The Russian authorities’ illegal bulldozing on a property in Sochi is a stain on the 2014 Winter Olympic Games preparations, Human Rights Watch said today. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) should urgently intervene with the Russian government to respect the rights of the family, including by providing reasonable compensation, such as relocation to a home in a different neighborhood, Human Rights Watch said.
Sergei Khlistov has been living in a modest two-story house in the Adler section of Sochi for 16 years. His wife, daughter, son-in-law, and two grandchildren, ages 3 and 8, also live in the home. On September 14, 2012, at 11 a.m., without warning, local authorities brought in a demolition excavator and knocked down the storage shed next to the Khlistovs’ home. The authorities threatened to destroy the house and forcibly evict the family early next week.
“The Russian authorities are proceeding with this demolition and eviction in an utterly reckless manner that completely flies in the face of the Olympic principles of human dignity and respect,” said Jane Buchanan, senior researcher for Europe and Central Asia at Human Rights Watch. “The IOC needs to get the federal and Sochi authorities to stop this immediately or this family will be made homeless in the name of the Olympics.”