Memorial (society)
Encyclopedia
Memorial is an international historical and civil rights
society that operates in a number of post-Soviet states
. It focuses on recording and publicising the Soviet Union
's totalitarian past, but also monitors human rights
in post-Soviet states.
, Memorial aims:
This is done, in particular, by keeping an electronic database of the victims of political terror in the USSR.
Memorial organizes assistance, both legal and financial, for the victims of the Gulag
. It also conducts research into the history of political repression and publicizes the findings in books, articles, exhibitions, museums, and websites of its member organisations.
wrote that Lev Ponomaryov
, Yuri Samodurov, Vyacheslav Igrunov, Dmitri Leonov, Arseny Roginsky
and others put forth an initiative to create a memorial complex to victims of Joseph Stalin
's repression in the late 1980s. The idea suggested creating a monument, a museum, an archive, a library. This led to an all-Union informal movement which expanded the original goals. It organized a petition to the 19th Conference of the CPSU. The petition resulted in the conference decreeing the creation of the monument to victims of repressions. A decision of the 22nd Congress of the CPSU
was earlier ignored.
The Memorial as the historical and educational society was founded at the conference held in the Moscow Aviation Institute
January 26–28, 1989.
In 1991 a Civil Rights Defense Center "MEMORIAL" was founded.
A poll was carried out in Moscow streets of the names of the candidates to the Public Council of the society. Among others, Alexander Solzhenitsyn was named, but he refused to join and in his talk with Andrei Sakharov
he motivated this decision by his opinion that it was not right to restrict the scope of the project to the Stalin era only, since the repressive era in Russia started as early as 1917
.
The Memorial as the International Volunteer Public Organization "MEMORIAL Historical, Educational, Human Rights And Charitable Society" was officially founded by the founding conference held on April 19, 1992.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union
the society became international, with organizations in post-Soviet states
: Russia
, Ukraine
, Kazakhstan
, Latvia
, and Georgia
, as well as in Italy
(since April 20, 2004).
in Moscow
, near the KGB
headquarters beside the Iron Felix (the latter was removed in August 1991).
The efforts of Memorial were behind the Law on Rehabilitation of Victims of Political Repression, which was passed in 1991. In 1991 Memorial also contributed to the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR officially making October 30 a Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Political Repression
.
when he was researching his 2008 book The Whisperers: Private Lives in Stalin's Russia.
to commemorate and record the existence of the Gulag and the suffering of its victims.
to commemorate 4,500 victims of the Red Terror
. Memorial discovered the bodies in 2002.
, sometimes called the alternative Nobel Prize
, for its work in documenting violations of human rights in Russia and other former states in the USSR. Quoting the RLA jury: "... for showing, under very difficult conditions, and with great personal courage, that history must be recorded and understood, and human rights respected everywhere, if sustainable solutions to the legacy of the past are to be achieved." In the same year, The UN refugee agency (UNHCR
) named Memorial the winner of the annual Nansen Refugee Award
for its wide range of services on behalf of forced migrants and internally displaced people
in the Russian Federation, as well as refugees from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
In 2009, Memorial won the Sakharov Prize
, in memory of the murdered Memorial activist Natalya Estemirova
. Announcing the award, President of the European Parliament
Jerzy Buzek
said that the assembly hoped "to contribute to ending the circle of fear and violence surrounding human rights defenders in the Russian Federation". Oleg Orlov, the chairman of Memorial, commented that the prize represents "much-needed moral support at a difficult time for rights activists in Russia", and that he considers the prize "a mark of the high value placed on the work of Memorial and that of all of our colleagues - Russian rights activists who are working in a very difficult situation". A cash reward, which comes with the prize, of €
50,000 is to be awarded to Memorial in December 2009.
was raided by the authorities and 12 computer hard disk
s containing the entire digital archive of the atrocities committed under Stalin, representing 20 years of work, were confiscated. The information was being used to develop "a universally accessible database with hundreds of thousands of names." Office director Irina Flinge believes that they were targeted because their organization is on the wrong side of Putinism
, specifically the idea "that Stalin and the Soviet regime were successful in creating a great country".
