After the murder of my mother Natalia Estemirova in 2009, which to this day has not been adequately investigated, Oyub volunteered to take over Memorial in Chechnya. To lead the human rights organization in those dark times seemed like a reckless and somewhat futile mission, but nevertheless, he had the courage and determination to do so. Memorial is one of the oldest and most well-respected human rights organizations in Russia. In the past years, its work has been endangered by Russia’s “foreign agent” law, which targets any organization that receives funding from abroad.
Memorial’s status in Chechnya is further complicated by the region’s leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who perceives investigations of human rights abuses as a personal attack. On multiple occasions, he has vocalized his contempt for human rights activists in threatening, acrimonious language.
As voices of critics were silenced one by one, Oyub continued to do his job, collecting harrowing evidence of abuses and injustices committed by Chechen authorities. Suffice to say that Kadyrov was not pleased. In late December, the Chechen leader promised to “break the spines” of human rights activists, whom he perceived to be traitors and enemies of the state. Oyub’s arrest, carried out by eager minions of Kadyrov, is a direct outcome of his indirect order.
Several weeks ago I collaborated with prominent human rights activists to record a video message urging people to sign the petition to release Oyub. The video addressed Russian President Vladimir Putin directly. He is the only one who can order Kadyrov to drop charges against Oyub, since the Chechen leader has great admiration and respect for his “commander in chief.”