Five months ago the human rights community in Russia and beyond lost a friend and colleague, Natalya Estemirova, Memorial's lead reasercher in the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation. After her murder on July 15, 2009, Memorial suspended its work in republic. Since that time, the authorities in Chechnya continue to intimidate and persecute human rights defenders and those who seek justice for abuses; several were forced to leave the country due to threats to their lives.
As a result, victims of human rights violations have nowhere to turn. At the same time, there continue to be reports about human rights abuses such as enforced disappearances, torture and ill-treatment and extrajudicial executions. Houses of families of alleged fighters are being burnt down. The perpetrators of such crimes continue to enjoy impunity.

The vacuum left by Memorial in this situation is significant and painful. In November 2009, a letter sent by more than 80 Russian human rights organizations urged Memorial to return to Chechnya and pledged to support Memorial in whatever way the could. Several of these organizations have joined together to form a Monitoring Mission in Chechnya and recently began to work in the Chechen Republic.

Today, on 16 December 2009, Memorial, represented by Oleg Orlov and Sergei Kovalev as well as Ludmila Alekseeva of the Moscow Helsinki Federation, will receive the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of thought, awarded by the European Parliament. We can only be saddened that our friend and colleague Natalia Estemirova is no longer alive to receive this honour.

In his Nobel lecture, Andrei Sakharov said “we must today fight for every individual person separately against injustice and the violation of human rights. Much of our future depends on this.”

We, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, FIDH, Memorial, Civil Rights Defenders, Norwegian Helsinki Committee, and Moscow Helsinki Group will work jointly with Russian and other international human rights organizations to monitoring the situation in Chechnya. We will continue our work to end human rights violations in the republic and to hold perpetrators accountable. People in Chechnya must not be left without access to justice.Read the statement in Russian