Who Killed Natalya Estemirova?
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Related subjects: Diplomacy & Politics, Europe, Global, Media, Open Government, Opinion, Press Freedom, Riga Listin, Rights & Freedoms, Security & Surveillance, The Russian Federation, Transparency Yield Comments (2)
Natalya Estemirova was a seasoned journalist and well-known human rights activist and researcher. She was one of the leading sources of information about human rights abuses and major atrocities committed in Chechnya, and was considered a leading voice against authoritarian leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
Kadyrov denies involvement in her killing, though rights groups and independent observers consider it likely there is some connection between the killing and groups allied with Pres. Kadyrov. The question remains: who killed Natalya Estemirova? We may never have an official conviction that determines culpability, because those responsible for other high profile killings of journalists and activists who reported on atrocities committed against the Chechen people have never been brought to justice.
Stanislav Markelov, a top human rights investigator, was murdered in cold blood earlier this year; his killers remain at large. Anna Politkovskaya, a friend and colleague of Estemirova’s, was murdered in 2006, in her apartment building, the crime still unsolved.
Kidnapped while leaving her home in Grozny, Chechnya, in the morning, her body was found at 17:20 local time (13:20 GMT) in the neighboring republic of Ingushetia, near the city of Nazran, according to Russia’s ITAR-TASS news agency. Madina Khadziyeva, a spokeswoman for the regional interior ministry told the press the victim had two wounds to the head and that “it was clear she had been murdered in the morning”.
Natalya Estemirova, a close friend and investigative colleague of Anna Politkovskaya, was one of the most prominent human rights campaigners still active in Chechnya. Politkovskaya was murdered on then President Vladimir Putin’s birthday, leading to widespread speculation it was meant to send a sign of allegiance to Putin, who backs Kadyrov’s hardline regime in Chechnya and had been openly critical of reporting by the crusading journalist.
Russia is listed as one of the most dangerous places for journalists. At least 20 journalists and human rights workers have been assassinated since Vladimir Putin took power in 2000, and many believe there are links between elements of his power base and the killings. Chechnya, in particular, is a republic beleaguered by years of war and brutality. Indeed, the violent death of Natalya Estemirova is evidence of how dominant the logic of cruelty has become in the power structure of the Chechen state, backed by Moscow.
Ramzan Kadyrov is widely viewed as ruling more through the brutal expression of raw power than by any legitimate electoral process, though he and his allies dispute his involvement in political killings. Kadyrov has been accused of direct involvement in atrocities by Politkovskaya, Markelov and Estemirova, as by many others. That common thread has led increasing numbers of human rights and press rights groups to call openly for his prosecution, though the Chechen and Russian governments say there is no evidence against him.
Pres. Medvedev has said Estemirova’s killing is an outrage, but coordination of the investigation is seen by many as slow-moving and partial. Ramzan Kadyrov has, amazingly, announced he personally will head a Chechen government investigation of the murder. Supporters of Ms. Estimirova and her accusations against Kadyrov say such an investigation could never be legitimate or transparent.
In fact, for many in Chechnya, it is as if the war has never ended. The first war flared up into a much more brutal and sustained 2nd Chechen war, and now, in the aftermath, the hardline regime of former rebel Ramzan Kadyrov, which is said to be closely backed by Moscow, stands accused of ongoing atrocities against dissidents and reporters investigating warm crimes and systematic corruption.
The war blisters on in the terror experienced by those who know of or have experienced first-hand the atrocities of the regime. Some still speak of “genocide”, a word that for Chechens harkens back to the Stalinist era, when the entire Chechen population was unilaterally expelled and relocated, their language and culture brutally suppressed. That legacy of marginalization and brutality led to the popular Chechen resistance, when Moscow invaded militarily in 1994.
And the deep divisions have persisted, as the factions broke apart, old rebels (like Kadyrov) aligned themselves with Moscow, and others were targeted for elimination by any means, by a new hardline security establishment. In essence, Natalya Estemirova is the latest victim of the Chechen war, which lives on in the damaged and degraded society in which ordinary Chechens still struggle to defend their liberties and achieve enough dignity to be free of persecution.
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