Saturday, December 23, 2006

Inversions of the Truth

Another sign of the hardening of Moscow’s position on human rights issues. As predicted, the official “parliamentary commission” of inquiry into the deaths at Beslan has exonerated the Russian special forces, leading many of the surviving relatives to despair of finding justice:

Many relatives blamed their children’s deaths on the botched rescue operation, in which fire engulfed the school, in the Russian Caucasus republic of North Ossetia.

A campaigner representing victims’ relatives, Ella Kesayeva, voiced anger at the Torshin commission’s findings.

Speaking on Ekho Moskvy radio, she said the report gave the Russian authorities the green light to “use banned weapons with impunity”.

“The next time hostages are taken the security services can do whatever they like, they can do what they did in Beslan,” she said.

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