Human rights activists complain of being persecuted in Chechnya

Employees of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" and the Human Rights Watch have addressed Russian Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin with a complaint of being shadowed in Grozny.

They assert that persecutions and shadowing started after the murder of Natalia Estemirova, an employee of the Chechen office of the "Memorial".

The "Novaya Gazeta" writes that the application sent to Mr Lukin lists a number of particular incidents. As reported by the "Echo Moskvy" Radio, the editorial board of this paper decided, in its turn, to address the General Public Prosecutor and the Minister of Internal Affairs and ask them to adequately react to these messages, hold an investigation and ensure safety of human rights activists in Chechnya.

Let us note here that the Amnesty International has already stated that "human rights defenders are hunted" in Chechnya, and called the international community to influence Russia with the aim to force it into a fair investigation of the murders of Natalia Estemirova, Zarema Sadulayeva and Alik Dzhabrailov.