White House says it’s ‘disturbed and saddened’ by killing of Russian human rights activist

September 25th, 2009 Russian activist in court over Chechen lawsuitMOSCOW — A Russian human rights activist on trial over a defamation claim filed by Chechnya's strongman president said Friday he stands by his statements blaming the Kremlin-backed provincial leader for a fellow activist's slaying in July. Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov sued Memorial rights group chairman Oleg Orlov after Orlov said Kadyrov was responsible for the killing of activist Natalya Estemirova.

September 24th, 2009 Obama nominates envoy on North Korean human rightsWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is nominating a new special envoy on North Korean human rights issues. The White House announced on Thursday the nomination of Robert King, a one-time congressional aid on the House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Committee.

September 10th, 2009 European envoy asks Russia about NGO killingMOSCOW — The Council of Europe's commissioner on human rights says Russia must prosecute the killers of a human rights activist in Chechnya this year, if it is to break a cycle of violence in the region. Thomas Hammarberg said Thursday that bringing the killers of Natalya Estemirova to justice will help dissipate the atmosphere of impunity that pervades Russia's violent southern fringe.

August 30th, 2009 Slain Russian activist's colleague despairsKOSHKELDY, Russia — A leading Russian human rights activist paid an emotional visit Sunday to the cemetery where her slain colleague Natalya Estemirova is buried, weeping at her grave and predicting her killers will never be never be brought to justice. Lyudmila Alexeyeva, the widely respected 82-year-old head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, had a message as she left the plot in Estemirova's ancestral village: "Curse those who are guilty in Natalya's death." Estemirova worked for the rights group Memorial, and her reports on alleged rights abuses in Chechnya made her unpopular with the region's strongman leader and his government.

August 11th, 2009 Memorial: kidnapped Chechen activist found deadMOSCOW — The head of a Chechen aid group and her husband have been found shot dead in the trunk of their car a day after being kidnapped, police and an official of the Russian human rights group Memorial said Tuesday. Memorial's Alexander Cherkasov told The Associated Press that the bodies of Zarema Sadulayeva and her husband were found in a suburb of the Chechen capital, Grozny.

July 22nd, 2009 Russian activist dead, colleague suspects murderMOSCOW — A Russian human rights activist has been found dead in a sand pit weeks after he went missing, according to police and a colleague who said Wednesday that he suspects the prisoners' rights advocate was murdered. The news of Andrei Kulagin's death came a week after the abduction and killing of Natalya Estemirova, a well-respected human rights activist and critic of the Kremlin-backed leader of Russia's war-scarred Chechnya region.

July 18th, 2009 Report: Rights group to suspend Chechnya workMOSCOW — 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.

July 16th, 2009 Some recent high-profile slayings of activists, reporters and lawyers who have challenged Russian authorities in recent years. There have been no convictions in any of the following killings.

July 16th, 2009 Comments on slaying of Russian activist Estemirova International reaction to the kidnapping and murder of Russian human rights activist Natalya Estemirova in the Caucasus. Estemirova, 50, was a leading member of the Chechen branch of the Russian human rights group Memorial.

July 15th, 2009 Russian group says activist abducted in ChechnyaMOSCOW — A prominent Russian human rights group says its leading activist in Chechnya has been kidnapped. Memorial chairman Oleg Orlov says that four men forced Natalya Estemirova into a car in the Chechen capital, Grozny, early Wednesday.

July 15th, 2009 Russian activist abducted in Chechnya found deadMOSCOW — A prominent Russian activist who investigated abductions, killings and other rights abuses in Chechnya was found killed Wednesday, hours after being kidnapped in the Chechen capital, police officials and her organization said. Natalya Estemirova's body was found in Ingushetia, which borders Chechnya to the west, Oleg Orlov, the chairman of Memorial, her rights group, told The Associated Press.

July 15th, 2009 Reports: Russian activist found dead in ChechnyaMOSCOW — Russian news agencies are reporting that a prominent rights activist has been found dead, hours after being kidnapped in Chechnya. ITAR-Tass and Interfax quote unidentified police officials as saying that Natalya Estemirova's body was found in Ingushetia, a region that borders Chechnya to the west.

July 10th, 2009 More cases of disturbed graves at Ill. cemeteryALSIP, Ill.

June 10th, 2009 Obama saddened by Holocaust shootingWASHINGTON — The White House says President Barack Obama was saddened by a shooting at the Holocaust museum near the White House and is concerned about a guard who was reportedly injured. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said he told Obama about the shooting on Wednesday afternoon.

May 5th, 2009 Russian gays want parade before Eurovision finalMOSCOW — Russian gay-rights activists say they plan to hold a march and rally May 16 before the final night of the Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow. City authorities have banned gay pride parades in the past and Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has drawn international criticism by describing homosexuality as "satanic." Attempts to defy the bans have ended violently in some cases.