The Human rights organisation Memorial has blamed Chechnya's president Ramzan Kadyrov for the kidnap and murder of prominent Chechen activist Natalia Estemirova.
 
Estemirova, 50, a close friend of murdered Russian journalist Anna Politovskaya, worked for Memorial in the Chechen capital Grozny. She documented abuses by law enforcement agencies and conducted investigations into abductions, unlawful killings and public executions for which she is said to have received warnings and threats from the Chechen authorities.
 
Estemirova was abducted Wednesday morning in Chechnya. Her body, with two gunshot wounds to the head, was found shortly afterwards in a forest in neighbouring Ingushetia.
 
Personal enemy
Memorial chairman Oleg Orlov holds the Chechen president responsible for the killing. He published a statement on Memorial's website later on Wednesday. Kadyrov is a former rebel turned Kremlin loyalist. He said that "Ramzan already threatened Natalia, insulted her, considered her a personal enemy."
 
The murder is the latest in a series of killings of journalists and human rights defenders in Russia to be internationally condemned and has raised questions about Medvedev's pledge to respect the rule of law and to strive for a freer society.

During the funeral of famous human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov, who was murdered in Moscow in January, Estemirova said:

"The government has started a war with us. There are many lawsuits against us - Stanislav also had problems. And when one of us has been murdered, no serious investigation is conducted which is why I've written that the government must now decide which side it's on. I'm practically convinced that Stanislav's
murder is a declaration of war."

Lawlessness
The United States has issued a statement condemning her killing. "We call upon the Russian government to bring to justice those responsible for this outrageous crime and demonstrate that lawlessness and impunity will not be tolerated" said White House National Security spokesman Mike Hammer.
 
Russian President Dimitri Medvedev has expressed "outrage" at the murder and has ordered an inquiry.
 
Estemirova received the first Anna Politovskaya Award in 2007. It was given to her by the charity Reach All Women in War. Politovskaya's murder in 2006 might be said to be the first in a series of high profile critics of the leadership in Chechnya and their human rights practices.  

Kidnappings
Speaking in a recent telephone interview with a Russian radio station, Natalia Estemirova said:
 
"Generally speaking, you can say that in many ways the situation has improved. These days there are no mass kidnappings - like what used to happen. But that doesn't mean that people don't disappear. People are still being kidnapped. They return home physically beaten. But they've had to swear - sometimes even on the Koran - never to tell anyone what has happened to them."