Europe & Central Asia

Anatomy of Injustice: The Unsolved Killings of Journalists in Russia “The recognition, observance and protection of the rights and freedoms of man and citizen shall be the obligation of the State. … Everyone shall have the right to life. … Everyone shall be guaranteed the freedom of ideas and speech.” —Constitution of the Russian Federation, Articles…

Valery Ivanov and Aleksei Sidorov were friends and colleagues, a pair of crusading editors out to expose crime and make a splash in Russia’s car-making capital. They were murdered 18 months apart.

By Ann CooperIn a manufacturing city divided in two, corruption and violence find a home, but justice struggles to find a place.

Journalists have been silenced for covering Chechnya and its neighboring republics, Dagestan and Ingushetia. Opaque investigations into the killings have fed deep skepticism.

A veteran reporter in the region describes how authorities censor the news through intimidation.

Guilty verdicts in the killing of Igor Domnikov show that persistence can lead to justice. But critics say the case, successful as it has been, remains far from complete.

The prosecution did outstanding work in the Domnikov case, but it stopped far too short, a human rights lawyer says. The problem is systemic.

The Committee to Protect Journalists makes the following recommendations to Russian authorities and the international community in the interest of reversing the record of impunity in journalist deaths in Russia.

Excerpts from the work of journalists slain in Russia since 2000

Key statistics as compiled by the Committee to Protect Jurnalists