detentions of migrants in Sochi

The international organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to pay attention to illegal detentions of migrant workers in Sochi.

"The fact that the migrant workers, who helped building the brilliant Olympic facilities in Sochi, are now hunted for and expelled is an absolutely outrageous situation. The IOC should clearly state that such raids are absolutely inadmissible for the host city of the Olympic Games, and that unlawful detentions should be stopped immediately," said Jane Buchanan, the deputy director of the HRW for Europe and Central Asia.

In this statement the HRW referred to the information provided by Semyon Simonov, the head of the reception office of the Sochi programme "Migration and Law" of the HRC "Memorial".

According to Mr Simonov, the authorities have expelled hundreds of foreigners from Sochi, including a large number of migrant workers, after superficial court hearings of their claims conducted in the absence of lawyers and interpreters, says the October 3 statement of the HRW, which is available in Russian.