"Beslan Mothers" find law on terror act victims' status a must

The additional state support promised by Vladimir Putin will help to remove some of the problems faced by the victims of the terror act on Beslan School No. 1. But it is also necessary to adopt a law on the status of terror act victims, the members of the "Beslan Mothers" committee have pointed out.

On January 29, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved a list of instructions on the outcomes of the on December 10, 2019 sitting of the Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights. In particular, the Russian government is instructed "to take the necessary measures to additionally support the residents of Beslan, who suffered from the terror act on September 1-3, 2004."

Additional support for the victims of the Beslan terror act is needed, said Susanna Dudieva, the head of the "Beslan Mothers" committee, adding that "we have been striving for these decisions for 15 years."

"Now, absolutely every former hostage feels the consequences of those events: this is an exacerbation of diseases received from injuries, and the consequences of their psychological traumas," she has explained.

Despite the above president's instructions, the victims believe that a law is needed on the status of victims of terror acts, Ms Dudieva has noted. "Mr Putin's decision concerns measures to support people who have survived the Beslan terror act. But there are lots of people-survivals of terror acts throughout Russia, and it's wrong to address Beslan victims only," she has stated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 1, 2020 at 05:42 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.