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Olympics

Sochi So Secure? The "Big Brother" Olympics Starting

Sport in winter

Ed Krayewski | 2.6.2014 2:12 PM

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Large image on homepages | Ekaterina Orlova
(Ekaterina Orlova)
handicop
@SochiMadness/Twitter

The 2014 Winter Olympics are scheduled to start tomorrow in Sochi, and the theme of this Olmypiad so far appears to be terrorism. 57 percent of Americans, for example, are convinced there will be a terrorist attack during the Olympics, according to a CNN poll. And when their government is warning them about the threat of toothpaste headed to Sochi, why wouldn't they? It's not just the U.S. government stoking fears. Russia is worried about the prospect of a terrorist attack too. Two suicide bombings in Volgograd in December killed 34 people. Two regions over from Sochi, Volgograd's 1,000 kilometers away, or as far as Cincinnati from New York. Last month, Russia arrested two suspects in the bombings, which it identified as members of a terrorist group named after Buinaksk, a city in Dagestan, the Caucasian region where the alleged Boston marathon bombers moved to in Russia before emigrating to the U.S.  The Buinaksk arrests followed a claim of responsibility for the Volgograd bombing via video by Caucasian Islamist militants calling themselves  the "Vilayat Dagestan," who promised more "presents" for tourists in Sochi.

In an article called "Sterilizing Sochi for the 'Big Brother' Games," Haaretz reports:

About 25,000 police officers, 30,000 soldiers and 8,000 special forces and members of the FSB security service, successors to Putin's old outfit, the KGB, are guarding the games. Many of the security personnel come from the old Cossack units and seem lost in the urban surroundings with their fur shapka hats and riding breeches, dismounted.

The security operation is a combination of low-tech - flooding the area with thousands of police, some not even trained to use the new hand-held metal-detectors they have been given and who make do with just a perfunctory glance into the car trunks, without checking any of the objects inside - and high-tech.

At the new Sochi Airport, electronic warfare aircraft are standing on the tarmac, reconaissance drones hover above and anyone who uses a smartphone or switches on a computer in the city discovers strange messages and unsolicited offers to download software.

The threats issued by the Caucasus Emirate, the Islamist terror organization which orchestrated a series of bloody suicide attacks throughout Russia in recent years, are keeping the thousands of police and soldiers in the streets, at the roadblocks and in the hotel lobbies, but most security experts in Sochi do not believe the attack will fall there or in the three Olympic villages.

"This is the safest city in Russia, even before the Olympics," says a former senior city police officer, now a security consultant. "Putin has one of his homes here, as do other senior officials. Heads of state are hosted here, including Netanyahu. The Caucasians will try and ruin the fun by attacking somewhere else, they can choose any target in Russia."

Haaretz's report starts with a story about the Lenin statue in town being covered up. Russia also set up protest restrictions in Sochi, running from this January through March 21, five days after the end of the Paralympics. Any planned protest is supposed to be approved by the FSB, the police, and the local government.

Though the media in Sochi now are focused on complaining about lousy conditions on site and the possible shitstorm to come, journalists working in Sochi will face restrictions, and digital surveillance, too:

Obstruction by Russian authorities and journalists' self-censorship in a repressive climate have restricted news coverage of sensitive issues related to the Sochi Winter Olympics, the Committee to Protect Journalists found in a report…

The report, entitled "Media suffer winter chill in coverage of Sochi Olympics," examines how both local and international journalists have been harassed and prevented from reporting on topics such as the exploitation of migrant workers, environmental destruction, forced evictions, and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons. The report also explores how Russian state-controlled media have ignored these issues or even published propaganda smearing the victims of human rights abuses and the activists who defend them.

"Russian authorities have cracked down on journalists, rights defenders, and civil activists in a way not seen since the break-up of the Soviet Union," said CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova. "The International Olympic Committee as the Games' organizers must engage with Russian authorities to ensure that freedom of the press and freedom of expression are unobstructed in Sochi both during and after the Games."

In the report's recommendations CPJ calls on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ensure that host countries that fail to reach international standards for press freedom and freedom of expression suffer repercussions; on the Russian government to repeal laws that chill freedom of the press; on corporate sponsors of the Games to insist that the IOC speak out on media freedom violations; and on journalists covering the Games to report violations of press freedom.

Russia, for its part, has called for a "global ceasefire" for the Olympic games, which were long ago disconnected from the ideal of peace attached to their ancient predecessors. It also tried to counteract negative press by releasing photos of their female Olympic athletes in lingerie heterosexualist propaganda.

Related: Check out four shameful moments in Olympic history. 

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NEXT: Obama Admits He's Dragging Democrats Down

Ed Krayewski is a former associate editor at Reason.

OlympicsRussiaWar on TerrorFree Press
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  1. Brett L   11 years ago

    About 25,000 police officers, 30,000 soldiers and 8,000 special forces and members of the FSB security service, successors to Putin's old outfit, the KGB, are guarding the games. Many of the security personnel come from the old Cossack units and seem lost in the urban surroundings with their fur shapka hats and riding breeches, dismounted

    Isn't concentrating this much force into a single place a magnet for actual bombers who hate Russians and their military?

    1. CampingInYourPark   11 years ago

      They hate them for their freedom!

