The South Caucasus Network for Human Rights Defenders condemns arbitrary detention, beatings and denial of timely medical assistance to Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli (Abdullayev).

Today, on July 15, 2009, our esteemed colleague and friend Natalia Estemirova of the Memorial Human Rights Centre was found murdered in Ingushetia. She had apparently been killed by one or more gun shots to the head. Natalia leaves behind a daughter of 16.

Today's brutal murder of prominent journalist and human rights activist Natalya Estemirova in Chechnya must be thoroughly investigated immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.

Natalia Estemirova, a leading human rights defender in Chechnya, was found shot dead in Ingushetia on July 15, 2009, Human Rights Watch said today. She is the second human rights activist murdered in Russia in 2009 for trying to publicize grave and continuing human rights abuses in Chechnya. Human Rights Watch urged the Russian government to launch a full, independent, and transparent investigation into Estemirova's murder.

Statement from Memorial with regard to the reaction by Russia’s Council of the Federation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Resolution “Divided Europe Reunited: promoting human rights and civil liberties in the OSCE region in the 21st century”