Natalya Estemirova killed - Memorial quitting Chechnya (weekly review)

By Vadim Borshchev, special to Prague Watchdog

If it turns out that Ramzan Kadyrov does indeed bear responsibility for the death of Natalya Estemirova, the chances that an investigation will ever uncover the truth are non-existent. This was in fact made clear by Dmitry Medvedev, who during a press conference in Germany called the theory of Kadyrov’s involvement "the least acceptable one for the authorities." It seems that having allowed himself to become too emotional, the Russian president dropped his guard for a moment and simply described the established mode of relations between the Kremlin and the head of the Chechen Republic.

Indeed, Natalya Estemirova was far from being at the top of the list of people who for various reasons have incurred Kadyrov’s displeasure, and have ended up dead. His involvement in the stream of ugly assassinations and murders has not once been proven. I doubt that his name will ever appear in the documents of the inquiries and investigations that are held. It is nevertheless obvious that both the investigative authorities and the special services have a significant amount of material that directly implicates Kadyrov in serious crimes committed in Chechnya – in particular, at the beginning of his career when he was still head of his father’s bodyguard and was not in the habit of concealing his methods from outside observers. People were abducted, imprisoned at Tsentoroy, tortured and then made to disappear without trace – and the details of all of this are quite certainly known to Ramzan Kadyrov’s protectors in high places I have no doubt that in Vladikavkaz, Pyatigorsk, Rostov, and Moscow mountains of compromising material are gathering dust in special rooms, exposing the current head of Chechnya as a dangerous criminal who is out of control. But the consequences of this are zero.

The system, and the crimes associated with it, developed long before Kadyrov came to power. For many years, the Moscow-backed authorities have consciously protected the criminals from prosecution. Kadyrov has inherited a rich and well-entrenched tradition of contempt in the Caucasus for the rule of law, human life and the norms of civilized behaviour.

The theory about Estemirova’s murder on which Kadyrov’s propaganda department insists – that it was a provocation designed to discredit the republican authorities – should not be dismissed out of hand. As the political commentator Andrei Piontkovsky has suggested, it could have been an action planned and executed by the "party of war", intended to overthrow Kadyrov and plunge Russia into the chaos of a new and bloody confrontation in the Caucasus. Perhaps it was. It does not strain belief to suppose that Estemirova was abducted and shot by a group of "liquidators" who had been sent on a special mission from somewhere in Pyatigorsk, where special task force units of this kind have long been based. But such a hypothesis does not really change anything in the overall picture. In order for someone to be suspected of committing a crime, a very simple thing has to be done: his “handwriting” – the characteristic outline of his criminal behaviour – needs to be reproduced. The “profile” of Estemirova’s murder is typical of the two recent wars in Chechnya: there is nothing extraordinary about it apart from the brazen insolence of the killers, who did not even bother to hide their faces and abducted the human rights defender in broad daylight, in front of witnesses. Whereas previously federal Russian forces would have been held responsible, as they were in charge of the state’s punitive functions, today the guilt rests on Kadyrov. Not, however, because he is formally the republic’s head and, in his own words, responsible for everything that happens there, but because under his rule the practice of terror has not only been reproduced, but also modified and improved.

Kadyrov has expanded the list of enemies. Now it no longer consists of those who are trying to undermine the system and the integrity of the Russian state – it also contains the names of people who, in Kadyrov’s opinion, threaten his personal power.

This murder can be seen as a personal "message" from Kadyrov, bearing his seal and bloody signature. No one tried to stop the abduction, and the witnesses were even reluctant to specify the moment at which it took place. This is understandable. If a person is abducted in such a fashion, quite openly, in front of everyone, it means that it has been ordered, and that the person’s death is meant to serve as an example to others. No one is surprised, no one asks any questions, and of course no one tries to raise any objection.

Even if Kadyrov is not guilty of the death of Natalya Estemirova, he is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of other people, and therefore death is itself his calling card, his second name and, ultimately, the object of his pride. In a programme in the “Points of Leverage” series on Grozny TV, referring to the Chechens who live in Europe, he expressed himself to the effect that if a man cannot kill a relative who despises Chechen customs, he is not a man at all. Ramzan proves daily that he is a man by killing the enemies of the Russian state and his own enemies, regardless of their age or gender. He does not kill them himself, of course, but via the hands of his subordinates. Estemirova’s death is just the latest of these killings.

Memorial has temporarily suspended its work in Chechnya, because the organization feels it has no right to expose its staff to deadly danger. Kadyrov has not suspended his activities, and according to Dmitry Medvedev is unlikely to do so in future, because his dismissal would not be "acceptable to the authorities." Kadyrov clearly believes that he has not only the whole of Russia at his disposal, but also the space beyond it. And this means that his calling card can turn up in the doorway of anyone’s home, anywhere at all.
 

Photo: novayagazeta.ru.

(Translation by DM)