Dear President Medvedev,
Human Rights Watch welcomes your announcement last week appointing the head of the Investigative Committee of the Office of the Prosecutor General, Alexander Bastrykin, to lead the federal investigation into the murder of Natalia Estemirova. I write to urge you to restate your commitment, in firm and public terms, to a credible, impartial, and thorough investigation, and to make clear that all avenues of investigation will be pursued.
Such a reiterated commitment is necessary in light of remarks made in your press conference in Munich that allegations of official involvement in Ms. Estimirova's murder are "primitive and unacceptable to the government." That statement unfortunately suggests that certain political limits have been placed on the scope of the investigation. I hope you will retract this statement and state publicly that the investigation should seriously examine the possibility of official involvement in the killing-to determine not only who carried it out, but also who ordered or facilitated it.
Russia's obligation under international human rights law, and in particular the European Convention on Human Rights, is clear. In the case of any murder where there is a credible suggestion of the involvement or collusion of state agents, an effective investigation must take place that is capable of both identifying and prosecuting the perpetrators, and establishing the extent of any state liability for the murder. In the case of the murder of Ms. Estimirova, several factors highlight the need to abide by this duty. First, in recent years, Chechen authorities-including Chechnya's president, Ramzan Kadyrov-have made a series of threatening statements against Memorial and Ms. Estemirova personally. The possibility of official involvement by Mr. Kadyrov and other senior Chechen officials cannot be excluded. A list of some of these threatening statements can be found in an annex to this letter.
Second, there is mounting evidence suggesting that local authorities in Chechnya have been involved in very serious crimes in the context of counterinsurgency operations, including torture, enforced
disappearances, abductions, and extrajudicial killings. As you know, these were the crimes that Ms. Estemirova was documenting and speaking out against.
Mr. Kadyrov has announced several times that the investigation of Ms. Estemirova's murder is under his personal control. I hope that you will clarify that this is not the case and ensure that Mr. Kadyrov or any authorities who report to him or are ultimately responsible to him have absolutely no involvement in the investigation. Such involvement would effectively preclude examination of the role of key potential suspects in the murder, rendering the investigation ineffective and thus violating Russia's international obligations. For an effective investigation into a killing in which official involvement is a possibility, the independence of the investigation must be guaranteed. There should be no hierarchical or institutional connection to the investigation. Independence with respect to the mandate and resources available to the investigation should be guaranteed.
That is best accomplished by entrusting the investigation to the office of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, without the involvement of local authorities, and by ensuring that at no point will the investigation be handed off to local authorities.
Third, transparency and public scrutiny of this investigation will be central to its credibility. In this regard, to further enhance the transparency of the investigation, we hope you will consider the involvement of respected international prosecutors and investigators and will work with institutions such as the Council of Europe and Russia's partners to keep them fully informed of progress in the investigation.
Finally, Russia can demonstrate its commitment to transparency and accountability for human rights violations in the North Caucasus by securing immediate and unfettered access to the region for international monitors who have long sought such access. These include the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly rapporteur on legal remedies for human rights violations in the North Caucasus, UN Special Rapporteurs on torture, on extrajudicial executions, on freedom of expression, and on human rights defenders, as well as the UN Working Group on enforced disappearances.
I thank you for your attention to the concerns expressed in this letter.
Sincerely,
Kenneth Roth
Appendix
On March 31, 2008, during a private meeting with Natasha Estemirova, Ramzan Kadyrov expressed his disapproval of Estemirova's comments in the documentary "Islamic Evolution," in which she criticized the government's imposition on women to wear headscarves in public by saying:
"Yes, my hands are in blood up to my elbows. And I am not ashamed of it. I killed and will kill bad people. We are fighting the enemies of the people."
Source: "Memorial's" July 15, 2009 press release: "'Memorial's' announcement of Natasha Estemirova's death"
http://www.memo.ru/2009/07/15/1507093.htm
On June 2, 2008, Chechnya's ombudsman Nurdi Nukhazhyev criticized several human rights organization, including Memorial, saying:
"It is time to stop [trying to mend the relationship between human rights organization and the government]. The best thing that these organizations can do now for the Republic of Chechnya is to leave her alone."
Source: "Memorial's" March-June 2008 Bulletin: "Situation in the conflict zone of the North Caucasus: assessment of human rights defenders"
On July 10th, 2009, Chechen ombudsmen on human rights, Nurdi Nukhazhyev, invited the director of "Memorial's" Chechnya branch, Shakhman Akbulatov, to a meeting and said to him:
"You understand that the highest levels [of government] are very unhappy with your work! I don't want anything to happen. Therefore, I will have to publicly reprimand you, and that will protect you."
Source: Statements made by Oleg Orlov, director of "Memorial," during an interview with Radio Svoboda
