Activities in Chechnya
Memorial also had an office in Chechnya, 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".
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“There is, I think, no point in the philosophy of progressive education which is sounder than its emphasis upon the importance of the participation of the learner in the formation of the purposes which direct his activities in the learning process, just as there is no defect in traditional education greater than its failure to secure the active cooperation of the pupil in construction of the purposes involved in his studying.”
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