Two weeks after human rights advocate Natalia Estemirova was found murdered, Russian journalist and Estemirova’s close friend Usam Baysaev has penned a powerful editorial for The New Republic discussing her work and the ongoing struggle for human rights in the Chechen Republic.

A former researcher for Human Rights Watch, Beysaev speaks of Estemirova’s courage in her attempts to bring human rights abuses in Chechnya to light. The two friends met in 1999 during the Russian military’s brutal campaign in Chechnya.  With the military blocking Chechen men out of the invaded areas, Beysaev said, women were the only ones allowed back into their villages, giving Estemirova and other female activists the opportunity to take the lead in documenting atrocities by Russian forces.

A major target of the iron-fisted Chechen leadership, Estemirova put herself in dangerous situations throughout her career. In September 2000, she just barely escaped death while being detained by Russian officials with fellow human rights activist and Russian Orthodox Priest Viktor Popkov, who was slain in 2001. Popkov was just the first in a line of Russian activist who have been killed by unknown persons believed to be associated with Chechen leaders, creating an atmosphere of terror and intimidation for the entire human rights community there. The murdered Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was killed in her Moscow apartment in 2006, was a close friend of Estemirova and worked with her to expose Chechan human rights abuses.

In considering why Estemirova did the work she did, Beysaev says she was not a political voice, but a human one. She did not get involved with debates over Chechen independence, but sought bloodless resolutions to the political turmoil that tore her country and community apart. “She valued the lives of other people above all else, and for this, did not even spare her own,” Beysaev says.

In the aftermath of Estemirova’s death, Memorial, the human rights group that she lead in Chechnya, has temporarily suspended its work. Her slaying has once again put the spotlight on the Chechen government and Kremlin as international pressure mounts. Although Russian President Dimitri Medvedev has called for a thorough investigation into the murder, recent reports suggest the Kremlin is doing nothing to prevent political attacks. Just this week, an unknown gunman badly wounded a leading Russian activist outside his home in Moscow with rubber bullets.

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