[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 107 (Tuesday, July 20, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1379]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        CHECHNYA A YEAR AFTER THE KILLING OF NATALYA ESTEMIROVA

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                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 20, 2010

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Madam Speaker, a year ago this month Natalya 
Estemirova, the leading human rights defender in Chechnya was abducted 
near her apartment building in the capital city of Grozny by 
unidentified men, transported to the neighboring republic of 
Ingushetia, and brutally killed. She led a courageous life of 
denouncing corruption, calling for a fair judicial system, and standing 
up for human rights. For that she was cut down. While her killers may 
have ended her life, they will never silence the voice she brought to 
these issues. Ms. Estemirova's work was well known to the Helsinki 
Commission, which I co-chair, and colleagues there recall her 2006 
visit to discuss the situation in Chechnya. Like Estemirova, all too 
many of her fellow human rights defenders and journalists are targeted 
because they have the temerity to speak out about human rights abuses.
  Today, inspired by Estemirova's work, I introduce a measure 
expressing solidarity with human rights defenders in the Russian 
Federation; urging the Russian authorities to take appropriate steps to 
end the harassment, persecution and attacks against activists; and 
calling for an end to impunity for those responsible for such acts, 
including through the conducting of timely, transparent and thorough 
criminal investigations into the unresolved murders of human rights 
defenders, journalists, and political opposition members and the 
prosecution of all of those responsible for these crimes.
  The Helsinki Commission has been at the forefront of drawing 
attention to the human rights situation in Chechnya and elsewhere in 
the North Caucasus region of Russia, having held numerous hearings and 
briefings. Notwithstanding the assertions by the powers that be in 
Moscow that the situation in Chechnya has returned to normal, the 
reality on the ground reveals otherwise. The recently released 2009 
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, issued by the Department of 
State, found that the Russian government's already poor human rights 
record in the North Caucasus worsened during the reporting period, with 
a marked increase in extrajudicial killings by both government and 
rebel forces and politically motivated disappearances in Chechnya as 
well as in neighboring Ingushetia and Dagestan. The Helsinki Commission 
remains deeply concerned over ongoing human rights abuses, legal 
impunity, and the permeating climate of fear in the North Caucasus.
  While one cannot discount that terrorist elements are responsible for 
some of the rights violations in that region, many of the reported 
abuses are perpetrated by federal and local security forces in 
Chechnya, including the private militia of Chechen strongman Ramzan 
Kadyrov, the republic's Kremlin-backed president. While it remains 
unclear what, if any role Kadyrov had in Estemirova's killing, his 
contempt for her and other human rights defenders is palpable. Earlier 
this month Kadyrov publicly labeled independent journalists and rights 
activists as ``traitors and enemies of the state.'' Among those 
targeted by the Chechen leader is the respected Russian rights 
organization Memorial.
  Madam Speaker, as Co-Chairman of the Helsinki Commission I remain 
concerned over the deterioration of the human rights situation in the 
North Caucasus generally, and Chechnya specifically. I am not alone in 
this regard, as the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly adopted 
a resolution late last month on the North Caucasus. The measure pointed 
to a series of specific concerns in Chechnya against the backdrop of 
what it characterized as ``a climate of pervading fear'' nurtured by 
the current authorities: recurrent disappearances of government 
opponents and human rights defenders still remain widely unpunished; 
continuing threats and reprisals, including abductions of relatives of 
persons suspected of belonging to illegal armed factions; and ongoing 
intimidation of the media and civil society, among others.
  Ramzan Kadyrov's utter contempt for human rights and fundamental 
freedoms was again manifested recently in his reaction to paintball gun 
attacks against women on the streets of Grozny apparently because they 
were not wearing headscarves. Instead of condemning the assaults, the 
Chechen president reportedly praised the perpetrators. While Kadyrov 
has largely been given free rein in Chechnya, that does not absolve his 
backers in Moscow from responsibility for the deteriorating human 
rights situation in that part of the Russian Federation.
  As a participating State of the Organization for Security and 
Cooperation in Europe, it is incumbent upon the Russian authorities to 
ensure that fundamental freedoms are respected throughout the country, 
including in the North Caucasus. Turning a blind eye to human rights 
violations is unacceptable. I urge President Medvedev and Prime 
Minister Putin to take effective measures to stop the harassment, 
persecution and attacks against human activists and journalists in the 
Russian Federation and to end the impunity for those responsible for 
the murder of Natalya Estemirova and others. Only then will there be 
hope that the situation in Chechnya will return to anything approaching 
normal.

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