Why not one blog post on the murder of human rights defender Natasha Estemirova in July? Are you on top of the human rights topic or just padding your resumes? Try subscribing to HRW’s blog or reading The Economist. We need more voices speaking out for the truth and justice in repressive and dangerous places.
Natalia (Natasha) Estemirova deserves a voice here, as do the string of human rights activists who put their lives at risk in the Russian- controlled province of Chechnya. The oil- rich, predominantly Muslim region, which was formally a part of the Soviet Union, has been the sight of two wars spurred by Chechnyan separatists who believe in the creation of an independent Islamic State. In 1999, Russia fought its last war in Chechnya, capturing and completing razing the capital, Grozny, in 2000. The end of war does not bring peacetime, but rather a series of terrorist attacks in Russia and Chechnya alike. Despite announcing that they had ceased counterinsurgency operations, Russian troops continue to patrol Chechnya, instigating and provoking backlash by rebels and separatists. The resulting human rights violations are overwhelming: indiscriminate killings, forced eviction of internally displaced people, arbitrary detention, torture, poverty, lack of aid, health resources, and education, and the inhibiting of the right to life because of constant fear being caught in the crossfire, just to name a few. In a report from April 2009, the human rights organization Amnesty International discovered that,
“… only one person has been convicted in relation to a case of enforced disappearance – and the fate of his victim remains unknown. …Victims of human rights abuses fear reprisals if they turn to the authorities, while those submitting cases to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) have faced reprisals ranging from threats and intimidation to disappearances.” (April 2009, Amnesty International)
The same reported highlighted the “threats to human rights activists” in the region. This threat often materializes into actual killings, with activists reporting that an ambience of wariness has settled among them, and no conversation fails to meditate on the unsettling question, “Who will be next?” In an article from the British newspaper, ‘The Times,’ a Death List summarized the most recent spawn of killings, not including last week’s murder of Zarema Sadulyeva and her husband, Alik Dzhabrailov, in Grozny where she was director of the children’s charity, Save the Generation:
Anna Politkovskaya 48, journalist and author. She had exposed human rights abuses in the North Caucasus. Shot dead in her apartment building on October 7, 2006
Stanislav Markelov 34, human rights lawyer. Was appealing against early release of a Russian military officer convicted of killing a young Chechen woman. Shot dead leaving a press conference in Moscow on January 15, 2009
Anastasia Baburova 25, journalist. Had investigated neo-Nazi groups and taken part in environmental protests. Shot dead with Markelov on January 15, 2009
Natalia Estemirova, 50, human rights activist with Memorial. She had called for Russian officials, including Vladimir Putin, to be called to account over Chechen crimes. Abducted and shot dead on July 15, 2009
At least six political opponents of the Chechnyan President Ramzan Kadyrov have also been shot dead in the past two years, in locations ranging from Vienna to Dubai. (The Times, Online)
Natasha Estemirova drew international attention to herself working tirelessly to establish accountability and cement a culture of justice in Chechnya by seeking out human rights perpetrators. Her most recent efforts concerning a series of kidnappings that lead her back to the Kremlin- backed, Chechnyan president, Ramzan A. Kadyrov. Unfortunately, the law enforcement is the both the party in power and the guilty party, as confirmed by the same Amnesty report mentioned above,
“To date the European Court of Human Rights has made rulings in about 100 cases concerning human rights violations committed in the course of the conflict in Chechnya. In most of these cases, the Court found Russia responsible for the death, torture, or enforced disappearances of people in Chechnya or for the failure to investigate such crimes.” (April 2009, Amnesty International)
Natasha was accustomed to death threats and, like many human rights activists in the region, seemed to know it was only a matter of time. Indeed, after her death, Kadyrov described Natasha as without “honor, dignity or conscience.” Taken from her front doorstep back in July, Natasha shouted her last known words, “I’m being kidnapped!” Then, she disappeared. Her body resurfaced, a gunshot in her head and chest, indicating the brutality with which she had been treated. Her killers were merciless in sending the international community a clear message.
Even Natasha’s funeral in Grozny was not without incident: as mourners followed her body through the capital, they travelled barely 200 yards before being stopped by police in camouflage who informed them that they needed a permit to march. One mourner argued back, but the officer insisted: funeral processions can turn into protests.
It seems that President Ramzan Kadyrov’s boastful statement that Chechnya would soon be “the safest place in the world,” needs revising. Soon after Natasha’s death, news that Zarema Sadulayeva, the director of Save the Generation, an organization in Grozny that works to rehabilitate and provide a safe haven for children traumatized by war was found dead in the boot of a car with her husband. There is speculation that the killings were motivated by her husband’s alleged ties to an illegal separatist group. Regardless, the organization’s apolitical work makes the killings all the more chilling and human rights defenders even more reluctant to work in the region. As Lyudmila Alexeyeva of the Moscow Helsinki rights groups put it, “She headed an NGO that saved a generation of children. They just helped disabled children and children from poor families… It just shows that anyone whose position allows them a gun can kill whoever they like.” Amazingly, Sadulayeva had been hired at Save the Generation, after the previous director Murad Muradov was arrested and killed by security services in 2005 who apparently suspected him of being an insurgent. (Murad was later cleared of these charges, a little too late.)
Natasha’s friend, Tatyana Lokshina, the deputy director of Human Rights Watch in Moscow remembered her in a piece called, 'Another Voice Silenced in Russia' that included this segment,
“Natasha was dedicated to exposing the gross misrule of Chechnya today. Among the most recent cases she publicized was that of Madina Yunusova, 20, who married a suspected Chechen militant last month. Yunusova’s husband was killed in early July. Two days later, security forces came to her house, locked her mother, father and two sisters in the adjacent shed, and used gasoline to set the house on fire. The armed men unlocked the shed as they left, and Yunusova’s family managed to put out the fire. The next day, the forces returned – this time bringing Yunusova’s body wrapped in a shroud, along with instructions to bury her ‘without noise.’
As Natasha knew, ‘noise’ is the only weapon against the grotesque abuses that civilians in Chechnya continue to suffer. She was a meticulous researcher, but she was also fierce in her determination not to submit to the fiction, so ardently purveyed by Russian Prime Minister Vladmir Putin and his circle, that Chechnya is quiet and that the problem there has been solved. It has not.
Natasha is not the first Russian human rights defender murdered this year. In January, a friend of ours, Stanislav Markelov, a prominent human rights lawyer who helped many victims of abuse in Chechnya, was shot in central Moscow. Natasha came to town for his funeral. We sat at my kitchen table talking into the wee hours… speculating about who would be next.
Now I know.
The killers… are still at large, and the Russian government has shown little political will to seriously the Russian government has shown little political will to seriously investigate the murders of rights defenders. Natasha’s death must be the moment this changes. That’s where Western governments come in. We Russians have a saying, ‘The dogs bark, and the caravan moves on.’ Europe and the United states have foundn it convenient to let Chechnya slip off the agenda in their meetings with Russian policymakers. The dogs are barking.” (Human Rights Watch, Online)
The artsy troublemakers not only spray painted the Range Rover and broke several components such as the bumpers and lights, but –get this- they also filled all visible openings including the doors, hood and the rear hatch as well as the alloy wheels with insulating foam!
