On 24 and 25 June 2011, three members of Russian Interregional 'Committee against Torture' (CAT), Mr Supian Baskhanov, Mr Magomed Alamov and Ms Olga Sadovskaya received direct threats to their lives and health. The CAT is a prominent Russian organisation which combats against torture and impunity of the law enforcement authorities in the Russian Federation. The CAT is the winner of the 2011 Human Rights Prize of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and is the leading organisation of Joint Mobile Group, which received the 2011 Front Line Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk.

Natalya Estemirova was a human rights defender and journalist in the troubled Russian republic of Chechnya. Natalya was abducted from her home in Grozny on the 15th July 2009. A few hours later her body was found in neighbouring Ingushetia. Her hands were bound, two bullets in her chest and one in her head. Her crime: researching and reporting on kidnappings, torture and murders, the 'disappeared' in Chechnya, and about the young men who had been abducted by death squads connected to the security forces. Sometimes I just can't even come to feeling that, because I have such strong other feelings. I try to be very exact about how I go about things and I do have worries about my family and people close to me but I still have to do my work. Of course there are many moments when I feel scared. Natalya Estemirova

On 6 June 2011, human rights defender Mr Bakhrom Khamroev was attacked and beaten by unknown men in the entry of his building in Moscow. He is a member of Human Rights Centre “Memorial” and works on the rights of migrants from Central Asian countries and persecution of Muslims in the Russian Federation.

On 27 April 2011, human rights defender Mr Stanislav Dmitrievsky, head of the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society, a human rights organisation registered in Finland, was questioned by the Anti-Extremism Centre, a bureau of the General Department of Internal Affairs of Niznny Novgorod established to fight anti-extremism, in relation to a monograph published under his direction entitled “International tribunal of Chechnya. Legal prospects of initiating individual criminal proceedings against persons suspected of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the course of the military conflict in the Chechen Republic”. The monograph is in two volumes, comprising 1200 pages and it attempts to consolidate all the information available about human rights violations committed in Chechnya.

The period of investigation into the physical assault by police of human rights defender Ms Sapiyat Magomedova in June 2010 has reportedly been prolonged until March 2011. Sapiyat Magomedova is a lawyer at Omarov and Partners, a law firm known for its strident defence of human rights.

Further Information

Omarov and Partners frequently take on cases relating to abductions, torture and extrajudicial executions in Dagestan. Sapiyat Magomedova has sent four applications to the European Court of Human Rights about violations of her clients' rights by detectives from the prosecutor's office in Khasavyurt, Dagestan.

Some eight months after the physical assault of Sapiyat Magomedova, the investigation remains at an apparent standstill, and those responsible have yet to be brought to justice. Furthermore, the investigation in the assault case subsequently taken against Sapiyat Magomedova also remains open.

On 17 June 2010, Sapiyat Magomedova was attacked and severely beaten by police officers at Khasavyurt police station as she attempted to meet a client.

On 13 November 2010, human rights defender Mr Alexei Sokolov, who was sentenced on 13 May 2010 to three years in prison on charges of theft and robbery, received an official warning from prison authorities which may prevent him from being released on parole.

Further Information

Alexei Sokolov is the founder and chairman of /Pravovaja Osnova/(Legal Foundation), an organisation which defends prisoners’ rights, and throughout his career he has repeatedly denounced the use of torture by Russian police.

According to Article 79 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, a prisoner may apply for conditional early release when he/she has served at least halfof the prison sentence. Under Russian prison regulations, a prison sentence is considered to have begun from the moment of arrest if the prisoner is held in pretrial detention.

Alexei Sokolov was arrestedon 13 May 2009 and as such, on 13 November 2010, having completed the first half of his prison sentence, he was entitled under Article 79 to apply for conditional early release.

Natalya Estemirova was a human rights defender and journalist in the troubled Russian republic of Chechnya. Natalya was abducted from her home in Grozny on the 15th July 2009. A few hours later her body was found in neighbouring Ingushetia. Her hands were bound, two bullets in her chest and one in her head. Her crime: researching and reporting on kidnappings, torture and murders, the 'disappeared' in Chechnya, and about the young men who had been abducted by death squads connected to the security forces. Sometimes I just can't even come to feeling that, because I have such strong other feelings. I try to be very exact about how I go about things and I do have worries about my family and people close to me but I still have to do my work. Of course there are many moments when I feel scared. Natalya Estemirova

Further Information

Previous threats made against both Natalya and the organisation she worked for, Memorial, combined with the circumstances of her murder, point to possible government / official involvement in her killing.

HRDs and investigative journalists in Chechnya often face many forms of threats and intimidation.