Officially, the raid was in relation to an article published in the Novy Peterburg newspaper in June 2007. Memorial denies any link to the article. Some human rights lawyers in Russia have speculated that the raid is retaliation for Memorial screening a banned film Rebellion: the Litvinenko Case
, about the murder of Russian ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko
. According to writer Orlando Figes
, the raid "was clearly intended to intimidate Memorial". Allison Gill, director of Human Rights Watch
in Moscow, has said "This outrageous police raid shows the poisonous climate for non-governmental organisations in Russia [...] This is an overt attempt by the Russian government [...] to silence critical voices." The raid also prompted an open letter to Dmitry Medvedev
from academics from all over the world, condemning the seizure. The United States
has declared that it is "deeply concerned" about the raid: State Department spokesman Sean McCormack
said: "Unfortunately, this action against Memorial is not an isolated instance of pressure against freedom of association and expression in Russia."
On March 20, 2009, the court of Dzerzhinsky District
decided that the search on December 4, 2008, in Memorial with confiscation of 12 HDDs with information about victims of political repressions was carried out with procedural violations, and actions of law enforcement bodies were illegal, and eventually the 12 hard drives, as well as optical discs and some papers, were returned to Memorialhttp://www.novayagazeta.spb.ru/2009/32/6.
, to monitor human rights issues there. It was frequently raided by the authorities.
A Memorial activist Natalia Estemirova, who investigated murders and abductions in Chechnya, was herself abducted in Grozny
and shot to death in Ingushetia
on 15 July 2009. It is suggested her death is connected to her investigations of government-backed militias in the country.. Memorial's chairman Oleg Orlov accused Ramzan Kadyrov
of being behind the murder, and claimed that Kadyrov had openly threatened her. Kadyrov denied his involvement and sued Memorial for defamation, targeting Orlov personally with his complaint.
On 18 July 2009, Memorial suspended its activities in the republic, stating "We cannot risk the lives of our colleagues even if they are ready to carry on their work".
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
society that operates in a number of post-Soviet states
Post-Soviet states
The post-Soviet states, also commonly known as the Former Soviet Union or former Soviet republics, are the 15 independent states that split off from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in its dissolution in December 1991...
. It focuses on recording and publicising the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
's totalitarian past, but also monitors human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
in post-Soviet states.
Mission and activities
Memorial's full name is MEMORIAL Historical, Educational, Human Rights And Charitable Society. According to its charterCharter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
, Memorial aims:
This is done, in particular, by keeping an electronic database of the victims of political terror in the USSR.
Memorial organizes assistance, both legal and financial, for the victims of the Gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
. It also conducts research into the history of political repression and publicizes the findings in books, articles, exhibitions, museums, and websites of its member organisations.
History
Andrei SakharovAndrei Sakharov
Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov was a Soviet nuclear physicist, dissident and human rights activist. He earned renown as the designer of the Soviet Union's Third Idea, a codename for Soviet development of thermonuclear weapons. Sakharov was an advocate of civil liberties and civil reforms in the...
wrote that Lev Ponomaryov
Lev Ponomaryov
Lev Alexandrovich Ponomaryov is a Russian politician and human rights activist, member of the Moscow Helsinki Group and former member of the parliament...
, Yuri Samodurov, Vyacheslav Igrunov, Dmitri Leonov, Arseny Roginsky
Arseny Roginsky
Arseny Borisovich Roginsky is a Russian historian and human rights activist. He is one of the founders of Memorial.- References :...
and others put forth an initiative to create a memorial complex to victims of Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's repression in the late 1980s. The idea suggested creating a monument, a museum, an archive, a library. This led to an all-Union informal movement which expanded the original goals. It organized a petition to the 19th Conference of the CPSU. The petition resulted in the conference decreeing the creation of the monument to victims of repressions. A decision of the 22nd Congress of the CPSU
22nd Congress of the CPSU
The 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was held from October 17 to October 31, 1961. In fourteen days of sessions , 4,413 delegates, in addition to delegates from 83 foreign Communist parties, listened to Nikita Khrushchev and others review policy issues...
was earlier ignored.
The Memorial as the historical and educational society was founded at the conference held in the Moscow Aviation Institute
Moscow Aviation Institute
Moscow Aviation Institute is one of several major engineering higher education establishments in Moscow .Although the school is currently offering a wide range of majors and research...
January 26–28, 1989.
In 1991 a Civil Rights Defense Center "MEMORIAL" was founded.
