Russia - ACTING UP - Khabibrakhmanov and Veretennikov
860 views · Published 29 December 2011 · 1:38 · Indexed 6 October 2026
Channel: Human Rights Watch · 2011 · Nonprofits & Activism
ACTING UP - RUSSIA'S CIVIL SOCIETY - Portraits by Platon for Human Rights Watch After the well-known activist Natasha Estemirova was abducted in Chechnya in 2009 and found murdered, human rights work came to a virtual standstill in the conflict region of southern Russia. Local activists were terrified, and even the big national and international groups could not guarantee their staff safety and had to suspend work there. The Joint Mobile Group, with members like Roman Veretennikov of Krasnodar and Oleg Khabibrakhmanov of Nizhny Novgorod, found a way to keep human rights work going. They work in Chechnya in groups of 3-4 people for just a few weeks at a time, handling sensitive cases of enforced disappearance and torture, and letting people in Chechnya know that they are not forgotten. In this way, they have maintained a continuing monitoring presence in one of the most dangerous places in Europe for more than two years. "Our group's being there instills a kind of confidence in people who live in Chechnya," says Khabibrakhmanov. In 2011, the Joint Mobile group was awarded Human Rights Prize of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for its courageous work in Chechnya.
More from this channel
-
1:58
Tibet Puts Human Rights in Spotlight
-
2:45
Russia - ACTING UP - Khimki Forest
-
2:17
Russia - ACTING UP - Lyudmila Alexeeva
-
1:56
Russia - ACTING UP - Natalya Voronitsyna
-
2:03
Russia - ACTING UP - Oleg Orlov
-
1:50
Palestinian Residency Control
-
1:29
Yemen: Detained, Tortured, and Disappeared
-
2:08
Russia Sochi: Power Plant