This is horrible. Natalia Estemirova was kidnapped and killed yesterday in Chechnya, where she dedicated her life to human rights work despite warnings from Chechnya's president, who is being blamed for her murder:
Human rights campaigner Natalia Estemirova was kidnapped and murdered this week in Chechnya, and a human rights group blames Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov for her death. Estemirova was seized from her home in Grozny, and her body was found Wednesday in the neighboring region of Ingushetia....
Estemirova worked for the Chechen group Memorial and in conjunction with Human Rights Watch. One of her greatest achievements was bringing the issue of Chechen victims to the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled in their favor and demanded Russia pay retribution to more than a dozen victims.
She was 50 years old, and had a 15 year old daughter.
See a video and get more information here.
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This is really sad. There was a great documentary broadcast today on BBC Radio 4 about problems facing women in Chechnya, and they interviewed her. They had to append a note to the programme to say that she'd been killed.
The show is available here to listen to, and I highly recommend it:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qt55
This is one of the reasons why my family left Russia 15 years ago. To this day there's so much corruption, it's disgusting. My heart goes out to this woman's family and to all those that are still in Chechnya fighting. The situation is Chechnya is a disaster and the world is not really paying attention. No one is being held accountable on the international level.
I am glad that President Obama was able to communicate with the Russian president on nuclear issues, but I think the issue of Chechnya should have been on the table as well. May be it will be eventually, but no matter how soon, it won't be soon enough. People are dying every day.
Another example that dictators do whatever they want and don't care about people's lives... This is the sad truth!
I have a friend who was held hostage a couple of years ago at the theatre in Moscow by the Chechens, known also as the "Moscow theatre hostage crisis"....
Mira - Teeth Diseases and Dentistry Specialist
This is such terrible news. Her life and work is an inspiration to all.
This is really sad. I hate hearing about things like this happening to women who were trying to make a difference.