A poll was carried out in Moscow streets of the names of the candidates to the Public Council of the society. Among others, Alexander Solzhenitsyn was named, but he refused to join and in his talk with Andrei Sakharov
Andrei Sakharov
Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov was a Soviet nuclear physicist, dissident and human rights activist. He earned renown as the designer of the Soviet Union's Third Idea, a codename for Soviet development of thermonuclear weapons. Sakharov was an advocate of civil liberties and civil reforms in the...
he motivated this decision by his opinion that it was not right to restrict the scope of the project to the Stalin era only, since the repressive era in Russia started as early as 1917
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
.
The Memorial as the International Volunteer Public Organization "MEMORIAL Historical, Educational, Human Rights And Charitable Society" was officially founded by the founding conference held on April 19, 1992.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...
the society became international, with organizations in post-Soviet states
Post-Soviet states
The post-Soviet states, also commonly known as the Former Soviet Union or former Soviet republics, are the 15 independent states that split off from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in its dissolution in December 1991...
: Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, and Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, as well as in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
(since April 20, 2004).
Political work
Through the efforts of the society, on October 30, 1990, the Memorial to the Victims of the Gulag (a simple stone from Solovki) was erected at the Lubyanka SquareLubyanka Square
Lubyanka Square in Moscow is about north east of Red Square. The name is first mentioned in 1480, when Ivan III settled many Novgorodians in the area. They built the church of St Sophia, modelled after St Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod, and called the area Lubyanka after the Lubyanitsy district of...
in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, near the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
headquarters beside the Iron Felix (the latter was removed in August 1991).
The efforts of Memorial were behind the Law on Rehabilitation of Victims of Political Repression, which was passed in 1991. In 1991 Memorial also contributed to the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR officially making October 30 a Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Political Repression
Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions
Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions , is an annual day of remembrance for victims of political repression in the Soviet Union....
.
Archives
Memorial also helps individuals to find documents, graves, etc., of politically persecuted relatives. , Memorial had a database of over 1,300,000 names of such people. The archives were used by British historian Orlando FigesOrlando Figes
Orlando Figes is a British historian of Russia, and Professor of History at Birkbeck, University of London.-Overview:Figes is the son of the feminist writer Eva Figes. His sister is the author and editor Kate Figes. He attended William Ellis School in north London from 1971-78...
when he was researching his 2008 book The Whisperers: Private Lives in Stalin's Russia.
Virtual Gulag
One of Memorial's main projects at the moment is the creation of the Virtual Gulag Museum, which will bring together research and archives from all over the ex-Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
to commemorate and record the existence of the Gulag and the suffering of its victims.
Kovalevsky Forest
Memorial are trying to build a National Memorial Museum Complex in Kovalevsky ForestKovalevsky Forest
Kovalevsky Forest is a forest near St Petersburg, Russia, where thousands of Soviet citizens were massacred and buried in the first half of the twentieth century as part of the Red Terror. The site was rediscovered by the human rights charity Memorial. In all, around 4,500 people are thought to be...
to commemorate 4,500 victims of the Red Terror
Red Terror
The Red Terror in Soviet Russia was the campaign of mass arrests and executions conducted by the Bolshevik government. In Soviet historiography, the Red Terror is described as having been officially announced on September 2, 1918 by Yakov Sverdlov and ended about October 1918...
. Memorial discovered the bodies in 2002.
Media
Memorial funds or helps to produce various publications and films.- The Crying Sun, 2007, a documentary focusing on the life of people from the mountainous village of Zumsoy in ChechnyaChechnyaThe Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
, and their struggle to preserve their cultural identity in the face of military raids and enforced disappearances by the Russian army and guerilla fighters. (Produced in collaboration with WITNESSWitnessA witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about an event, or in the criminal justice systems usually a crime, through his or her senses and can help certify important considerations about the crime or event. A witness who has seen the event first hand is known as an eyewitness...
, 25 minutes long.)
Awards
In 2004, Memorial was among the four recipients of the Right Livelihood AwardRight Livelihood Award
The Right Livelihood Award, also referred to as the "Alternative Nobel Prize", is a prestigious international award to honour those "working on practical and exemplary solutions to the most urgent challenges facing the world today". The prize was established in 1980 by Jakob von Uexkull, and is...
