On 2 May, 2012 the ECHR communicated to the Russian
Government seven applications brought by 447 Russian nationals related to the
terrorist attack in school No.1 in Beslan, North Ossetia, on 1-3 September
2004. Some of the applicants were taken hostage or injured during this attack.
Some of them are relatives of those who were held hostage, injured or killed. The
applicants claim that Russia violated the following articles of the Convention:
Article 2 (the right to life), Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman and cruel
treatment), Article 6 (the right to a fair trial), Article 8 (the right to
respect for family life), Article 10 (the right to receive and impart
information) and Article 13 (the right to an effective domestic remedy). The complete
text of the application can be found here (type “Emma Lazarovna TAGAYEVA and
Others against Russia and 6 other applications” in the “Text” box and click “Search”).
On 1 September 2004 about 1,128 people were taken hostage by
a group of terrorists in school No. 1 in Beslan. Among the hostages were about
800 children aged between several months and eighteen years. As a result of the
terroristic attack 385 people died, including 334 hostages, and 186 of them children.
728 hostages were injured, 10 FSB servicemen were killed and 55 servicemen of
the army and other law enforcement authorities were wounded. 31 terrorists were
killed, and 1 terrorists was later sentenced to life imprisonment by a national
court.
The applicants claim, inter
alia, that Russian officials failed to prevent this terrorist attack and
were directly responsible for deaths of several people due to disproportionate use
of force by the authorities when attacking the terrorists and failure to exhaust all peaceful means to
resolve the situation.
In connection with these application the Court asked the applicants and the Russian Government several
question, including the following:
- if the operative information available prior to the
hostage-taking of 1 September 2004 allowed the relevant authorities to consider
school no. 1 in Beslan as a possible target of a terrorist attack;
- if all necessary precautions were fully implemented by the
authorities in practice;
- if the authorities provided adequate medical and rescue
aid to the victims;
- if the State authorities employed lethal force which was
absolutely necessary and if it resulted in deaths and injury of hostages;
- if the Operative Headquarters strategy was aimed at
guaranteeing the security of a maximum possible number of persons.
It should be noted, that a similar case has been already examined by the Court (Finogenov and others v. Russia). It
concerned the terrorist attack that took place on 23-26 October 2002 in the
Dubrovka theater, Moscow, Russia. The applicants’ claims were very similar to
those of Beslan victims. In its judgment of 20 December 2011 the ECHR found, inter alia, that Russian authorities breached
Article 2 (right to life) due to their failure to adequately plan and conduct
the rescue operation. The Court noted that
“… the rescue operation of 26 October 2002 was not sufficiently prepared, in particular because of the inadequate information exchange between various services, belated beginning of the evacuation, limited on-the-field coordination of various services, lack of appropriate medical treatment and equipment on the spot, and inadequate logistics. The Court concludes that the State breached its positive obligations under Article 2 of the Convention.”
Meanwhile, the Court found that the use of lethal force by the security forces was
justified and the use of gas during the storming was not in the circumstances a
disproportionate measure.
