Human Rights Group Might Close Chechen Branch Over Threats By President

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov told a television channel in Grozny on July 3 that journalists and Memorial activists who criticize his policies are well paid by the West. He said they were “the enemy of the Chechen people, the enemy of the law and the enemy of the state.”

Oleg Orlov, the head of the Memorial, said on Thursday that the statements made by the Chechen president could be considered as “a direct and real threat” because they might be interpreted by the republic’s law enforcement as a call to action against human rights activists.

Dick Marty Strongly Critical Of Kadyrov’s New Threats To Staff Of Memorial

The Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the human rights situation in the North Caucasus, Dick Marty (Switzerland/ALDE) has described as “unacceptable and unworthy” the words of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, who publicly described the staff of Russian human rights NGO Memorial as “enemies of the people, enemies of the law, enemies of the state”.

According to Dick Marty, “such words, similar to those uttered by Mr Kadyrov against Natalya Estemirova, a member of Memorial’s staff subsequently murdered last summer, are barely disguised threats”. He called on the federal Russian authorities “to ask the Chechen authorities to ensure the protection of human rights defenders…”.

On 22 June 2010 the PACE unanimously approved a critical report on the human rights situation in the North Caucasus prepared by Mr Marty.
Recommendation 1922 (2010)
Resolution 1738 (2010)
Legal remedies for human rights violations in the North-Caucasus Region