This is from my latest contribution to the Huffington Post:

No one can cast personal blame for a murder when the culprit is an
entire system of grand corruption. For years now, self-enriching state
officials have gorged themselves on public institutions while withering
away democratic rights, reflected by a corruption ranking of 147.
The government of Chechnya is perhaps one of the worst, as the decision
by Putin to pass total control of the region to the 32-year-old Kadyrov
is akin to placing the State of New York under control of the Gambino
crime family (no disrespect to the Gambinos).

When such a high number of government officials are in on the take,
by definition the justice system does not work. From here, there is a
thread connecting Estemirova’s murder to other state conduct, such as the attack on history,
the rhetoric of aggression and expansion against neighbors, the
extortion and racket of the energy trade, show trials, and the
stranglehold on media. Journalists are not safe when a government attacks civil society organizations like Memorial, when they refuse to investigate shootings five years after the fact, and when it shows no inclination toward transparency. David Satter recently wrote in Forbes
that there may even “be attempts by the authorities to use the killing
of journalists for their own purposes, for example, by hinting that
they were carried out by the regime’s political enemies.”

The reality known well enough inside Russia. Human rights leader Lev
Ponomarev, who has suffered his own fair share of violence (he was
beaten right before Medvedev’s first meeting with Obama) told The Financial Times,
“When they kill three people in a row in a short space of time who
worked on the same subject, then all questions disappear. (…)
Politkovskaya, Markelov and now Estemirova, they were all investigating
abuses by law enforcement and the killings of peaceful citizens in
Chechnya – and all these people have been killed . . . It is absolutely
clear.”

Continue reading the full text of the article here.

Image credit: People hold portraits of murdered rights activist Natalya Estemirova
during a rally to mourn Natalya Estemirova in Moscow, Thursday, July
16, 2009. Several hundred people gathered in downtown Moscow mourning
rights activist Natalya Estemirova whose kidnapping and killing shocked
Russia’s beleaguered human rights community and prompted international
outrage. (AP Photo)

Last 5 posts by Robert Amsterdam

• A Party for Medvedev - March 19th, 2010
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• Energy Blast - March 19, 2010 - March 19th, 2010
• Today in Russian Business - March 19, 2010 - March 19th, 2010
• RA's Daily Russian News Blast - March 19, 2010 - March 19th, 2010