Human Rights Watch has serious concerns about the safety and well-being of Rashid Abdullaevich Gasanov; Magomed Ilyasovich Sheihov; and Sirazhudin Minatulaevich Shafiev. Our organization has documented several instances in which people subject to unlawful detentions in Dagestan are in grave danger of torture, ill-treatment, and extrajudicial execution.

We believe successful Olympic Games cannot be staged in an environment where serious human rights abuses are occurring. When we met in March, we discussed the murder of leading human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov, who represented numerous victims of rights abuses in Chechnya, and was shot dead on the street after leaving a Moscow news conference. Anastasiya Baburova, a journalist who was with him, was also killed.

Since that time there has been a marked deterioration in conditions in Russia for the human rights and journalist community, and we are asking the IOC to take action.

Human Rights Watch welcomes the opportunity to engage with the European Union on human rights issues in Russia in advance of the EU-Russia summit in Khabarovsk on 21-22 May.

Human Rights Watch welcomes the opportunity to engage with the International Olympic Committee on issues related to human rights and the Sochi Games. Among the issues that demand particular attention from the IOC are civil rights issues including appropriate procedures to compensate those evicted due to the construction or operation of the Olympic Games, and labor rights issues for workers building Olympic sites.

We call on you to ensure that the rule of law is upheld in this trial of Mr. Khodorkovsky and Mr. Lebedev and to ensure that it meets the standards of the Russian Constitution and international law. We will continue to monitor the situation as the second Khodorkovsky-Lebedev trial unfolds and the government’s commitment to these important principles.

Human Rights Watch welcomes the productive dialogue we have had with the Georgian government on a number of human rights issues, including those connected to the conflict over South Ossetia. In the spirit of this dialogue I would like to call attention to your September 23 article in the Washington Post, which attributed to Human Rights Watch an estimate of 44 civilian deaths during recent hostilities in South Ossetia.

We are writing in advance of the October 15 discussion in Geneva on the conflict over South Ossetia to urge the EU to prioritize the protection of civilians during the discussions and through the work of the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) in Georgia.