On September, 1, 2004, 32 Chechen militants stormed School No. 1 in the North Ossetian town of Beslan and held 1,100 pupils, their relatives, and teachers hostage for three days. The militants demanded the withdrawal of federal forces from Chechnya. In the end, 331 of the hostages died, including 186 children, after a rescue attempt by Russian security forces.Survivors and relatives of those killed are still angry over unanswered questions about the actions of Russian security forces during the siege, and then-President Vladimir Putin's response to the tragedy. Many believe the authorities have covered up what really happened.
Officials say the hostage takers started the massacre by setting off a bomb inside the school, but many in Beslan say the soldiers provoked the battle by firing a rocket-propelled grenade at the school, causing the roof to collapse and sparking a fierce blaze.
A number of witnesses also say they saw tanks fire on the school. Independent investigators have denounced what they say was a botched rescue operation.
Yury Savelyev, an explosives expert and State Duma deputy, published a report confirming the battle was triggered by soldiers firing grenades from a building across from the school.
Survivors and victims' families remain embittered because only one person, Nur-Pashi Kulayev, was convicted. Three local policemen implicated in the event were also given amnesty. ''We are absolutely convinced that [government officials] want to forget Beslan,'' Ella Kesayeva, who lost two nephews in the tragedy, told RFE/RL. ''The authorities don't want to hear or know anything about Beslan.''
''I have the impression that we will never know the whole truth, just like with [the deadly 2002 Moscow theater seige at] Dubrovka,'' Caucasus analyst Aleksei Malashenko told RFE/RL. ''In the end, interpretations that suit the authorities will be offered, because there has been practically no open, independent investigation. Everything was under control.''
Survivors are not alone in distrusting the official version of events in Beslan.
A 2007 poll published by Russia's Levada Center found that only 8 percent of respondents believe the government had told the whole truth.
Tragedy at Beslan Copyright (c) 2009. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
Published by Mike Hitchen i On Global Trends, world news, analysis, opinion
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