Human Rights Watch Says Migrant Workers Detained In Pre-Olympic Sochi Roundup

Russian authorities "have detained hundreds of migrant workers" in Sochi, site of the 2014 Winter Olympics, and have held many of them in "arbitrary and inhumane conditions," according to REUTERS. Human Rights Watch said that many of those detained in a wave of raids on work sites, homes and public places since early September "helped build venues or infrastructure for the games being held in the Black Sea resort city in February." Most of those rounded up "for alleged violations of migration or employment regulation were released after several hours," but some "have been held for more than a week, in some cases without access to a lawyer." No one at the Interior Ministry or the regional governor's office "was immediately available to comment late Thursday" (REUTERS, 10/6).