, sometimes called the alternative Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
, for its work in documenting violations of human rights in Russia and other former states in the USSR. Quoting the RLA jury: "... for showing, under very difficult conditions, and with great personal courage, that history must be recorded and understood, and human rights respected everywhere, if sustainable solutions to the legacy of the past are to be achieved." In the same year, The UN refugee agency (UNHCR
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees , also known as The UN Refugee Agency is a United Nations agency mandated to protect and support refugees at the request of a government or the UN itself and assists in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to...
) named Memorial the winner of the annual Nansen Refugee Award
Nansen Refugee Award
The Nansen Refugee Award formerly known as the Nansen Medal is given annually by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to individuals or groups in recognition of outstanding service to the cause of refugees. It is one of the most prestigious awards in the United Nations system...
for its wide range of services on behalf of forced migrants and internally displaced people
Internally displaced person
An internally displaced person is someone who is forced to flee his or her home but who remains within his or her country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the current legal definition of a refugee. At the end of 2006 it was estimated there were...
in the Russian Federation, as well as refugees from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
In 2009, Memorial won the Sakharov Prize
Sakharov Prize
The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, named after Soviet scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, was established in December 1988 by the European Parliament as a means to honour individuals or organisations who have dedicated their lives to the defence of human rights and freedom of thought...
, in memory of the murdered Memorial activist Natalya Estemirova
Natalya Estemirova
Natalya Khusainovna Estemirova was an award-winning Russian human rights activist and board member of the Russian human rights organisation Memorial. Estemirova was abducted by unknown persons on 15 July 2009 around 8:30 a.m. from her home in Grozny, Chechnya, as she was working on "extremely...
. Announcing the award, President of the European Parliament
President of the European Parliament
The President of the European Parliament presides over the debates and activities of the European Parliament. He or she also represents the Parliament within the EU and internationally. The President's signature is required for enacting most EU laws and the EU budget.Presidents serve...
Jerzy Buzek
Jerzy Buzek
Jerzy Karol Buzek is a Polish engineer, academic lecturer and politician who was the ninth post-Cold War Prime Minister of Poland from 1997 to 2001...
said that the assembly hoped "to contribute to ending the circle of fear and violence surrounding human rights defenders in the Russian Federation". Oleg Orlov, the chairman of Memorial, commented that the prize represents "much-needed moral support at a difficult time for rights activists in Russia", and that he considers the prize "a mark of the high value placed on the work of Memorial and that of all of our colleagues - Russian rights activists who are working in a very difficult situation". A cash reward, which comes with the prize, of €
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
50,000 is to be awarded to Memorial in December 2009.
Confiscation of digital archive
On 4 November 2008, Memorial's St Petersburg office which houses archives on the GulagGulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
was raided by the authorities and 12 computer hard disk
Hard disk
A hard disk drive is a non-volatile, random access digital magnetic data storage device. It features rotating rigid platters on a motor-driven spindle within a protective enclosure. Data is magnetically read from and written to the platter by read/write heads that float on a film of air above the...
s containing the entire digital archive of the atrocities committed under Stalin, representing 20 years of work, were confiscated. The information was being used to develop "a universally accessible database with hundreds of thousands of names." Office director Irina Flinge believes that they were targeted because their organization is on the wrong side of Putinism
Putinism
Putinism is the ideology, priorities, and policies of the system of government practiced by Russian politician Vladimir Putin...
, specifically the idea "that Stalin and the Soviet regime were successful in creating a great country".
Officially, the raid was in relation to an article published in the Novy Peterburg newspaper in June 2007. Memorial denies any link to the article. Some human rights lawyers in Russia have speculated that the raid is retaliation for Memorial screening a banned film Rebellion: the Litvinenko Case
Rebellion: the Litvinenko Case
Rebellion: The Litvinenko Case is a 2007 Russian documentary film covering the death of ex-Russian spy and dissident, Alexander Litvinenko, who was assassinated in London, United Kingdom in 2006...
, about the murder of Russian ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko
Alexander Litvinenko
Alexander Valterovich Litvinenko was an officer who served in the Soviet KGB and its Russian successor, the Federal Security Service ....
