Beslan School Hostage Crisis (2004) Done by:

Chan Wei

Keith Goh

Lim Zhong Hui

Wong Qin Jiang

BACKGROUND INFO

- A town in North Ossetia- Population of 35,550 (2002 census)- Ethnic groups in the town:a)Ossetians (82%)b)Russians (13%)

The Town: Beslan

- Comintern Street SNO, one of seven schools in Beslan- Had about 60 teachers and over 800 students- Became famous around the world on the fateful day of September 1, 2004

The School

TIMELINE

1 September 2004• Referred to as “First September”• Children accompanied by parents and relatives to attend ceremonies hosted by the school

At 09:30 AM, 34 armed men and women stormed the school• 50 people escaped•~1200 taken hostage

Day 1

Terrorist Action• The attackers singled out the 15–20 strongest adults that might present a threat• Took them to the cafeteria, where an explosion took place• A security cordon was established around the school• A line of three apartment buildings facing the school gym was evacuated and taken over by special forces

Day 1

To deter rescue attempts• Improvised explosive devices • Tripwires• Kill 50 hostages for every member killed• Kill 20 hostages for every gunman• Blow up school if government forces attack

Day 1

Russian government•Would not use force to rescue hostages• Negotiations towards a peaceful resolution

United Nations Security Council• Council members demanded “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages of the terrorist attack”

Day 1

Negotiation between Roshal and hostage-takers proven unsuccessful• Refused to allow food, water, medicine to be taken in for the hostages and the removal of dead bodies from school

Russian government downplayed numbers, stating there were 354 hostages and 15-20 militants in school• Angered hostage-takers

Day 2

Vladmire Putin makes first public comment•Main task: Save the lives and health of those who became hostages

Protests erupted• Signs reading “Putin! Release our children! Meet their demands!” and “Putin! There are at least 800 hostages!”• Demands referred to formal independence to Chechnya

Day 2

At 13:00, medical workers allowed to remove bodies outside school buildings• Agreed with the attackers• Terrorists open fired at them

Day 3

Two explosions in gym• Many died outright• Many injured• Demolished part of gym, allowing ~30 to escape alive

Gym roof collapses• Many hostages crushed under rubble

Day 3

Russian specialist forces stormed building• Militants moved hostages to other parts of school• Used them as human shields• Many hostages were being shot by troops• Blew holes in school walls for more hostages to escape

Russian forces claimed they had most of the school under controlAt 18:50, fighting ends• All terrorists and hostages killed

Day 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4YKxBFUlMI&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfvcESPR-tg&feature=related

The Event

Territorial Terrorism (Chechnya)

-The Chechens originate from Muslims and have lived in the Caucasus region for centuries, consistently resisting Soviet Control-In WWII, Josef Stalin, accused the Chechens of co-operating with the Nazis, forcibly deporting the whole population to Kazakhstan-Thousands died and the survivors could only return to their homeland after Stalin died in 1953

Reasons behind Attack

In 1991 (fall of SU), Chechnya with 14 other republics declared themselves independent of RussiaSurprisingly, Moscow granted all 14 independence, save Chechnya.In 1994, Boris Yeltsin sent Russian troops to take back control A war ensued till 1996, in which 80,000 diedChechnya was then granted only partial independence

An Ongoing Conflict…

ACTS OF TERROR (increasing)

Hatred

WarsAnimosity

Xenophobia:Orthodox

Christians VS Islamic Cechens

Full independenceCechens want

to run own country but

Russia does not allow it.

In a Nutshell..

Revenge• Much bad

blood between both sides already

• Chechens have suffered under Russia for so long

Push for their cause

• Draw attention to Chechnya’s plight

• Capture the attention of the whole world

Stupid?

• VERY• Nearly all

died• Alienated

the world, moderates, and other Muslims

Why Attack the School?

Comparison between these terrorist attacks and others

Learning pointsProblems identified•Allegations of incompetence and rights violations•Disinformation and suppression of information•Government response

Learning pointsAllegations of incompetence and rights violations• Police roadblocks on the way to Beslan were removed shortly

before the terrorist attack and many blamed rampant corruption allowing militants to simply bribe their way through the checkpoints• Storming of school was ruthless• Claims cited the use of heavy weapons such as tanks and Shmel

flamethrowers • 80% of hostages were killed by indiscriminate Russian fire • Authorities failed to organize the siege properly, failing to keep

the scene secure from entry by civilians• Emergency services were not prepared during 52 hours of the

crisis• Government unable to identify whose child was alive or dead

Learning pointsDisinformation and suppression of information• 83% of polled Russians believed that the government was

hiding at least a part of the truth about the Beslan events from them• Widespread media censorship of event

• Was not broadcast live by the three major state-owned Russian television networks• Main state owned broadcasters did not interrupt their

regular programming following the school seizure• After explosions and gunfire started on the third

day, NTV Russia (the main television channel owned by Gazprom) started to broadcast a World War II soap opera

Learning pointsGovernment Response• Government stated that tanks and other heavy

weaponry were used only after surviving hostages escaped from the school, contradicting eye-witnesses• Eye-witness: Hostages were seriously wounded and

could not possibly escape while others were human shields• National commission in Moscow: "instead of calling

for self-criticism in the wake of the disaster, the commission recommended the Russian government to crack down harder."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beslanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beslan_school_hostage_crisis#Motives_and_demandshttp://incogman.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/beslan-montage.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beslan_school_hostage_crisis#Day_one

Bibliography