I was just about to write a short blog post on a Reuters story about the kidnapping of Natalia Estemirova, a human rights activist who worked with Memorial in Grozny, when I received the updated news that she had been found dead. Only hours ago, Tanya Lokshina of Human Rights Watch in Moscow was warning the press on this kidnapping, and making a direct request to the authorities to guarantee her safety: “There is no shred of doubt that she was targeted due to her professional activity. (…) We know she was abducted and HRW is demanding the Kremlin and Kadyrov that she be returned home safely.“
Instead, our worst fears were confirmed, as yet another outrageous and vile murder of a human rights activist has been added to the much-too-long list.
Less than an hour later, the news started rolling in that Estemirova’s body had been found outside of the city of Nazran, Ingushetia, with two wounds to the head, leading authorities to conclude that she had been murdered that morning. According to a report from the BBC, Estemirova was one of the most important individuals active in the human rights community in Chechnya, and one of the few left alive that continued to document the abuses of pro-government militias in the region. Estemirova, a close friend of the murdered journalist Anna Politkovskaya, now joins Stanislav Markelov and many others who have been savagely killed in relation to their civil advocacy work in the region.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Natalia’s family, and we plan to follow up on this story with more information as it becomes available.
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14 Comments
Read her own words here:http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071022/estemirovaI put it to you, RA, that you have been too moderate in your comments about Russian in the past. I put it to you that I have warned you many times that this sort of moderation costs lives. I put it to you that my call for confrontation has been correct from the beginning, and I put it to you that you can no longer in good conscience continue your moderation at the cost of so many lives. If this barbaric killing is not sufficient to awaken you to the need of urgent direct action to confront the Kremlin, if you will not do so until your own client gets his some dark night, then you are of little use.Just as in the time of the USSR, Russia is killing its patriots and elevating its traitors to the highest positions of power. No nation can survive that long, as the USSR could not neither can Russia. We witness suicide on a national scale and make no mistake: The people of Russia are as complicit in this killing because of their silence and enablement, just as they did with Stalin, as the killers themselves. It is time you called them to account.
Phoby, this woman was anything that a “Russian patriot”.But could you give your opinion about the genocide that your country is commiting in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan? How many tears have you wept over the children that your country has murdered in these countries?
Right, that is very clever – Karl Haushofer, 1869-1946, leading Nazi intellectual. At least we know where you come from.The murder of Estemirova is hideous. Yet the first reactions we have are an attack against this blog, followed by an attack against the victim, followed by some tired moral relativism.
JAMES:Exactly! It’s just what we had when you were far too moderate in regard to the Markelov killing, and now there is more blood. You ignored me then, and likely you will ignore me now. All you do is wring your hands, you do not point the finger of blame, you do not call for concerted opposition. You are the ones engaging in moral relativism.You can’t even come right out and condemn a psychotic Nazi. “Very clever”? “We know where you come from?” If you feel that’s the way to deal with Nazis, you have a lot to learn!KARL:Apparently you live on Mars. The USA just turned out the Bush adminstration and wiped out the Republican party over its mismanagement of Iraq. Now the new regime is thinking of criminal prosecutions of former Bush administration officials.Your moronic drivel only confirms the true nature of the maniacs who govern Russian and the lunatics who support them.Russians have never been able to tell the difference between patriots and traitors. That is why their nation has collapsed twice in the past century and why they don’t rank in the top 150 nations of the world for adult lifespan.
“Karl Haushofer, 1869-1946, leading Nazi intellectual.”Actually the Nazis put Haushofer to a concentration camp. He was not a Nazi.”The murder of Estemirova is hideous. Yet the first reactions we have are an attack against this blog, followed by an attack against the victim, followed by some tired moral relativism.”It is obvious that you are not sincerely sad about the murder, but use it for political purposes. That angers me. Blaming the Russian government for this murder or holding it responsible is wrong. It is like holding American government responsible for the murder of Martin Luther King, the greatest human rights activist America has ever seen.There are always some nutcases or criminals out there who want to kill people. It is impossible for the government and officials to protect every single Russian citizen inside Russia’s borders.This woman chose to go to a volatile Chechen republic unprotected while doing work that is surely not to please many people over there. She knew she could get killed there. It was her decision. Too bad for her.Instead of politicizing murders like this we should sincerely hope that the situation in Chechnya will change for the better. Ramzan Kadyrov is no angel, but neither is any of the other potential ruling clans over there. Kadyrov might be the least evil option for the Kremlin, at least he is not a separatist or a jihadist.As for independence for Chechnya, forget about it. It is a part of the Russian Federation and Russia will not give up it’s land. We also say what happened when this piece of land was “independent” for a short while from 1996 to 1999.
