The Associated Press
On January 19th 2009 Stanislav Markov, human rights lawyer and journalist was shot dead in broad daylight in the center of Moscow, just half a mile from the Kremlin. A 25-year-old freelance journalist, Anastasia Barburova was also killed that day, while trying to chase the assassin.
Although the investigation is not completed, the motive of these murders seems to be clear. Stanislav Markov, such as Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist and human rights activists known for her opposition to the Chechen conflict and criticism of Vladimir Putin, was a victim of growing aggression against human rights defenders, civil society activists and independent journalists in Russia.
Over the past few months, victims have included many people who had connections with the conflicts in Chechnya and Ingushetia. Stanislav Markov was not different. He was representing the family of 18 – year-old Kheda Kungayeva, who was abducted, violently raped and murdered by a Russian officer Yuri Budanov in 2000 in Chechnya. The Budanov’s case was the first case of the Russian army senior officer to be convicted of human rights abuse during the Chechen conflict. Budanov was recently released from prison for a good behaviour. Stanislav Markov was fighting for former officer to be sent back to prison and had filed an appeal to the Supreme Court to block his release.
“I am being threatened; they want me to drop the Budanov case and they said if I don’t, they will kill me,”
Before the fatal day in January, Markov received death threats in text messages and phone calls. That is why many commentators do not have doubts that his death is directly connected to his professional activities.
According to the 2008 Amnesty International Report on the State of Human Rights in the World, human rights defenders in Russia are facing numerous harassments, intimidations and in some cases murders. They are repeatedly accused, by the intolerant of criticism government representatives and state-controlled media for working for foreign interests and being anti-Russian or unpatriotic. NGOs are weighed down by reporting requirements imposed by the officials. Criminal charges for using illegal software or for inciting hatred are also taken out against them.
The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia was responsible for enforced disappearances, torture and extrajudicial execution in 15 judgments related to the second Chechen conflict, which began in 1999. In many cases victims of human rights violation or their families are reluctant to lodge an application in the Court because they feel threatened by the reprisals against previous applicants.
Russia has a culture where impunity reigns and where criminals are rarely brought to justice. Even in the high-profile cases such as Anna Politkovskaya’s killing, after two years of investigation assassin or assassins remain unknown.
