"Memorial has been in the lead among the organizations collecting information on human-rights violations committed by Chechen insurgents, Russian military authorities, and the pro-Moscow government. Memorial was a crucial source of information for the journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who published horrifying reports in the Russian opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta. For her countless articles on torture, illegal detentions, and the reign of terror under Chechnya's ruthless and flagrantly corrupt President, Ramzan Kadyrov, Politkovskaya endured harassment, mock execution, and poisoning. 'You're an enemy, to be shot,' Kadyrov told her, in 2004. Two years later, she was gunned down in Moscow."

-- "The Civil Archipelago" by David Remnick - The New Yorker, Dec 19 & 26 edition

i wept as i read... i've not yet gathered the strength to finish