The Russian authorities are threatening several families with impending forced eviction to make way for road construction ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.

As a result of the often chaotic transition from the Soviet communal land era, many home-owners do not have clear title to their property. Nevertheless, for years the authorities have treated the homes and individuals’ use of them as legal. Now local authorities are suing home-owners for constructing homes unlawfully, most likely to avoid the rightful compensation of property owners evicted for construction of Olympic venues and infrastructure.

An example of what is happening is the case of Aleksei Kravets. He has been living with his family in a three-story home he built himself in Sochi, on the shore of the Black Sea. The Sochi authorities claim that Kravets has no right to compensation for the house, and are threatening to evict the family and demolish the home in the coming days. Guards on the road construction site have threatened Kravets with beatings and destruction of his property.

On October 9, 2012, a subcontractor of Russian Railways, which is building the road, erected a 2.5-meter metal fence around the house. On October 15, a second fence was erected, this time with barbed wire along the top. Family members must crawl through a hole at the bottom of the fence in order to leave the property for their daily routine.

Guards at the site, armed with mace, stun guns, and rubber truncheons, have threatened Kravets, saying they will “bash him up” and start destroying the house. Kravets has filed two complaints with the local police regarding the threats and the fence, but has received no response.

Local authorities claim that the Kravets’ home was built illegally and sued the family in May and October 2012, ultimately winning a court order to demolish the building. In suing Kravets for constructing their house unlawfully, the local authorities are able to avoid the regular processes for compensating property owners evicted for Olympic construction. A very valuable ploy, as an independent appraisal in 2011 valued Aleksei Kravets’ 152 square-meter, three-story house located on the shore of the Black Sea at 13 million rubles (US$422,000).

Prior to and during construction of the home, Aleksei Kravets filed multiple notifications with the authorities regarding the construction; and the authorities issued the home a technical passport, in 2003 and 2010. He also tried, unsuccessfully, to privatize the property. Hence, prior to the establishment of the Olympic program, the authorities never insisted that the building was illegal, or forced him to leave.

Jane Buchanan, senior researcher on Europe and Central Asia for Human Rights Watch, comments on the facts: “Now, with Olympic construction under way, the authorities suddenly decide to take advantage of an ambiguous legal situation and deprive the family of their rightful compensation. Olympic construction is again being used as an excuse to evict a family and deprive them of their rightful home and compensation.”

Forced eviction without provision of appropriate forms of legal protection, as well as provision of reasonable compensation, is a serious violation of international law.

“Unfortunately, the Kravets’ family is not the only one to experience this type of eviction without compensation,” Buchanan said. “The International Olympic Committee has a crucial role in preventing any further situations like this. It should no longer simply sit by and watch as the local authorities trample the Olympic ideal of dignity by forcing people out of their homes without compensation and in an environment of threats and harassment.”

Turkey’s Istanbul, Japan’s Tokyo and Spain’s Madrid have only made it on to the shortlist of cities bidding to host the 2020 Olympic Games, according to an announcement  late on Wednesday in Quebec City by the 15-member executive board headed by Jacques Rogge, the IOC president.

The remaining three cities will now embark on a lobbying period with the winner named on September 7, 2014, in Buenos Aires.

 Tokyo has hosted the Olympics before in 1964, while neither Istanbul nor Madrid have held the Games.

Doha, which was proposing to hold the 2020 Olympics in October rather than the usual July and August schedule to avoid the  summer heat, is already scheduled to host the 2022 World Cup football tournament, according to Al Arabiya. Even though Qatar had the financial means to carry off the 2020 bid, it could not convince the IOC to take a chance on holding the Summer Games in October. Apart from the temperature problem was the prospect of low television ratings due to potential conflicts with television and other sports events going on during that time of year.

Baku, on the other hand,  has always been viewed as lacking in experience in hosting international sports events, according to Reuters.

London will host the 2012 Summer Games, while the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro will stage the 2016 Olympics.

The three Candidate Cities will now be requested to prepare their Candidature File with an in-depth description of their Olympic project. They will also prepare for the visit of the IOC Evaluation Commission. The Evaluation Commission will make a detailed technical assessment of each candidature and publish a report in advance of the 2020 Briefing for IOC Members in July 2013.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting comes as Saudi Arabia’s National Olympic Committee has failed to confirm the participation of women on its national team for the London Games. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, only Qatar, Brunei, and Saudi Arabia fielded all-male teams. This year, Qatar and Brunei have confirmed they will send female athletes as part of their teams for the first time, according to HRW.

“Saudi Arabia is the last holdout denying women and girls the ability to take part in sports,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The clock is running out for Saudi women to join the Games, and for the international community to insist that the Saudi government allow women to participate.”

Speaking at a news conference in Jeddah in April, Prince Nawwaf al-Faisal, the Saudi sports minister and head of the Saudi National Olympic Committee, said: “Female sports activity has not existed in Saudi Arabia and there is no move thereto in this regard. At present, we are not embracing any female Saudi participation in the Olympics.”

“This statement violates the Olympic Charter’s 6th Fundamental Principle of Olympism, that any form of discrimination on the basis of gender is incompatible with the Olympic movement”, Human Rights Watch said.

In February, Human Rights Watch released a report,”Steps of the Devil”: Denial of Women’s and Girls’ Rights to Sport in Saudi Arabia, which sets out how the Saudi government systematically discriminates against women seeking to practice sports such as the ban millions of Saudi girls from participating in physical education classes in state schools.

Saudi government officials have written to Human Rights Watch that the country is evaluating girls’ physical education in schools. Some girls’ schools are allowing sports in defiance of the government ban, and there is a vigorous debate about the subject underway in the country.