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Dear all, the tragic events at the school in North Ossetia are now well known to everyone worldwide. But just because of what happened during these days I was very busy on other fronts and could no longer update the website with the overwhelming flood of details regarding just this sad event. However, considering the huge media coverage it received, I don't think that is after all a great damage to the completeness of this website which will continue to furnish details on other events which do generally not receive much attention. I only add a declaration and one article which seemed to me particularly relevant. M.M. ------------------------------------ Joint NGO statement on the Beslan Hostage Tragedy Out of respect for the victims of the tragedy, their relatives and the national, two-day period of mourning, the release of this statement was delayed until 8 September. Human Rights Centre ‘Memorial’ Moscow Helsinki Group All-Russia Movement for Human Rights Amnesty International Human Rights Watch International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) International League for Human Rights (ILHR) (8 September 2004) A coalition of Russian and international human rights organizations united today to condemn in the strongest terms the taking hostage and killing of hundreds of children, parents and teachers by a group of armed men and women in a school in the city of Beslan, North Ossetia in the North Caucasus region of Russia. The crisis began on 1 September when armed men and women burst into the school as approximately one thousand children, their parents and teachers had gathered to celebrate the beginning of the academic year. The composition of the group of hostage-takers has not been clarified, however, it has been reported that some of their demands were related to the armed conflict in Chechnya. The armed group held the hostages without food or drinking water for over 48 hours before Russian security forces, at approximately 13:00 on 3 September, stormed the school in circumstances that still remain unclear. It has been reported that over 325 hostages, almost half of them children, were killed; hundreds more were taken to hospital suffering from injuries of varying degrees of severity. The actions taken by the armed group: taking over 1000 people as hostages, including young children – the most vulnerable members of society; depriving them of food and water for over 48 hours; issuing repeated death threats against them; and the subsequent deliberate killing of many hostages – are all flagrant abuses of international and domestic law. “This abhorrent and calculated action by an armed group on a school displays a callous disregard for civilian life”, the organizations stated. “It is an attack on the most fundamental right – the right to life; our organizations denounce this act unreservedly”. We are also seriously concerned that the authorities have been covering up the extent of the crisis, including by providing misleading data on the number of hostages, and urge the authorities to ensure that the investigation into the full circumstances of the school hostage-taking incident encompasses an investigation into the way in which the authorities released information, both to the public and to the families of the hostages. We call for the findings of the investigation to be made publicly available. The Beslan attack took place against a backdrop of five years of widespread, persistent and largely unpunished human rights violations by Russian troops against civilians in Chechnya as well as egregious human rights abuses by rebel fighters. The impunity for such abuses has served to perpetuate the conflict and has led to serious human rights atrocities committed by both sides. In our opinion, lasting peace in Chechnya cannot be achieved without justice for all victims of human rights abuses committed in the context of the conflict, and without ensuring the establishment of the rule of law and human rights protection for all. We call on the Russian authorities to take measures to ensure that persons responsible for human rights abuses in Chechnya are brought to justice in an independent and impartial court of law in accordance with international standards, whether they fought on the Russian or rebel side. We remind the Russian government of its positive obligation to protect civilians at risk of spontaneous reprisal attacks in North Ossetia, Ingushetia, Chechnya and other Russian regions. We similarly urge the authorities to ensure that law-enforcement operations aimed at bringing those responsible for the Beslan attack to justice are conducted in full accordance with international human rights standards. At this tragic time, we extend our condolences and deepest sympathy to the victims, their relatives and the people of Beslan. Background Hostage-taking is universally condemned in a number of international legal documents: in particular the 1979 UN Convention Against the Taking of Hostages, which qualifies these acts as an "offence of grave concern to the international community" and demand that "any person committing an act of hostage taking shall either be prosecuted or extradited". The UN Security Council, in a Presidential Statement of 1 September 2004, condemned the hostage-taking