Natalia Estemirova, a leading human rights defender in Chechnya, was found shot dead in Ingushetia on July 15, 2009, Human Rights Watch said today. She is the second human rights activist murdered in Russia in 2009 for trying to publicize grave and continuing human rights abuses in Chechnya. Human Rights Watch urged the Russian government to launch a full, independent, and transparent investigation into Estemirova's murder.