{"id":294595,"date":"2021-09-01T11:48:15","date_gmt":"2021-09-01T11:48:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/humanrightsdefenders.blog\/?p=20919"},"modified":"2021-09-01T11:48:15","modified_gmt":"2021-09-01T11:48:15","slug":"european-court-of-human-rights-calls-probe-into-murder-of-natalia-estemirova-ineffective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/09\/01\/european-court-of-human-rights-calls-probe-into-murder-of-natalia-estemirova-ineffective\/","title":{"rendered":"European Court of Human Rights calls probe into murder of Natalia Estemirova ineffective"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tanya Lokshina<\/a> of Human Rights Watch wrote on 31 August 2021 “Justice for Murder of Chechen Rights Defender Remains Elusive”<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Today, the European Court of Human Rights ruled on the case of Natalia Estemirova,<\/strong><\/span> Chechen human rights defender<\/a> murdered in July 2009. It found that Russia had violated their obligations to protect her right to life by “fail[ing] to investigate effectively [her] abduction and killing.\u201d [see: https:\/\/www.trueheroesfilms.org\/thedigest\/laureates\/BA7B3FCE-AFE7-4B72-9156-EA257B3BC205<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Natalia \u2013 Natasha to me and many others \u2013 was a colleague and very close friend. I last saw her 36 hours before the murder, while staying at her place in Grozny, as I always did when in Chechnya. We\u2019d spent a week<\/a> interviewing people whose homes police had torched<\/a> because of their alleged involvement with militants, and whose relatives had been rounded up, disappeared, or killed<\/a> by security officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We said goodbye just past midnight on July 14. When I woke up later that morning, Natasha had already left for an early meeting, so I went to the airport without getting to see her again. The next day, armed men pushed her into a car as she was running to catch a bus to the city center. They drove her into neighboring Ingushetia and shot her near the forest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2011, having lost hope for an effective investigation by Russian authorities, Natasha\u2019s family filed a complaint with the European Court, alleging a violation of her right to life because Russian authorities failed to protect human rights defenders<\/a> in Chechnya, Chechnya\u2019s leadership repeatedly threatened Natasha, and her abduction was apparently carried out by security officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ten years later, the court ruled today that Russia had failed to investigate but also held that there wasn\u2019t sufficient evidence to conclude that state agents had murdered Natasha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[see also: https:\/\/humanrightsdefenders.blog\/2019\/07\/15\/ngos-remember-10th-anniversary-of-natalia-estemirovas-murder\/<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ECHR noted that Russian authorities promptly opened a probe into Estemirova\u2019s killing and identified a suspect, but emphasized that Moscow\u2019s failure to provide full materials of the case made the court \u201cunable to conclude that the investigation had been carried out thoroughly.\u201d It noted some contradictions in the expert evidence led it to doubt that the investigation had been effective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The victim’s sister, Svetlana Estemirova, alleged in her appeal that state agents were behind the killing but the Strasbourg-based court ruled that the evidence didn’t support the claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The court required Russia to pay 20,000 euros ($23,600) to Estemirova’s sister and urged Russian authorities to track down and punish the perpetrators of her murder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had very high hopes and it would be an understatement to say that I\u2019m disappointed,<\/em>\u201d Natasha\u2019s daughter Lana, who was 15 when she lost her mother, told me today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lack of sufficient evidence the court cited is a direct result of Russia\u2019s brazen determination to protect the perpetrators of this outrageous murder. Natasha was killed for fearlessly exposing abuses by Chechen authorities. An effective investigation would leave no doubt about official involvement in her murder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/spectrumlocalnews.com\/nc\/charlotte\/ap-top-news\/2021\/08\/31\/europe-court-russian-probe-into-activist-murder-ineffective<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2021\/08\/31\/justice-murder-chechen-rights-defender-remains-elusive<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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