We are shocked and outraged by the killing of Natasha Estemirova in Chechnya today. Natasha was a dear friend of all of us at RAW in WAR.

Natasha Estemirova receiving Anna Politkovskaya Award

In 2007 we presented the first annual Anna Politkovskaya Award to Natasha for her courage in seeking and telling the truth about the torture, disappearances and murders of civilians in the war in Chechnya.

Natasha was a gentle, loving woman and a brave truth-teller, who was not afraid to speak out about the torture, rape and disappearances in Chechnya. She paid for it with her life. Like Anna did. Because there is nothing more dangerous than telling the truth in today’s Russia. And Natasha was a truth-seeker with every fiber of her being. She just couldn’t remain silent; she couldn’t play it safe. She was a fierce spirit, a whistle-blower, a caring and loyal friend, a deeply loving woman, who stood up for humanity…

Like Anna, she was killed, because of her describing and reporting the truth about the ‘dirty war’ in Chechnya. She was a condemned woman – giving voice to condemned people: the people of Chechnya.

Natasha was a unique woman whose courage has earned her death threats and abuse from the authorities at home. It has also earned her the love and admiration of human rights supporters at home and around the world. She lived a life of courage and truthtelling in the face of grave danger, as Anna did.

 
We call on the Russian Government to bring to justice, both those who killed Natalia Estemirova and those who have ordered her murder. We call on the Russian Government to bring to justice the killers of Anna Politkovskaya, for whose murder, three years on, justice has not been done.  

We also call on the world’s leaders, in honouring Natasha Estemirova in the coming days, to demand justice for Natasha and to pledge to do everything in their power to protect the journalists and human rights defenders who work in areas of war and conflict, and who speak out on behalf of the victims, as Natasha and Anna did.

On 6 October 2008, on the eve of the anniversary of Anna’s murder, Natasha presented the Anna Politkovskaya Award to the brave young parliamentarian from Afghanistan, Malalai Joya, with the words: “Malalai be brave”.

We owe it to the memory of Natasha and Anna to protect the very few who still speak out, on behalf of those to whom nobody wants to listen.

RAW in WAR

Natalia Estemirova

Human rights watch stated that she was working on immensely sensitive cases of human rights abuse in Chechnya.

RAW in WAR in association with the Pushkin House
lecture by Natalia Estemirova, the first recipient of the RAW inWAR Anna Politkovskaya Award

Fri 10 October 2008 – 7.30pm
Lecture: The Current Situation In The Caucasus: The Human Rights Perspective
TALK BY NATALYA ESTEMIROVA

Language: In Russian with English translation

PLEASE NOTE THAT RUSSIAN TO ENGLISH INTERPRETING WILL BE CONSECUTIVE, RATHER THAN SIMULTANEOUS

The evening is introduced by Mariana Katzarova and David Brummell. There will be a performance by cellist Alfia Bekova.

Natalya Estemirova is a courageous human rights defender and freelance journalist from Chechnya. Since 2000, and throughout the armed conflict in Chechnya, she has been working for Memorial, Russia’s largest and oldest human rights organisation.

Natasha was the close friend and colleague of Anna Politkovskaya. She was Anna’s most frequent companion during her travel and journalistic investigations in Chechnya. They investigated a number of cases together – about which Anna wrote for “Novaya Gazeta” and Natasha wrote for Memorial’s website and for local newspapers. Natasha was also Anna’s interpreter in Chechnya because she speaks both Russian and Chechen, being half-Russian and half-Chechen herself.
Originally trained as a historian, after university Natasha taught history in Chechen schools. Then in 1991 she became one of the leaders of a teachers’ strike demanding better pay and better conditions. During the armed conflict between the Russian Republics of Ingushetia and North Ossetia in 1992, Natasha helped bring refugees to safety and helped free hostages. During the first war in Chechnya, Natasha collected numerous testimonies from civilians who were tortured by the Russian forces in unofficial detention facilities, the so-called “filtration camps”. She produced a TV series and wrote articles in the Chechen newspapers about the prisoners in those camps.

Natasha received the first RAW in WAR Anna Politkovskaya Award, which was presented to her at The Frontline Club in October 2007. RAW in WAR (Reach All Women in WAR) is a new international human rights organisation, which aims to support women human rights defenders working in countries in war and conflict, and to help end their abuse and persecution, as well as to strengthen their work in areas of conflict or “forgotten conflict”, where there is limited or no support from the major existing humanitarian agencies and organisations. RAW in WAR annually presents the Anna Politkovskaya Award to a woman human rights defender from a conflict zone, to mark the anniversary of Anna Politkovskaya’s murder on 7th October 2006 and to honour Anna and other women around the world who, like Anna, are standing up for the victims, often at great personal risk.

