Relatives of the Beslan hostages reported delays in the adoption of the law on victims of terrorist acts.

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Against the backdrop of new circumstances surrounding the terrorist attack in Beslan 22 years later, the relatives of the hostages cannot achieve the adoption of a law on victims of terrorist acts. Some social problems faced by former hostages are slowly being resolved, but this is not enough.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", mourning events are held annually in North Ossetia in memory of the victims of the terrorist attack in Beslan in 2004. At a press conference held on September 1, representatives of the "Mothers of Beslan" committee spoke about new circumstances of the attack. In particular, it became known that there were more than 32 terrorists, among them was a native of Saudi Arabia, and the first hostage - officer Sultan Gurazhev - was a third cousin of the deputy head of the group Ruslan Khuchbarov.

Commenting on the information about the participation of Saudi Arabian native Abu Farukh in the Beslan attack, as well as information about the number of members of the terrorist group, co-chair of the "Mothers of Beslan" committee, mother of a schoolboy who died during the attack Aneta Gadieva told a correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot" on September 6 that the involvement of citizens of this country was anticipated from the very beginning.

"But an examination is simply required to prove this. The woman who is considered the mother of the terrorist Abu-Farukh has died. But it seems that Saudi law enforcement agencies report that she has no close relatives registered. That is, they deny the fact that their citizen was among the gang. Officially, the investigation does not recognize that there were more terrorists. They say that certain people confirmed their testimonies about the number of terrorists, about the presence of weapons in the school. Including about the woman, they also stated that several people said that there were not only two female suicide bombers but also another one. Some even said they saw two. But officially this has not yet been recognized, and the investigation does not provide any assessment. And what happened to this woman (or the two women) is completely unknown. Maybe she took off this jumpsuit and blended into the crowd," she said.

No officials are held criminally liable

The investigation of the terrorist attack itself is not completed, but officials have been released from responsibility, the interlocutor pointed out. "In August 2024, it was reported that there is a statute of limitations for holding the heads of the operational headquarters, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Ministry of Emergency Situations accountable, and as a result, it has passed. And since there are no newly discovered facts, no officials are held criminally liable. Criminal cases will not be initiated against them. The prosecutor's resolution cut everything off. It turns out there are terrorists - monsters, and officials and law enforcement are not involved," Gadieva said.

The Mothers of Beslan have been fighting for several years for the adoption of a law on the status of victims of terrorist acts. "Without it, the state has no responsibility to us.".

The issue of considering the draft law is not on the agenda at all

According to her, nothing has changed regarding the adoption of the law on victims of terrorist acts. "The issue of considering the draft law is not on the agenda at all. We just constantly raise this issue about the status of the victims of the terrorist attack. But no one hears us. At one time, when representatives of the committee met with President Medvedev at that time, he said that there are many people in this category who suffered in terrorist acts in the country, and it would be costly. This law is costly. This was the obstacle. But now we see that there are many participants in the SVO, yet benefits are working for them," Gadieva noted.

She also reported that it was possible to extend the rights to sanatorium and resort treatment until 2030. "The head of the republic, Sergey Menyaylo, made efforts. Initially, this was a program for 5 years, but now the sanatorium and resort treatment and rehabilitation have been extended until 2030. Everything else, for example, medical, high-tech assistance, is not provided unless there are our appeals, petitions regarding this. In this matter, only the local authorities are going to meet us and somehow help with this. If the local authorities had not gone to meet us, it would have been much more difficult, and perhaps there would have been no social assistance at all. For example, our students entered universities, and they were not given dormitories because there were other categories prioritized, and they were provided first, while ours were not given dormitories because they did not have the status of a beneficiary. Such moments happen, but I say our local authorities understand and try to meet us, but it does not always work," Gadieva explained.

If there are some small shifts in the investigation, then there are absolutely no changes regarding the adoption of the law

The mother of two deceased children Elvira Tuaeva confirmed that there is no progress on the draft law on victims of terrorist acts. "Absolutely no changes on this issue. As it was denied, so to this day there is nothing. If there are some small shifts in the investigation, then there are absolutely no changes regarding the adoption of the law. The authorities are not even dealing with this. Regarding the status, we have developed - both "Voice of Beslan" and "Mothers of Beslan" - our draft law, proposed it to them to adopt this law. But the following was said, this is not a quote, I just convey in my own words: because in Russia there are too many of you, that is, too many victims of terrorist acts. But this is also the fault of the state, for whose fault we are too many. We live in a rule of law state, and if we, citizens, suffered from a terrorist act, we should live with dignity and legally enjoy all the rights that all other beneficiaries enjoy. To this day, we have no legal rights," she told a correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot".

Meanwhile, some social problems of the victims of the Beslan tragedy are gradually being resolved, she noted. "This includes providing housing for all hostages, rehabilitation. Many disabled people who were left disabled for life, some of those who needed it were sent abroad for treatment. Psychological rehabilitation was also conducted. Our students - former hostages received education. Including in the most prestigious universities in Russia. As much as possible in this difficult time - we are engaged. Of course, there is a big problem with employment, but still, where possible, we are arranging jobs," Tuaeva said.

We appealed to them with a request to finally adopt this law

Nevertheless, according to her, activists will not abandon the issue of adopting the law on the status of victims of terrorist acts. "We appealed to the president, to the Federation Council, to each member of the State Duma, that is, to each deputy, and to our parliament, which is lobbying the draft law. We appealed to them with a request to finally adopt this law," Tuaeva summarized.

The head of the "Voice of Beslan" movement Ella Kesaeva is disappointed with the situation regarding the investigation, the adoption of the law on the status of victims of terrorist acts, as well as, in her opinion, the inadequacy of assistance to the victims.

"We are losing the memory of Beslan. What they did to the territory of the school. They completely cleared the territory and erased traces of the crime from this place. The authorities said everything they wanted. And everything that happened over 22 years has not been investigated justly, and the guilty have not been punished," she told a correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot".

The activist noted that "Voice of Beslan" managed to obtain from the Beslan Restoration Fund, which unexpectedly ceased to exist, 26 million rubles for the construction of a park with a football field where schoolchildren played before the tragedy.

A lot of money was "saved" on the victims in this way

According to her, even in the matter of providing apartments to the victims, there were corruption schemes. "In 2014, there was a meeting in Strasbourg regarding our complaint. By that time, there was a decision on housing to allocate money. And they were allocated in North Ossetia. The European Court was informed that a settlement agreement was reached in the form of monetary payments through the housing program. And it was written there that the procedure for distributing housing is ensured by the government. This loophole was used by the republican government. Each surviving hostage was given one and a half million. At that time, this was the cost of a two-room apartment. If there was one family of two hostages, for example, a mother with a child, they could be given one apartment. Then it was clarified that if they were of different sexes, they could issue two apartments. But overall, a lot of money was "saved" on the victims in this way," Kesaeva said.

In her opinion, the problem of unemployment for young people among the victims of the Beslan terrorist attack is very acute. "We could not employ two guys for years. They had no benefits and no priority. And only now employment has become possible. This is related to the fact that there is a shortage of workers due to many leaving for the SVO," Kesaeva explained.