European Forum

Prominent Russian human rights activist murdered in North Caucasus

The international community has strongly condemned the dead of a prominent Russian human rights activist, Natalya Estemirova. Estemirova has been found dead yesterday in Ingushetia, hours after being kidnapped in the North Caucasus region.

Estemirova (50) worked for the Memorial human rights organisation in the Chechen town of Grozny. She has been investigating human rights abuses in Chechnya, since Russia started its second war against separatist rebels there in 1999. Colleagues of Estemirova have said they are certain her killing was sanctioned by Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov in response to her work. "I know, I am sure who is guilty of Estemirova's murder, his name is Ramzan Kadyrov," said Memorial's head Oleg Orlov. Kadyrov had "personally threatened Natalya, insulted her and considered her a personal enemy," he added. Kadyrov, nevertheless, voiced outrage over the killing and pledged to personally oversee the investigation. He swore to prosecute the people who performed such a ‘provocative’ act.

International reactions
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev "expressed indignation at the murder" and has ordered a top-level investigation, as was reported on Wednesday by Medvedev's spokeswoman. The UN, the EU and the Council of Europe have also condemned Estemirova’s death and urged Russia to swiftly find the killers and bring them to justice. In Washington, the White House said it was “deeply disturbed and saddened" by the murder. Amnesty International said her killing represented “yet another attempt to try to silence civil society in Russia.”

Estemirova’s death was the latest in a series of unresolved shootings of Kadyrov’s rivals and critics. The list includes Estemirova's colleague, journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was killed in Moscow in 2006, and lawyer Stanislav Markelov, who was shot dead in January this year. Estemirova closely cooperated with both Politkovskaya and Markelov.

Moscow declared an end to its counterterrorism operation in Chechnya earlier this year. But there has been a growing number of shootings and bombings since then in Chechnya and neighbouring regions in the unstable North Caucasus. Kadyrov is a former rebel-turned-Moscow loyalist. He fought Russian rule in Chechnya before turning sides.


Sources: Kommersant; RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty; Reuters; Volkskrant