    2. creech   11 years ago

      It weakens security in non-Olympic targets so that's where any terrorist
      attacks will be made. Terrorists don't have to do squat in Sochi, except use some burner phones to make continual bomb threats against venues just a finals get underway.

      1. Almanian!   11 years ago

        *notes creech is clearly trrrrrssszt material, calls cell leader*

  2. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    The Caucasians will try and ruin the fun by attacking somewhere else...

    Jive honkies.

  3. playa manhattan   11 years ago

    Saw this in the 24-7 feed:
    http://reason.com/24-7/2014/02.....ters-are-t

    The article says that the Russian Gov has surveillance video of Western reporters deliberately sabotaging the hotel rooms to create a story.

    If I'm to understand correctly, there are hidden cameras in the Sochi hotel rooms?

    1. kinnath   11 years ago

      A headline at another website said the Russians admitted there were cameras in public restrooms.

      1. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

        Russia produces a lot of secretly filmed in a bathroom or bathroom security footage voyeur porn.

        This doesn't surprise me at all.

        1. Tim   11 years ago

          Hot Dogski: the movie.

        2. playa manhattan   11 years ago

          You are quite the porn connoisseur.

          1. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

            I like to be knowledgeable about the things that interest me.

            I used to have a great collection of celebrity sex tapes gathered while helping a friend research a paper on "celebrity for celebrity's sake" but the hard drive got ruined.

            Thanks to the rise of x-tube it's way easier to find Fred Durst's o-face than it used to be.

            Nothing ruins a person's day like exposure to Fred Durst's sex tape in whole or in part.

            1. playa manhattan   11 years ago

              I recovered for that rather quickly. I'm still going to find a way to eat a delicious lunch today.

            2. playa manhattan   11 years ago

              I recovered from that pretty quickly. I'm still going to find a way to eat something delicious for lunch today.

              1. playa manhattan   11 years ago

                God damn iPhone!

              2. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

                Maybe you're ready for the actual video. It's one of the more entertaining sex tapes I've seen mostly because you're just CERTAIN that they're gonna do anal, and also because Fred Durst is a total dweeb who's trying to hard.

                1. playa manhattan   11 years ago

                  I'll take your word for it. So is he successful in backdooring?

                  1. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

                    He doesn't even go for it. It's all rear-entry vaginal.

                    1. 110 Lean   11 years ago

                      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNUr__-VZeQ

    2. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

      Hawt! Athlete sex-tapes for all.

    3. Brett L   11 years ago

      Hopefully Erin Andrews feels the need to iron in the nude again.

      1. Almanian!   11 years ago

        "No one's talking about you..."

      2. playa manhattan   11 years ago

        She's so much prettier with her clothes off.

        1. sarcasmic   11 years ago

          aye

    4. Tim   11 years ago

      From 24/7

      Dmitry Kozak, the deputy prime minister responsible for the Olympic preparations, reflected the view held among many Russian officials that some Western visitors are deliberately trying to sabotage Sochi's big debut out of bias against Russia. "We have surveillance video from the hotels that shows people turn on the shower, direct the nozzle at the wall and then leave the room for the whole day," he said. An aide then pulled a reporter away before Mr. Kozak could be questioned further on surveillance in hotel rooms. "We're doing a tour of the media center," the aide said.

      1. tarran   11 years ago

        Surveillance video?!? of hotel guests' bathrooms?!?

        ROFL Only to a Russian would this lie sound like a great idea!

        "What should we do Ivan? They say our cosntruction sucks!"

        "I know! We'll say we caught them damaging the rooms... maliciously!"

        "How would we know?"

        "Through our bugs; we overheard them discussing it with their editors on our wiretaps! "

        "But Comrade Putin announced there would be no buggery at Sochi!"

        "Damn! OK, we say we had video cameras that caught them in the act!"

        "Perfect! I'll draft the press release."

        1. kinnath   11 years ago

          "But Comrade Putin announced there would be no buggery at Sochi!"

          Anti-gay bigots 😉

        2. kinnath   11 years ago

          Surveillance video?!? of hotel guests' bathrooms?!?

          This would not surprise me.

      2. playa manhattan   11 years ago

        Sounds like the aide was smart enough to know not to say that, but unfortunately, the deputy prime minister was not.

        1. Swiss Servator, Befehl!   11 years ago

          *crack of a pistol shot*

          "Who is Deputy Prime Minister that you speak of?"

          1. playa manhattan   11 years ago

            I could see it going either way. Maybe the aide bit the bullet for showing up his boss.

            1. Swiss Servator, Befehl!   11 years ago

              "he committed suicide. he stab self in abdomen with large knife 37 times."

  4. Almanian!   11 years ago

    The Caucasians will try and ruin the fun

    Don't they always? Haters gonna hate, yo.

  5. Almanian!   11 years ago

    I hope this works - evidence on Twitter that Our Olympic Savior is riding to the rescue! You REALLY should look - SFW:

  6. kinnath   11 years ago

    Moscow, summer, slavic women, & see-through tops. The 90s didn't totally suck.

    1. Ted S.   11 years ago

      But did they have to wear so much make-up?

  7. grrizzly   11 years ago

    The infamous twin toilets have been discovered:
    http://tinyurl.com/q63celq

  8. R C Dean   11 years ago

    members of the FSB security service, successors to Putin's old outfit, the KGB, are guarding the games

    Suddenly, that story about how everyone's phones, etc. got hacked the minute to Sochi makes sense.

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