"Mothers of Beslan" insist on new inquiry into 2004 terror act

An agreement of Russian authorities and the victims of the terror act committed in Beslan in 2004, who filed a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), is possible only if an independent and impartial investigation into the terror act, said members of the "Mothers of Beslan" Committee.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 2 the ECtHR accepted the complaint of most of the applicants, who suffered from the capture of hostages in Beslan in 2004. The focus of the ECtHR was on the measures to prevent the terror act and the indiscriminate use of weapons during the operation to liberate the hostages.

According to Susanna Dudieva, the chair of the "Mothers of Beslan", in total, 447 persons lodged their complaints in two groups: "Dudieva et al versus Russia" and "Tagaeva et al versus Russia". Later, the ECtHR excluded 51 applicants from the list of complainants.

The complaint was submitted on eight articles of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR); however, the ECtHR has accepted only two of them, which guarantee the right to life and protection (Articles 2 and 13). They also cover such important issues as why the terror act was admitted, and whether it was reasonable for power agents to use heavy weapons.

The applicants were unhappy with the exclusion of Article 6 out of the complaint, which relates the issues of objective investigation and fair trial.

The defence of one's rights at the ECtHR is a complex and multi-layered process, said Aneta Gadieva, a member of the "Mothers of Beslan".

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.