A Russian Reign of Terror?

The abduction and murder of human rights activist Natalia Estemirova in the conflict-ridden Northern Caucasus has been the latest crime to shake Russia's embattled liberal community - and raise the question of whether today's Russia lives not just under an authoritarian regime, but a reign of terror against dissenters. While there are different theories as to the real perpetrators of this vile crime, none are particularly flattering to the Kremlin.

On July 15, 50-year-old Estemirova, a teacher, journalist, and single mother of a 15-year-old daughter, was abducted outside her home in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya. Later that day, she was found shot to death in neighboring Ingushetia, another turmoil-ridden Russian province of the Northern Caucasus.

Estemirova's death echoes the fatal shooting of journalist Anna Politkovskaya in her Moscow apartment building in 2006 and the brazen murder of human rights attorney Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova on a busy Moscow street in broad daylight last January.

Many critics of Vladimir Putin's authoritarian regime (and its incarnation under the presidency of Dmitry Medvedev) believe that the Kremlin is ordering and directing these murders to silence critics. Yet, if that is the case, the terror is extremely selective: Other equally or more outspoken critics of the regime have been often harassed, persecuted and censored, but not physically harmed.

Many point out that the Estemirova, Politkovskaya and Markelov murders all have a "Chechen connection": all three were relentless critics of human rights abuses in Chechnya and of its president, Ramzan Kadyrov. In the last several years, after a separatist rebellion and a brutal war, the Kremlin has "pacified" Chechnya by making rebel-turned-loyalist Ramzan Kadyrov, the president of the region, a de facto dictator. While Kadyrov has put an end to the random slaughter of Chechens by Russian troops, he himself is known...

“A Russian woman is murdered by jihadist Chechens and the Putinistas cheer. Ironic, no?”

Who shot Natalia Estemirova?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/23/chechnya-natalia-estemirova

(snip)
Last Wednesday, Natalia Estemirova, known to her friends as Natasha, left her flat in the Chechen capital, Grozny, and set off towards the bus stop. Usually, it took her 15-20 minutes to get to work – a bumpy ride in a shared No 55 mini-van, down an avenue of green tower blocks, past giant posters of Chechnya’s warlord president Ramzan Kadyrov, and several of Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin.

On this occasion, she didn’t make it. A hundred metres beyond the entrance of her 10th-floor flat – which overlooks a patch of grassy wasteland and a grove of shabby walnut trees – four gunmen were waiting. They grabbed Estemirova, bundled her into a white Russian-made Zhiguli car and drove off. A woman passer-by saw the abduction and heard her cry out.

It was 8.30am. Her kidnappers headed in the direction of Ingushetia, Chechnya’s neighbouring republic. Probably, they took the M-29 highway, though there is also a grassy back-route looping along a hillside. The road is a scenic one: it cuts though a dark tunnel of poplar trees; on the roadside women sell melons from the backs of trucks. The kidnappers breezed through several checkpoints.

Two hours later, Estemirova was dead. The men stopped their vehicle soon after crossing into Ingushetia. Up ahead, a group of Islamist militants had ambushed a government car, opening fire. Estemirova’s kidnappers may at this point have panicked. They marched her, hands tied, off the road. And then they shot her five times in the head and chest – leaving behind her money, passport and ID card.

This was no robbery. Instead, her friends believe it was something else: a vile, cowardly, meticulous, state-sponsored execution, apparently designed to send a chilling warning to the small, dwindling number of activists still working in Chechnya, Russia’s rogue republic. Last week, Estemirova’s colleague Oleg Orlov certainly felt in no doubt as to who killed her.

Her death was both appalling and predictable. She was the latest human-rights campaigner of international renown to be gunned down in Putin’s Russia. In October 2006 an assassin shot dead the journalist Anna Politkovskaya, Estemirova’s friend and close collaborator. Politkovskaya was a frequent guest at her modest Grozny flat. Another visitor to her flat was Stanislav Markelov, a 34-year-old lawyer with an impish sense of fun, who worked with Estemirova representing Chechen victims. In February he was gunned down in central Moscow, a short stroll away from the Kremlin. Killed with him was Anastasia Baburova, a freelance journalist for Novaya Gazeta newspaper. And then, last week, it was Estemirova’s turn – the next obvious target.

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Murder Of Chechen Activist
http://www.voanews.com/uspolicy/2009-07-23-voa1.cfm

On July 15th, Natalia Estemirova - a leading human rights defender in Chechnya - was found shot dead in Ingushetia. She is the second human rights activist to be murdered in Russia this year for trying to publicize grave and continuing human rights abuses in Chechnya.

As a researcher for the Memorial Human Rights Center, Ms. Estemirova has been at the forefront of efforts to investigate human rights violations and work for accountability in Chechnya for more than 10 years.

Ms. Estimirova focused on bringing to light the violent trend of extrajudicial executions, punitive house burnings, abductions, and arbitrary detentions in Chechnya and courageously criticized government authorities for abuses and for failing to bring the perpetrators to justice.

According to Human Rights Watch, Ms. Estemirova was assisting in the investigations of several of these cases when she was killed.

Natalia Estemirova’s death is the latest in a series of attacks and murders of journalists, lawyers, and activists seeking justice for human rights violations, particularly in Chechnya.

In January, Stanislav Markelov, a prominent human rights lawyer who represented numerous victims of human rights abuses in Chechnya, was shot dead on the street in Moscow. Anastasiya Baburova, a journalist who was with him, was also killed. In one of the most prominent cases, investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya, was murdered in October 2006.

These murders should be thoroughly investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice. On the abduction and murder of Natalia Estemirova, U.S. National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer said the “brutal slaying is especially shocking coming one week after President [Barack] Obama met with civil society activists in Moscow, including those from Natalia’s organization - Memorial.

Such a heinous crime,” said Mr. Hammer, “sends a chilling signal to Russian civil society and the international community and illustrates the tragic deterioration of security and the rule of law in the North Caucasus over the last several months.”

Mr. Hammer added that the U.S. calls “on the Russian government to bring to justice those responsible for this outrageous crime and demonstrate that lawlessness and impunity will not be tolerated.”
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Jihadists?
Site your source please

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