GENEVA — The United States gently chided Russia on Tuesday for failing to protect human rights activists, a sensitive topic ahead of President Barack Obama’s meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev this week.

“In Russia we are concerned about killings with impunity of human rights defenders and journalists in the North Caucasus,” U.S. diplomat Douglas Griffiths said to the 47-nation UN Human Rights Council.

Griffiths urged a “full, transparent and independent investigation” into the killing in July of Chechen rights activist Natalya Estemirova as well as other unresolved cases.

He reserved some of his strongest words for the government in Tehran.

(AP)