Human rights office closes

The human rights organisation Memorial said yesterday that it would cease to work in Chechnya and close its office in the republic, as it could not guarantee the safety of its staff.

The organisation took the decision after the kidnapping and murder of Natalya Estemirova, one of its employees, last Thursday. The decision will be another blow to those who seek to uncover human rights abuses in Chechnya and the other unstable republics of Russia's North Caucasus region.

"After a long meeting in Grozny, we have decided to close indefinitely," said Dokka Itslaev, a lawyer who works for Memorial. "We don't know if we'll re-open. We will meet in the autumn and discuss it ... When people are being killed and you don't know who is going to be next, it's difficult to continue."

Estemirova, who worked tirelessly to bring to light stories of Chechens who had been kidnapped and murdered, was bundled into a car by four men as she left her house for work. Her body was discovered later in the day in the neighbouring state of Ingushetia.

Oleg Orlov, the Moscow-based chairman of Memorial, flew to Grozny for the meeting. He also responded yesterday to the news that the President of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, is planning to sue him over comments implicating Kadyrov in Estemirova's death.

"It's good that Ramzan Kadyrov has decided to deal with a conflict using legal methods," Orlov told Ekho Moskvy radio. "You have to take responsibility for your words, and I am ready to do so in court."

While news from the volatile North Caucasus region more often than not focuses on Chechnya, the situation in neighbouring republics is no better, where patches of stability are few and far between.

Analysts say Moscow is losing control, and in many cases, local elites are given power in return for guaranteeing stability - a deal that has gone horribly wrong. Almost every day, news filters in from the Russian agencies about policemen or law enforcement officials being killed.

- INDEPENDENT