(Note: This year’s Anna Politkovskaya Award will be presented by Jon Snow and Natalya Estimirova at 7.00pm on Monday, 6th October at The Frontline Club). The ceremony on 6th October Page

The subject

Natasha will speak on the current situation in Chechnya and on the situation in the Caucasus and conflicts there more generally, that is to say, in both North and South Caucasus and including Georgia and South Ossetia. Her perspective is that of a committed defender of human rights, with deep and extensive personal experience of human rights abuses in the Caucasus. Natasha will also talk about her work for Memorial.

Other details

The talk will be in Russian, with interpretation in English by Elena Cook. There will be an opportunity for discussion and questions at the end of the talk, in either Russian or English.

The talk will be introduced by David Brummell.

Tickets: £7.00, conc. £5.00

 

Tuesday 7 October will mark the second anniversary of the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, the campaigning Russian journalist and outspoken government critic, who exposed the brutal treatment of civilians in Chechnya at the hands of both the Russian forces and the Moscow-supported Chechen officials. No closer to having her assassin brought to justice, two years on, the Russian authorities remain reluctant and show no political will to identify who ordered the killing and to see justice done.

To mark the anniversary of Anna Politkovskaya’s murder and to honour Anna and other women like her in the world, RAW in WAR (Reach All Women in WAR) annually presents the Anna Politkovskaya Award to a woman human rights defender from a conflict zone in the world who, like Anna, stands up for the victims of this conflict, often at great personal risk.

RAW in WAR aims to support women human rights defenders working in countries in war and conflict, and to help end abuse and persecution against them, as well as to strengthen their work in areas of conflict, or “forgotten conflict”, where there is limited or no support from the major humanitarian agencies and organizations.

Mariana Katzarova founded RAW in WAR in 2006, after working as a journalist and human rights advocate in the war zones of Bosnia, Kosovo and Chechnya, including 10 years as the Russia Researcher for Amnesty International.

Malalai JoyaThe winner of RAW in WAR’s second annual Anna Politkovskaya Award is Malalai Joya from Afghanistan. Malalai Joya (30) was the youngest elected member of Afghanistan's national parliament in 2005 and past elected delegate for Afghanistan's historic constitutional assembly, the Loya Jirga. At the age of 25, she spoke out against ex-mujahedeen warlords, who dominated Afghanistan's constitutional assembly and now are members of the country's national parliament. Her life has been in danger ever since she spoke in the Loya Jirga in 2003 and challenged the warlords by demanding that they were brought to justice for the crimes they committed against civilians, in particular women, in Afghanistan. Despite the dangers she faces, Joya continues to fight against the warlords and says that no amount of intimidation will stop her efforts

On 21 May 2007 she was indefinitely suspended after she criticized the parliament for failing to accomplish enough for the Afghan people, saying, "A stable or a zoo is better [than the legislature], at least there you have a donkey that carries a load and a cow that provides milk. This parliament is worse than a stable or a zoo." Since 2003, when she became a public face in politics, and emerged as a leading fighter for women’s rights, Malalai Joya has received many death threats and survived four assassination attempts. She moves from house to house on a daily basis to avoid attacks. In April 2008, the Ministry of Interior refused to issue Joya passport and added her name to a list of persons banned from leaving Afghanistan. Today, she works for the Organization for Promoting Afghan Women's Capabilities and raises money for humanitarian projects for Afghan women, including a hospital and a school in her province.

A group of more than 100 influential cultural and political leaders joined the Committee of Supporters for the RAW in WAR Anna Politkovskaya Award. Among them are: President Vaclav Havel, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Harold Pinter, Andre Glucksmann, Mairead Maguire, Betty Williams, Shirin Ebadi, Jody Williams, Wangari Maathai, Elena Bonner, Terry Waite, Vladimir Bukovsky, Sergey Kovalyov, Lyudmila Alekseeva, Lord Frank Judd, Lord Nicolas Rea, Lord Anthony Giddens, Elizabeth Rehn, Sister Helen Prejean, Jane Birkin, Oleg Panfilov, Adam Michnik, Marek Edelman, Baroness Helena Kennedy, Baroness Shirley Williams, Baroness Molly Meacher, Mariane Pearl, Vanessa Redgrave, Gloria Steinem, Ariel Dorfman, Susan Sarandon, Monica Ali, Azar Nafisi, Yakin Erturk, Asma Jahangir, Naomi Klein, Michael Cunningham, Eve Ensler, Naom Chomsky, Gillian Slovo, Eva Hoffman, Anne Nivat, Alexei Simonov and many others.