MOSCOW, July 25 (RIA Novosti) – An organization that provides free legal assistance to migrant workers building infrastructure for next year’s Winter Olympics in Sochi is under pressure by investigators after it exposed rights abuses, Human Rights Watch said Thursday.
A representative of Memorial’s migration and law office in the southern Russian city filed a two-page complaint with district prosecutors on July 22, alleging that a local construction firm illegally seized migrant workers’ identification papers and failed to pay them the promised wages.
A day later, Federal Security Service and tax officials, as well as prosecutors, came to the Memorial office for a snap inspection, Human Rights Watch said, adding that the authorities demanded to see every document related to the office’s work.
“The timing of this surprise inspection makes it difficult to draw any conclusion other than it is sheer retribution,” Jane Buchanan, associate director for Europe and Central Asia at Human Rights Watch, said in remarks posted online Thursday.
“Instead of bullying the messenger, the Russian authorities should investigate the allegations of abuse,” she added.
Memorial released a statement, saying the inspectors had cited a complaint against the organization as grounds for their visit but refused to elaborate. Local officials have not yet commented about the incident.
Earlier this year, Human Rights Watch published a report documenting numerous cases when migrant workers’ rights were abused at Sochi construction sites during the extensive state-funded preparations for the Olympics.