. According to writer Orlando Figes
Orlando Figes
Orlando Figes is a British historian of Russia, and Professor of History at Birkbeck, University of London.-Overview:Figes is the son of the feminist writer Eva Figes. His sister is the author and editor Kate Figes. He attended William Ellis School in north London from 1971-78...
, the raid "was clearly intended to intimidate Memorial". Allison Gill, director of Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
in Moscow, has said "This outrageous police raid shows the poisonous climate for non-governmental organisations in Russia [...] This is an overt attempt by the Russian government [...] to silence critical voices." The raid also prompted an open letter to Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev is the third President of the Russian Federation.Born to a family of academics, Medvedev graduated from the Law Department of Leningrad State University in 1987. He defended his dissertation in 1990 and worked as a docent at his alma mater, now renamed to Saint...
from academics from all over the world, condemning the seizure. The United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
has declared that it is "deeply concerned" about the raid: State Department spokesman Sean McCormack
Sean McCormack
Sean McCormack is a former United States Assistant Secretary of State. He was sworn in as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs and Department Spokesman on June 2, 2005, and served until January 20, 2009.-Early career:...
said: "Unfortunately, this action against Memorial is not an isolated instance of pressure against freedom of association and expression in Russia."
On March 20, 2009, the court of Dzerzhinsky District
Dzerzhinsky District
Dzerzhinsky District is the name of several administrative and municipal districts in Russia. The districts are generally named for Felix Dzerzhinsky, the founder of the Cheka.-Districts of the federal subjects:...
decided that the search on December 4, 2008, in Memorial with confiscation of 12 HDDs with information about victims of political repressions was carried out with procedural violations, and actions of law enforcement bodies were illegal, and eventually the 12 hard drives, as well as optical discs and some papers, were returned to Memorialhttp://www.novayagazeta.spb.ru/2009/32/6.
Activities in Chechnya
Memorial also had an office in ChechnyaChechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
, to monitor human rights issues there. It was frequently raided by the authorities.
A Memorial activist Natalia Estemirova, who investigated murders and abductions in Chechnya, was herself abducted in Grozny
Grozny
Grozny is the capital city of the Chechen Republic, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the preliminary results of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 271,596; up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Census. but still only about two-thirds of 399,688 recorded in the 1989...
and shot to death in Ingushetia
Ingushetia
The Republic of Ingushetia is a federal subject of Russia , located in the North Caucasus region with its capital at Magas. In terms of area, the republic is the smallest of Russia's federal subjects except for the two federal cities, Moscow and Saint Petersburg...
on 15 July 2009. It is suggested her death is connected to her investigations of government-backed militias in the country.. Memorial's chairman Oleg Orlov accused Ramzan Kadyrov
Ramzan Kadyrov
Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov is the President of Chechnya and a former Chechen rebel.Ramzan is a son of former Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, assassinated in May 2004. In February 2007 Kadyrov replaced Alu Alkhanov as President, shortly after he had turned 30, which is the minimum age for the post...
of being behind the murder, and claimed that Kadyrov had openly threatened her. Kadyrov denied his involvement and sued Memorial for defamation, targeting Orlov personally with his complaint.
On 18 July 2009, Memorial suspended its activities in the republic, stating "We cannot risk the lives of our colleagues even if they are ready to carry on their work".
Activists
- Natalia Estemirova
- Svetlana GannushkinaSvetlana GannushkinaSvetlana Gannushkina is human rights activist in Russia, who was reported to have been a contender for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. According to Amnesty International, she is a member of the Council for the Development of Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights under the President of Russia...
- Sergei KovalevSergei KovalevSergei Kovalev is a Russian human rights activist and politician and a former Soviet dissident and political prisoner.- Early career and arrest :...
- Nikita PetrovNikita PetrovNikita Vasilyevich Petrov is a Russian historian. He works at Memorial, a Russian organization dedicated to Soviet political repression. Petrov specializes in Soviet security services....
- Viktor PopkovViktor PopkovViktor Alekseyevich Popkov Виктор Алексеевич Попков was a Russian dissident, humanitarian, human rights activist and journalist. He spent the last 15 years of his life in the hot spots of the falling Soviet Union, including the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict, the Nagorno-Karabakh War and the war in...
- Arseny RoginskyArseny RoginskyArseny Borisovich Roginsky is a Russian historian and human rights activist. He is one of the founders of Memorial.- References :...
, president - Lidia Yusupova