Chechen leader promises inquiry into activist killing

The Russian-backed Chechen leader accused of being behind the murder of activist Natalya Estemirova today promised to lead an investigation into the killing.

Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov spoke as the United States and the European Union condemned yesterday’s kidnapping and execution of Ms Estemirova, a forthright investigator of rights abuses in Russia’s troubled North Caucasus.

Her murder appeared to confirm that Russia remains a place where political killings are committed without fear of reprisal.

She had been deeply involved in chronicling rights abuses in Mr Kadyrov’s territory.

Ms 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 Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, be called to account for crimes committed while they were in charge.

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 killed for their work.

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

Mr Kadyrov was also accused by some of involvement in Ms Politkovskaya’s killing in 2006.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev yesterday reacted quickly 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.”

It took then-President Putin three days to comment on Ms Politkovskaya’s murder, saying eventually that it “caused more harm to the Russian and Chechen authorities than her publications.”

In 2007, Ms 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.

Ms Estemirova was kidnapped yesterday morning. Four men forced her into a car in Grozny, where she lived.

About nine hours later, her body was found in neighbouring Ingushetia.

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

Travelling 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.