Report: Rights group to suspend Chechnya work

MOSCOW — The respected Russian human rights group Memorial is stopping work at its office in the republic of Chechnya after the kidnapping and killing of one of its most daring activists, a Russian radio station quoted an official of the group as saying Saturday.

Natalya Estemirova, who had investigated executions, kidnappings and other abuses, was forced into a car outside her residence in the Chechen capital on Wednesday, witnesses say. She was found shot in the head hours later.

Ekho Moskvy radio quoted Memorial executive committee member Alexander Cherkasov as saying its office in Chechnya was being closed because of concern for the safety of other workers there.

“We have seen that the work that Natasha was involved in, the work done by our colleagues in Chechnya — documenting crimes committed by representatives of the authorities — is fatally dangerous. We can’t put them at risk,” he was quoted as saying

Activists blame the forces of Chechnya’s president Ramzan Kadyrov for Estemirova’s killing and for widespread violations of human rights. They also complain that the Kremlin, by backing Kadyrov, has created a climate of impunity that encourages abuses.

Cherkasov did not say for how long the Chechen office would be closed, Echo Moskvy said. He could not be reached for clarification. Memorial spokeswoman Yuliya Klimova told The Associated Press that a closure had been discussed, but she was not aware that a decision had been made.

Estemirova was killed the same day a report that she helped research was released, concluding there was enough evidence to demand that Russian officials, including Prime Minister Vladmir Putin, be called to account for crimes committed on their watch.

The 50-year-old single mother had worked with two other Kremlin critics who were also slain: lawyer Stanislav Markelov and reporter Anna Politkovskaya.

Estemirova had collected evidence of rights abuses in Chechnya since 1999, when the province’s second separatist war began after the 1991 Soviet collapse. 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.

Major offensives in Chechnya died down years ago and authorities widely portray the region as peaceful and recovering from the wars, which left much of the capital, Grozny, in ruins.

But the killing of Estemirova drew new attention to human rights activists’ charges that Kadyrov rules with unchecked brutality. Many former rebels have joined Kadyrov’s security corps and they are believed to be among the most violent and heedless of the security forces.

Both Kadyrov and the Kremlin have angrily rebutted allegations of involvement in the murder, and a Kadyrov spokesman said Friday said he would file a slander lawsuit against Memorial’s Oleg Orlov, who has said Kadyrov is to blame.