The following is a rant with little editing or consideration.

No sooner had the news media reported on her abrupt kidnapping, did we hear of the discovery of the journalist and human rights advocate Natalia Estemirova’s body.  I am told that the body was found with bullet wounds to the head and chest on a roadside outside of Nazran, Ingushetia, the neighboring region to Chechnya.

Estemirova was a pioneer journalist and member of the beleagured NGO Memorial, and those who worked with her are passionate in describing her commitment, courage, and vital importance as one of the last people still carrying on with the important work of documenting human rights abuses by both the state and paramilitary bodies against the civilian population of Chechnya.  Her sudden kidnapping and murder is a most vile act, one that is almost unspeakable in its hideous brutality.  Yet it is also a murder that we should not consider in isolation.  There is a long history of tolerated attacks against journalists and human rights activists, and a climate for impunity and rule of law that holds no one accountable for this kind of crime.  The message is clear and not undesirable for some elements of the government:  those of courage who challenge the status quo may find themselves paying a high price.