Eurasia Press & News
RUSSIA
The Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights, who arrived with an official visit to Russia last week, is heading on Monday to Russia’s North Caucasus republics of Chechnya and Ingushetia.
Thomas Hammarberg will visit Chechnya and Ingushetia to meet with the presidents of both republics and heads of law enforcement bodies to discuss recent attacks on human rights activists.
A number of attacks have been carried out against human rights activists in Chechnya and Ingushetia, which have been condemned by the international community and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Respected human rights activist, Natalya Estemirova, was abducted and killed last month. And in a similar attack Zarema Sadulayeva, the head of a children’s charity in Chechnya, and her husband, Alik Dzhabrailov, were kidnapped and found dead in the trunk of their car on August 11. All three had been shot in the head and chest.
Hammarberg, who began his visit last week with a roundtable discussion in St. Petersburg with regional representatives on human rights, is also scheduled to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on September 10 in Moscow.
