23 December 2013, 15:03
HRW: Russian authorities use far-fetched reasons to search homes of Circassian activists
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has stated that Russian authorities should immediately stop their pressure on the activists of the movement for Circassians' rights, who criticize the preparations for the Winter Olympics in Sochi.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 13, on behalf of the Krasnodar Territorial Department of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), local policemen forcibly brought to Krasnodar about 10 Circassian and one Abazin activist from Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia and Adygea.
"The harassment of fighters for the rights of national minorities is completely at odds with the Russia's role as host of the Olympic Games, because such country should be hospitable to people arriving from all the corners of the world," Jane Buchanan, the deputy director of the HRW for Europe and Central Asia, has stated today.
Employees of the HRW have documented various forms of pressure, persecution and criminal prosecution of journalists and activists, who have described and made public human rights violations, facts of environment pollution and other problems caused by the preparation of Russian authorities for the Winter Olympics in Sochi, says the press release of the organization.
