We must call things by their real name. In Russia we are seeing State terror. We know about murders in Chechnya and beyond its boundaries. They kill those who try to tell the truth, to criticize the authorities. Ramzan Kadyrov has made the work of human rights defenders in the Republic impossible. Those who killed Natasha Estemirova wanted to stop the flow of truthful information from out of Chechnya

At 18.0 on Wednesday evening Russian officials announced that the body of human rights defender Natalya Estemirova had been found in Ingushetia. She had been shot in the head and chest

At around 8.30 this morning, 15 July, Natalya Estemirova, from the Human Rights Centre “Memorial” was abducted in Grozny

Statement from Memorial with regard to the reaction by Russia’s Council of the Federation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Resolution “Divided Europe Reunited

Alexei’s lawyers believe that the courts are acting on a directive from above, delaying review of complaints over clearly unlawful actions and decisions by investigation units in this seriously dubious case

Statement from human rights activists calling on the world to help put an end to this surreal farce which is not only an injustice to the men involved, but is putting Russian justice at risk

In the case of Pukhigova v. Russia (application no. 15440/05), the European Court of Human Rights held unanimously that there had been two violations of the right to life as well as other violations over the disappearance of the claimant’s husband

An amazing new car was recently unveiled at an auto show in Shanghai. It is called the Gelly, but just one glance makes it obvious that it is a copy of a Rolls Royce. This much is obvious to anyone with eyes and an even rudimentary knowledge of cars. And the Chinese didn’t even bother trying to deny it. They are marketing this piece of plagiarism under the slogan «Reinventing a classic.»

The Human Rights Ombudsperson for Chechnya Nurdi Nukhfziyev does not believe the conclusion drawn by the Investigation Committee and is calling for an investigation into all crimes committed in the republic

In Moscow, Yury Samodurov, a human rights activist, and Andrey Erofeev, a museum curator, are facing criminal prosecution for organizing an exhibition entitled "Forbidden Art 2006" - Please add your voices to this Human Rights First urgent action

It was announced on 9 June that former Russian Army Colonel Yury Budanov, released early from a sentence for murdering 18-year-old Elza Kungaeva, has been interrogated as a suspect over the abduction of 18 Chechens and killing of three of them in 2000

Information and an urgent action from Amnesty International over the trumped up charges against a human rights defender involved in protecting prisoners’ rights

Who is not attracted by glossy packaging and fine words? No mechanisms were introduced either in Ukraine, or in Russia, however for a long time the words were just fine. Freedom, democracy, rule of law - what more could you ask?

It found that the right to life has been violated in respect of the Muslim Nenkayev, Lecha Basayev and Lema Dikayev who must be presumed dead and that the Russian authorities had failed to conduct effective investigations

Human rights and civic organizations from all over Russia are demanding that the Presidential Decree creating a Commission “on history” be revoked as being against the constitutional prohibition on censorship and State ideology.

Do they really hope in the Kremlin that such a law will force everybody to tremble and avoid “indelicate” facts? As if anyone in their right mind would deny the crucial role placed by the USSR in the victory, however the scope of this law is much broader

Memorial’s statement on the new Commission for Countering Attempts to Falsify History to the Detriment of Russia’s Interests, and on what kind of falsification harms the interests of all of us

A healthy tree cannot sprout from diseased roots. Our roots are our history, and they are rotten.

President Medvedev has signed a Decree “On a Commission under the President of the Russian Federation for Countering Attempts to Falsify History to the Detriment of Russia’s Interests”.

A group of Russian human rights defenders have issued a public statement protesting against the arrest in Yekaterinburg of civic activist Alexei Sokolov, involved in defending prisoners’ rights.