in North Ossetia in the strongest terms and urged States actively to cooperate with the Russian authorities in efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice. For more information and comments, please contact: Human Rights Centre ‘Memorial’, Arsenii Rogunsky, +7 095 209 7883 Moscow Helsinki Group, Tanya Lokshina, Programmes Director, +7 095 207 6069 or +7 916 624 1906 (mobile) All-Russia Movement for Human Rights, Lev Ponomarev, Executive Director, +7 095 203 5010 or + 7 916 690 8310 (mobile) Amnesty International, Lydia Aroyo, Europe and Central Asia Press Officer, +44 20 7413 5599 or +44 (0)7771 796 350 (mobile) Human Rights Watch, Diederik Lohman, Senior Researcher, +1 212 290 4700 International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Press Officer, +33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18 International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF), Aaron Rhodes, Executive Director, +43-676-635-6612 (mobile) International League for Human Rights (ILHR), Alexey Korotaev, Geneva representative, +41-78-769-8390 (mobile) __________________________________________ Joachim Frank, Project Coordinator International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights Wickenburggasse 14/7 A-1080 Vienna Tel. +43-1-408 88 22 ext. 22 Fax: +43-1-408 88 22 ext. 50 Web: http://www.ihf-hr.org ______________________________________ Horrors of the Beslan atrocity Europe's help for Russia is now vital Leader Sunday September 5, 2004 The Observer The events of the past five days in Russia have brought an international response of solidarity with the people of Beslan, a blasted place of 35,000 souls whose emotions at this time can hardly be guessed at. The images of dead children in bodybags touch the very heart of what it means to be human and what it means when that humanity is so unforgivably taken away. The massacre at School Number 1 immediately raises many complex questions. But before considering those, we should take time to pause and remember the lives of those killed and maimed by the terrorists and of the thousands of lives that will be indelibly touched by their dreadful actions. Yesterday, Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, said that he considered the event a declaration of 'full-scale war' against his nation. But depraved terrorism of this type does not come unannounced. Russian forces fighting the two wars in Chechnya have distinguished themselves with their own brand of brutality - killing, torturing, maiming and kidnapping with equal abandon and disregard for the rule of law. Putin's policy of a draconian crackdown and his failure to even countenance a limited degree of self-determination in some parts of the Caucasus has been a policy doomed to fail. He has become a recruiting sergeant for terrorists and an excuse for those with the darkest of motives to hitch a ride on the feelings of powerlessness among the people of the region. Putin represents Russia's instinctive reflexes towards Chechnya and the increasingly lawless and brutal society that Russia has become.Yesterday, he admitted that his nation had failed to keep up with a changing world and that its unreformed security services had been unable to dam the nation's porous borders. Terrorism flourishes in such circumstances. Russia is a country where journalists critical of the government are shot by gunmen who the authorities make no attempt to bring to justice, and where businessmen can be held in prison on trumped-up charges if they are suspected of supporting the opposition. The much criticised weakness of the Russian security forces in organising themselves to avoid a bloodbath in Beslan, significantly admitted as a failure by Putin, results, in part, from Russia's attempt to insulate itself from external criticism. The instinct of Western leaders like Tony Blair and George Bush is to stand with Putin, and portray Chechnya as part of the seamless war on terrorism. It is true there are points of intersection. Chechnya informs the anger of many of the jihadist groups. Saudi money, too, has financed Chechen fighters. Some radicals see Chechnya as the new Afghanistan. But there are critical differences. The troubles of Chechnya predate 11 September. The ongoing deadlock, together with Putin's prosecution of the continuing war, contributes to, rather than results from, the global terror crisis. That is why any resolution needs to be internationalised, involving not just Russia and Chechnya, but possibly also the Organisation Security and Co-operation in Europe. Until now, Moscow has resisted any such suggestion and yesterday Putin was understandably talking tough. But the decision by local leaders to talk to Aslan Maskhadov's separatists to try and negotiate an end to the Beslan crisis, apparently approved by the Kremlin, suggests there is room for talks that Russia has to date ruled out. The thugs around the Chechen terrorist leader, Shamil Basayev, need to be isolated; the money trail needs to be out in the open and the Saudis confronted with their responsibility. The Russians need to concede that, without a willingness to negotiate, the crisis will deepen. And Europe has to help foster change. More of the same will mean more Beslans - more traumas for Russia and further horrors for the rest of the world.