Chechen leader vows to oversee probe into killing of Russian rights activist

Kadyrov’s promise comes as US, EU condemn Estemirova’s murder

Musa Sadulayev

Associated Press

GROZNY: Chechnya’s Kremlin-installed leader vowed to personally oversee the probe into the brazen murder of a top Russian human-rights activist – even though the victim’s colleagues accuse his own security forces of being in­volved in the slaying. Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov made the brazen promise as the US and the EU condemned Wednesday’s daylight kidnapping and execution-style shooting of Natalya Este­mirova, a daring investigator of rights abuses in Russia’s troubled North Caucasus.

The murder of Estemirova, whose body was found late Wednesday with bullet holes in the head on a road in Ingushetia, a region west of Chechnya, ap­peared to confirm Russia remains a place where political murders are committed without fear of reprisal.

Estemirova was deeply involved in chronicling rights abuses in Kadyrov’s territory.

“She documented the most horrendous violations, mass executions,” said Tatyana Lokshina, a Moscow researcher with the US-based Human Rights Watch. “She has done things no one else dared to do.” Her funeral was expected later Thursday in Grozny, the Chechen capital.

Estemirova’s daughter Lana, 16, was among several dozen supporters who gathered Thursday outside the headquarters of Memorial, the prominent rights organization where Estemirova worked, in Grozny.

“I can’t imagine that mom won’t be around anymore and that I won’t be making a morning coffee for her anymore,” La­na Estemirova said.

“Natalya was a very courageous person and many men should have learned from her courage and bravery,” said one supporter, Malika Batiyev, 45.

Estemirova was killed on the same day as the release of a report she helped research that concluded there was enough evidence to demand that Russian officials, including Premier Vladimir Putin, be called to account for crimes committed on their watch.

The 50-year-old single mother had worked with two other top rights activists, rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and reporter Anna Politkovskaya, who were also likely killed for their work.

Colleagues of Estemirova accuse Kadyrov of involvement in her murder, but Kadyrov vowed to bring the perpetrators of a murder he called “cynical” and “provocative” to justice.

His spokesman Alvi Kerimov told the AP on Thursday that Kadyrov has promised two investigations – one official and one “unofficial, according to Chechen traditions.” It was unclear exactly what this meant.

Kadyrov was also accused by some of involvement in Polit­kovskaya’s slaying in 2006, but Kadyrov reportedly replied “I don’t kill women.” President Dmitry Medvedev reacted quickly Wednesday to the murder – in contrast to other recent killings – expressing his condolences, and ordering the country’s top investigative official “to take all necessary measures.” His press spokeswoman Natalya Timakova said Estemirova’s murder ap­peared to be related to her work.

It took then-President Putin three days to comment on Politkovskaya’s murder, saying eventually that it “caused more harm to the Russian and Chechen authorities than her publications.” In 2007, Estemirova was the first recipient of an Anna Politkovskaya memorial award, given by the Reach All Women in War charity, and received other European awards for her work.

She had collected evidence of rights abuses in Chechnya since 1999, when the second separatist war began in the province after the Soviet collapse of 1991. She was a key researcher for a recent Human Rights Watch report that accused Chechen authorities of burning more than two dozen houses in the past year to punish relatives of alleged rebels.

Estemirova was kidnapped Wednesday morning, according to Memorial. Its chief, Oleg Or­lov, said four men forced her into a car in Grozny, where she lived. He said witnesses heard her yell that she was being abducted.

Nine hours later, her body was found in neighboring Ingushetia.

Colleague Zarema Magazieva said Estemirova had ap­pointments with Interior Ministry officials on the day of the murder.

Traveling between Chechnya and Ingushetia is difficult – their mountainous border is heavily policed. Any car would have to run into multiple checkpoints along three connecting roads.

A Russian radio station, meanwhile, reported that another rights activist was detained Thursday and several copies of the rights report blaming Putin and other officials were seized.

Igor Kalyapin, head of the Association Against Torture, was detained near the city of Nizhny Novgorod, about 400 kilometers east of Moscow, Ekho Moskvy reported. He was among those at the human-rights news conference held Wednesday in Moscow to present the report to the media.

Russia’s mountainous southern fringe is beset by increasingly frequent shootings and kidnappings linked to Islamist insurgents, criminal elements and ethnic feuds.

Security sweeps along the border were intensified after an assassination attempt last month on the president of Ingushetia. Yunus Bek Yevkurov is recovering from the suicide bomb blast in a Moscow clinic.