On September, 3rd policemen and OMON soldiers brutally broke up the rally in Moscow held in memory of Beslan victims. The investigation of tragic events in Beslan in September 2004 is being continued. Human rights activists believe that during two years the authorities made a show of investigation and didn’t try to answer the main question: “Who decided that there would be an assault and no negotiations, who violently ordered to begin the school’s storm?” (05-SEP-06)
Text: HRH/ Moscow, by Yanina Savenko. Sources: demos-center.ru, svobodanews.ru, civitas.ru
Human rights activists, Yabloko and the Union of Right Forces’ leaders and also about 100 people came to the Solovetskiy Memorial Stone at the Lubyanka square to pay tribute to people perished in Beslan. The picketers brought flowers and a few posters. Organizes could’t manage to get an official authorization for the action, in spite of the fact, that the 3rd September was officially declared to be The Memorial Day of Victims of Terrorist Acts. However, the organizers didn’t agree to change the place and the time of the mourning ceremony, because exactly at 1 p. m. on the 3rd of September 2004 the Beslan school assault began.
Police brutality
Near the Solovetskiy Memorial Stone three buses with OMON soldiers and also dozens of policemen had been waiting for the participants of the rally. Besides, they had blocked the road to the park near the Memorial. The organizers failed to come to an agreement with law-enforcement officers. Furthermore, after a while the policemen began to disperse the crowd. In a few minutes OMON soldiers followed their example, but they were acting much more violently and aggressive towards the picketers. As a result, the police detained 13 people, including the organizer of the rally well-known human rights activist Lev Ponomarev. All detained activists were accused under articles of the Administrative Code disobedience to police actions and carrying out an unauthorized action.
Massacre … two years later 
Two years ago terrorists seized school No. 1. in Beslan and held more than 1,100 children and their parents as hostages for three days in the building where they were deprived of food and water. On the third day of the crisis, federal troops stormed the school with gunfire. As a result of the siege, 332 people died, most of them were children. Parents of victims and human rights activists still wonder “Why there were no negations?” Despite assertions of human rights activists, 53 % of Russians believe that authorities did everything possible to rescue the hostages in School No.1 and just 34% held the opposite opinion.
Independent investigation must be done
A number of mourning events were held during three days in memory of assault victims in September 2004. On the 3rd of September at 13.05 p. m., the time when soldiers had stormed School No. 1, a minute of silence was observed across the North Ossetia region. Then 332 white balloons – the number of victims – were released in sky outside the school. The day before in the Beslan Culture Palace two groups – the Mothers of Beslan and the Voice of Beslan – held a conference. These organizations inquire into the tragic events and press for an independent investigation, as they are not satisfied with the results of the government’s investigation. The Mothers of Beslan organization distributed the list of people, who mustn’t visit Beslan, because the organization blamed them for the tragedy. The list includes the former President of the North Ossetia Alexander Dzasokhov, his assistant Lev Dzuglaev, former heads of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and of the Federal Security Service Kazbek Dzantiev and Valery Andreev, head of the North Ossetia Emergencies Ministry Boris Dzgoev, President of Ingushetia Murat Zyazikov and two former vice-General Public Prosecutor Valery Kolesnikov and Nikolyay Shepel.
Who was responsible for what happened?
Meanwhile “the investigation of this matter continues. The investigation is extended until January 2007. We’ll present all evaluations as soon as the investigation is finished”, – stated a representative of the Public Prosecutor Office. According to him, the case is being investigated and a decision will be taken in the context of the Law. However, human rights activists blame Russian militaries for the tragedy. They believe that Russian troops were the first who opened fire, firing at school, where the hostages were kept. Such a conclusion is based on the fact that two first explosions, which served the beginning of armed conflict with terrorists, were caused by anti-tank grenade launchers fired by unknown persons positioned in buildings opposite the school. “I’m sure that these were representatives of Russian special services who fired because nobody else could do it”, – said Marina Litvinovich, editor in chief of the website “Pravda Beslana”. But the authorities claim, that probably they were terrorists from some other terrorist group acting in Beslan, who had conspired criminally with the terrorists.