@Karl”In the 1920s, German geographer Karl Haushofer used Geopolitik to support German expansion. Haushofer felt that densely populated countries like Germany should be allowed and entitled to expand and acquire the territory of less populated countries (such as Czechoslovakia and Poland.) This concept, known as Lebensraum (living space) was actually developed by Ratzel, who is often called the founder of political geography. Haushofer twisted Ratzel’s theories to develop the pseudo-science of Geopolitik. Haushofer’s Lebensraum permitted the expulsion of “lesser” peoples to further the goals of the growing State.”http://geography.about.com/od/politicalgeography/a/geopolitics.htm
@russophobeIt can be very hard for me to write exactly what you want me to write – I am not a mind reader.You want a more extremist response to a guy who is obviously a Kremlin-school-of-bloggers troll, but I choose to not waste time on Nazis.I do take your criticism of our editorial line into consideration. Bob knew Stanislav and Anna both back before he was kicked out of Russia. We were translating his articles on Ingushetia and other filtration camps back when no one knew who he was. The blogging was fairly prolific in expressing our outrage and disgust after the event.I think RA would agree that moderation needs to be thrown out in the window on this murder, and that it’s time to wake up and smell the coffee on the system of impunity that has allowed this.I guess I just don’t understand why your disagreements with our little website are the most important thing to spend time on not even 24 hours after someone was brutally murdered.
PHOBY,”The USA just turned out the Bush adminstration and wiped out the Republican party over its mismanagement of Iraq. Now the new regime is thinking of criminal prosecutions of former Bush administration officials.”- Then whatta heck are you still doing occupying Iraq, Afghanistan and apparently starting a new war in Pakistan? Too much oil there?If Obama was a man of his word he would withdraw the illegal and occupying troops away from a foreign territory. Talk is cheap. Actions matter.”Russians have never been able to tell the difference between patriots and traitors.”I’m not a Russian myself but I can see a difference from a Russian patriot and a Russian traitor. It is not that hard to do.
Well I chose this nickname because I agree with Haushofer’s idea of a close Russo-German relationship. I don’t know if he was a “true” Nazi or not, but he spend the war in the Nazi concentration camp meaning the Hitler regime considered him as an enemy.
KARL:You’re simply lying. Ramzan Kadyrov openly threatened her many times:http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/russia/natalia-estemirova-murderHe’s the official, hand-picked representative of the Kremlin in Chechnya, and the Kremlin did not disavow his statements.Your stupid lies only mark you for the subhuman rubbish you are.
“subhuman rubbish you are”Phoby, Phoby, Phoby, you better watch your language there. Makes you sound like a Nazi.As for the link you posted, there is not a direct quote from Kadyrov where he threatens her life.
cool
Karl, you’re comparing apples and onions, and then going on tangents to avoid admitting that Natalya’s murder was a political murder that darkens the shadow that is cast on the Russian government — at best incapable of guaranteeing the safety of human rights activists in the territory that it claims to govern (and in fact unwilling to do so — where are the statements about how the government will do its best to prevent such cases in the future?), at worst even implicated in the murder itself.Genocide in Iraq and Afghanistan? So you also think the Russian invasion of Afghanistan was genocide? (In your mind, military operation = genocide. So maybe Russia engaged in anti-Georgian genocide last year?…
Man, you need to cool off and open your eyes. Or else you won’t be able to see anything.
Karl, you’re comparing apples and onions, and then going on tangents to avoid admitting that Natalya’s murder was a political murder that darkens the shadow that is cast on the Russian government — at best incapable of guaranteeing the safety of human rights activists in the territory that it claims to govern (and in fact unwilling to do so — where are the statements about how the government will do its best to prevent such cases in the future?), at worst even implicated in the murder itself.Genocide in Iraq and Afghanistan? So you also think the Russian invasion of Afghanistan was genocide? (In your mind, military operation = genocide. So maybe Russia engaged in anti-Georgian genocide last year?…
Man, you need to cool off and open your eyes. Or else you won’t be able to see anything.