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...Estemirova, a researcher and activist for the highly respected Russian human-rights-defense organization Memorial, was abducted early Wednesday morning as she was walking to catch a bus to work. According to Memorial head Oleg Orlov, who spoke with neighbors who had witnessed the kidnapping, she was hustled into a white car by four unknown men. Eight hours later, police found her body in the violence-plagued neighboring republic of Ingushetia. (Read "Moscow Removes Ingushetia President...
...fearless, and boldly defended the truth and protected the interests of people," Shamkhan Akbulatov, head of Memorial in Chechnya, told Russian news agency Itar-Tass. "She was killed because of her professional work." Prosecutors investigating the case agree, saying the murder was linked either to her work or a personal enemy...
...dozen homes in punitive attacks against the families of suspected rebels. She also exposed the recent summary public execution of a young suspected separatist by a security officer in Chechnya. On the day of her murder, a 600-page report that she had helped research was released by Russian human-rights groups. The report exhaustively documents atrocities committed by all sides during the two Chechen wars and concludes that there is sufficient evidence to demand that Putin, among other officials, be held to account for war crimes carried out while he was in power...
...Estemirova's murder marks the second assassination of a Russian human-rights figure this year, after the shooting of lawyer Stanislav Markelov in January, and the seventh killing in 10 months of opponents of Kadyrov, including two in broad daylight in central Moscow. "It seems to be open season on anyone trying to highlight the appalling human-rights abuses in Chechnya," said Kenneth Roth, HRW's head, in a statement. "It's high time the Russian government acted to stop these killings and prosecute those responsible." (Read "Murder in Moscow: A Lawyer Gunned Down...
...White House has also condemned the killing, calling it "especially shocking" that it happened a week after President Barack Obama met with activists, including those from Memorial, in Moscow. "Such a heinous crime sends a chilling signal to Russian civil society and the international community, and illustrates the tragic deterioration of security and the rule of law in the North Caucasus over the last several months," said White House National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer in a statement. (See pictures of Obama in Russia...