Human Rights Defender, Natalia Estemirova, Murdered

RUSSIA/CHECHNYA: Human Rights Defender, Natalia Estemirova, Murdered

16 July 2009

RAN 28/09

International PEN's Writers in Prison Committee is appalled by the abduction and murder in Chechnya yesterday, 15 July 2009, of the courageous human rights defender and journalist, Natalia Estemirova. PEN welcomes statements by Russian President Medvedev that an inquiry has been ordered into her death. It urges that the investigation be carried out speedily and that it not be beset by the problems encountered in other cases of murders of human rights commentators, notably that of the trial of writer Anna Politkovskaya, a close friend and colleague of Natalia Estemirova, who was herself murdered in October 2006.

Estemirova, of Russian-Chechen descent, worked at the Grozny office of Memorial, Russia's best known rights organisation. Tenacious in her investigations into torture, killings and other abuses in Chechnya, Estemirova was awarded for her courage by the Swedish and European parliaments. Estemirova was a close colleague of Anna Politkovskaya and in 2007, she was the first recipient of the annual Anna Politkovskaya Award given by the Reach All Women in War campaigning group. From 2001 until Politkovskaya's assassination in 2006, the two had worked together to expose abuses carried out by Russian armed forces in Chechnya and by Moscow-backed Chechen officials. Politkovskaya's killers remain free, three years after her death. In June 2009, three Chechen men were acquitted of her murder after a trial that many observers describe as a farce. The Supreme Court has ordered that the acquittals be reviewed.

Despite knowing the acute danger, Estemirova continued to research and advocate on abuses in Chechnya, most recently a spate of house burnings by government backed militia. She has been commended by local and foreign journalists for whom she was an important source of independent information in the conflict. Witnesses reported hearing Estemirova calling out that she was being kidnapped as she was forced into a van around 8.30 am as she left her home in Grozny. Her body was found some hours later in woodland in neighbouring Ingushetia. She had been shot in the head and chest.

In December 2006, Natalia Estemirova was a guest speaker at a PEN America event commemorating Anna Politkovskaya. She told the meeting that "Criminals were afraid of Anna and afraid of her investigations". It is clear that these same criminals also feared Estemirova. Aged 50, Natalia Estemirova leaves behind her 15-year old daughter. International PEN extends its deepest condolences to Estemirova's family and colleagues.

Since 2000, 17 journalists have been murdered in their attempt to uncover the high levels of criminality and abuses in Russia, specifically in Chechnya and Ingushetia. None of the cases have been properly resolved and their murderers act with impunity It has become increasingly urgent that the Russian government take serious measures towards fully and properly investigating these murders and ensuring that those responsible be brought to justice.

To see photographs and hear the panel discussion with Natalia Estemirova at December 2006 American PEN event go to: www.pen.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/911

For details of the Reach All Women in War Anna Politkovskaya award to Estemirova go to: www.rawinwar.org/



Take Action



What you can do:

* Protest to the Russian President
* Write to the Russian embassy in your own country
* Send messages of solidarity to Memorial

www.memo.ru/eng/index.htm

email: info@memo.ru

Government Appeals should:

* Express shock at the murder of Natalia Estemirova clearly in retaliation for her investigations into human rights abuses in Chechnya;
*
Welcome President Medvedev's promise that there will be an immediate investigation into her murder, and urging that this be carried out fully and impartially, and that those responsible be brought to justice.
* Raise concern that almost three years after her murder, no-one has yet to be convicted of the murder of Estemirova's colleague, Anna Politkoskaya, leading to concerns that there is little real commitment to resolving such crimes and thus allowing those who carry them out impunity;
* Call on the Russian authorities to counter these concerns by unequivocally condemning all attacks on the independent press and human rights monitors, to review the unresolved murders of 17 journalists killed in the past decade.

Addresses:

Mr Dmitry Medvedev

President of the Russian Federation

Kremlin

Moscow

Russia

Fax: +7 095 206 5173 / 230 2408

Email: president@gov.ru



Mr Chaika Yuri Yakovlevich

Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation

Ishaya Dmitrovka 1 a GSP e

Moscow 12599 3

Russia

Fax +7 095 292 88 48

*Please contact the address below for updates if you are considering sending an appeal after 15 August 2009*

For further information please contact

Sara Whyatt at the Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN, Brownlow House, 50-51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER Tel: +44 (02) 20 7405 0338 Fax: +44 (0) 20 74050339 Email:
sara.whyatt@internationalpen.org.uk
http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/go/news/russia/chechnya-human-rights-defender-natalia-estemirova-murdered

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Russia: Chechen Human Rights Advocate Murdered

ARTICLE 19 is shocked and deeply saddened by the killing on 15 July 2009 of Natalia Estemirova, a Chechen human rights activist and representative of the Memorial Human Rights Centre in the Chechen capital Grozny.

Estemirova was abducted outside her home earlier today; according to the reports of Russian officials, her body was later found near Nazran, the capital of neighbouring Ingushetia, showing signs of a violent death.

Estemirova had worked at the Memorial Human Rights Centre since 2000 on a number of sensitive cases documenting human rights abuses in Chechnya. A well-known and respected defender of human rights, she had been awarded the Anna Politkovskaya Award by RAW in WAR, an organisation supporting women in armed conflicts, as well as the European Parliament's Robert Schuman medal in 2005.

This killing is just the latest in a prolonged series of attacks, abductions and murders targeting media workers, journalists and human rights defenders in this troubled region. It also highlights the failure of Russian government to abide by international human rights laws, which stipulate that the state should protect its populace and create an environment which encourages pluralism and political debate. Instead, a climate of intimidation pervades Russia and such killings are all too frequent a way of dealing with opponents of the regime.

"We at ARTICLE 19 express our sincere condolences to Natalia's family, friends and colleagues," says Dr Agnès Callamard, ARTICLE 19 Executive Director. "The global human rights community has lost one of its most courageous members. Her loss, however, does not weaken our resolve to stand in solidarity with those people suffering human rights abuses in Chechnya and to continue acting with principle and determination to expose abuses and bring perpetrators to justice."

ARTICLE 19 calls upon the Government of the Russian Federation to:
" Immediately open a full and impartial investigation into the murder of Natalia Estemirova, and to ensure that both the perpetrators and instigators of this murder are found and prosecuted; and
" Take all measures necessary to protect members of its population against acts of violence, threats and intimidation, and to insure that those reporting on human rights violations in Russia, and especially in the North Caucasus, are not targeted for attack.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

o For more information please contact Anoush Begoyan, Programme Officer for Europe at anoushb@article19.org or tel +44 20 7324 2500.