Top Chechnya Rights Defender is Brutally Slain

Natalia Estemirova, a top human rights activist in the troubled Russian republic of Chechnya and a close colleague of Human Rights Watch, was abducted near her home in Grozny on the morning of July 15, 2009, carried off in a car as people on a nearby balcony heard her call for help. Her body was found later that day in the neighboring republic of Ingushetia.

Estemirova was a researcher with the leading Russian human rights group Memorial for a decade and had worked closely with Human Rights Watch, including on its recent investigations into the punitive killings and house burnings against people suspected by Chechen authorities of having links to rebels. She was named a top human rights defender by Human Rights Watch in 2007 under its Voices for Justice program. She received the European Parliament's Robert Schuman medal in 2005, and the "Right to Life" award from the Swedish Parliament in 2004. She was the first recipient of the Anna Politkovskaya prize, in honor of the slain Russian journalist.

In Chechnya, where decades of armed conflict have made violence and abuse a daily reality, human rights defenders like Estemirova are rare. She was known for her fearlessness in exposing human rights violations and for demanding that perpetrators be held accountable. At her urging, victims and witnesses of Chechnya's brutalities broke their silence to denounce their abusers, some even testifying in court cases brought by Memorial and others in an attempt to see the perpetrators held to account.

Estimirova knew the risk she was taking. In accepting the Human Rights Watch award in November 2007 she told the audience: "In Chechnya, the government creates an atmosphere of fear and mistrust. Those who witness abuse keep silent, for if they speak they can soon become a victim. Can you imagine living each day wondering who might turn you in to the government for saying the wrong thing?"

Human Rights Watch has called on Russian authorities to investigate immediately the abduction and killing of Estemirova, to bring all of those involved to justice, and to put a halt to the atmosphere of fear and unpunished violence in the region.

"Natalia fought for justice all her life and the best way to honor her would be to find her killers and put them on trial," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "We're devastated by her death. But ensuring her murder does not go unpunished would help to break the vicious cycle of abuse and impunity in Chechnya."

Human Rights Watch expressed its deepest condolences to Estemirova's family and colleagues.

Comments

[IDIOTA]

Another brave person I don't hear about until she's murdered.

[Ira7]

This stuff doesn't come from the top, does it?

We're soon going to see what kind of cojones Medvedev has.

[Khirad]

Yet another story you won't see on front pages near you anytime soon along with anything to do with Ingushetia or Dagestan, etc.

[Stephen C. Rose - Huffpost Blogger]

Responding to a comment on the story

"Yet another story you won't see on front pages near you anytime soon along with anything to do with Ingushetia or Dagestan, etc."

Sadly correct. I tried as best I could to generate an Iran-like response on Twitter and it has failed. The surging story is about the Emmy's and #Natalia (Natalya) can be found but it is muted. I sometimes wonder if killings must be photographed to become viral. Remember too that people are more sympathetic to the woes of animals than people. Not to mention the difficulty with names and countries "they" have trouble pronouncing.

Rachel Maddow had a nice upbeat show last night with no mention of this. I was too disgusted to see if Keith O. followed her example.

If is the task of those who care to drive home the point that the silence is wrong. And to reverse it.

See: http://stephencrose.wordpress.com/2009/07/15/natalia-estemirova-killing-the-latest-in-attacks-on-russian-activists/

And related links.

http://stephencrose.wordpress.com

[LeeCalif]

Boy, the Russian government keeps killing everybody.

[oxi]

And what is the U.S. body count of Iraqis killed in Iraq and in Afghanistan? And gee how about Pakistan now?

Wow one is killed (probably by Muslims Chechens) and the U.S. has killed scores of people and nobody even cares!

Shameful!

[balickistan]

slaughtered like countless others. naturally the russians will blame some dissident human rights group for the slaying, or say it was because of rampant crime. for its history, life has held no value in russia. horrible.

[oxi]

And how many wedding parties has the U.S. bombed in Iraq and Afghanistan?

I guess life has no value outside of the U.S. borders!

[oxi]

Could this have been the work of Chechen Muslim thugs to gather sympathy for their cause against Russia's?

[Riley74]

Could you be asking this question because you wish it to be true?