Posted on 02/17/2006 8:12:23 AM PST by Velveeta
VLADIKAVKAZ. Feb 16 (Interfax) - Five women who lost their children in the hostage taking at a Beslan secondary school remain on a hunger strike.
The Voice of Beslan Committee started the hunger strike on February 9.
One of the women has been hospitalized, Voice of Beslan representative Ella Kesayeva said.
Initially, seven women went on strike, but one of them had to quit two days later because of the illness of her child.
Kesayeva, who is taking part in the strike, said that doctors examine them several times a day.
The terrorist act in Beslan on September 1-3, 2004, killed 331 people.
Olga, Moscow
(Anonymous) 2006-02-17 03:11 pm UTC
We've got to initiate a recall of such members of parliament! <<<
Olga is correct.
And we need to do the same to our politicians.
"juliabogun"
Julia is a fine person, be sure to thank her for keeping us updated.
My prayers will continue for these brave mothers.
Velveeta, thank you for making a thread to the mothers from Beslan.
They will not survive much longer without food.
Politicians need to remember that they are elected to serve the people and can be un-elected.
Have you signed the petition for the Beslan Mothers Hunger strike?
I don't quite understand what's going on here; what do they want?
It did seem to me that Russia's response to Beslan was not particularly firm and that perhaps there were some people in the local government involved or at least turning a blind eye to the threat of local Muslim terrorism.
The curious thing is that no other government has given much support to the people of Beslan, either. It's almost as though this never happened. In the list of recent Muslim atrocities, Beslan is rarely mentioned, even though it was one of Islam's cruelest and most deliberate attacks.
I'm puzzled.
Thank you for being here and pinging others.
These women have already suffered so much.
I hope the world takes note.
>>>Yesterday they threatened me.
Who did they threaten?
That's exactly it. The mothers would like the truth. A new, thorough investigation to expose the truth.
The writer of the blog doesn't give specifics, she stated that she was threatened and made a statement at the police station.
Bless their hearts.
Oh, thanks, I understand now.
Why would the Russian central govt prevent this? I am puzzled, of course, because on the one hand, Putin has been under attack by Islamists but on the other hand he seems all too willing to deal with the Iranians and other Muslims who clearly want to wipe us all out (him included, but he doesn't seem to have realized that yet).
Or is Russia doing the "religion of peace" nonsense where everybody speaks about the Muslim population as if they wanted the same thing everybody else wants - that is, to get up in the morning, have a decent job, and enjoy a nice home and family - when the truth is that they don't give a darn about any of these things. Islam wants to kill the opposition, give the mullahs and royal families a steady supply of young women and gold, and let their bored unemployed young men hang out in squalid streets smoking hash. Not the kind of society any of us wants to live in, but the one that they create wherever they go.
Do you have an opinion on this? Why is it so quiet?
I'm more inclined to "kill 'em all and let Allah sort 'em out," but I defend another's right to disagree, as well as the right of these women - right or wrong - to speak out.
Awhile back the Beslan survivors and family members were in a single group called 'The Mothers of Beslan' or 'The Beslan Mothers'. This group attracted the attention of a faith healer named Grabovoi, who promised to bring their loved ones back from the dead if they would 'just believe'.
Grabovoi's activities brought a lot of negative publicity on the group, and they split into two groups: 'The Beslan Mothers' and 'The Voice of Beslan'. 'Voice of Beslan' has joined with some 'Nord-Ost' survivors and some relatives, and with some relatives of those killed on the two Russian airliners in 2005 and the apartment blasts in 1999.
The 'Beslan Mothers' as well as some family members and survivors of other terrorist attacks support the Russian government.
Neither group speaks for everyone who was in a terrorist attack or lost someone to a terrorist attack, but all groups have a right to their opinions.
I had a big thread on Grabovoi and his dealings with the 'Beslan Mothers' and the 'Nord-Ost' survivors, but it was pulled; probably correctly, given the name-calling that went on.
Here's something from just before the last entry on befree77's blog:
http://befree77.livejournal.com/9016.html
befree77 wrote @ 2006-02-17 20:31:00
Hunger strike in Beslan. Ninth day. Statement!
Say no to suspending the moratorium on capital punishment.
'The Voice of Beslan' public organization categorically is against Deputy Attorney General Nikolai Shepel's request for the highest measure of punishment - capital punishment. In this country there is a moratorium on capital punishment. We consider this a civilized measure. We are against becoming barbarians in response to barbarism. We are also categorically against the initiative by the 'Mothers of Beslan' committe, which is in solidarity with the Russian attorney general's office and asks for a Russia-wide referendum on cancelling this moratorium.
Beslan has been used for political purposes more than once. Covering himself in a cloak of OUR grief, Putin suspended regional elections. Now they want to once again use Beslan in a dirty way. After such pain and suffering we still understad that the court was a lynching. We demand the justice that the government fears more than anything. This is why they connive with the dark sides of human nature in order to drive us from our aims.
Thanks for the ping V. This horror is something that from a world away, I will never forget or forgive. My thoughts and prayers are with these women, their families, their entire town. Sad beyond words.
And befree77's response:Statement of the Yabloko party in support of the Women of Beslana
(anonymous) 2006-02-17 06:51 pm UTC
Respected Lena!
Recently our party passed this resolution. For greater effectiveness I will publish it tomorrow morning, however, I am sending it to you right now together with a low bow to the women and to you from Yavlinskiy.
From the office of the Russian Democratic Party Yabloko (Apple):
STATEMENT
Moscow, February 17th, 2006
On support of the women of Beslan. The Russian Democratic Party Yabloko is in solidary with the women of Beslan who declared a hunger strike on February 9th, 2006, as a sign of protest against the curtailment of the court trial of Nurpash Kulayev, the only terrorist remaining alive who participated in the seizure of the school in Beslan. The hearings were curtailed even though many important witnesses were not questioned.
Today Alma Khamitseva, Emilia Dzambulatova, Svetlana Margiyeva, Marina Melikova, Zalina Diova, Ella Kesayeva, and Emma Tagayeva-Betrozova are starving. All of them are from the organization 'The Voice of Beslan'.
The court of law in Vladikavkaz has been the only public process in investigating the circumstances of the tragedy in Beslan. The parliamentary commission produced no results during its one and a half years of work, and showed its lack of independence (from the government).
The Yabloko party supports the demands of the hunger strikers for legal and just court hearings and demands the renewal of the trial in full.
Chairman
Grigoriy Yavlinskiy
Re: Statement of the Yabloko party in support of the women of Beslan
befree77
2006-02-17 06:55 pm UTC
A huge thank you for the support! For the political support that is especially important right at this moment!
But! Because of my terrible mistakes you're a little mistaken. Emilia's surname is not Dzambulatova, but Bzarova. Dzambulatovna is her patronymic (middle name based on her father's given name). Can this be corrected?
Respectfully, Lena
Great question, but I'm afraid I don't know the answer.
When the events of Beslan unfolded, I remember thinking: "Ohhhhbaby, those terrorists messed with the wrong Dude (Putin)."
I was waiting to see swift justice imposed by the "Iron Fist" on those who would do such a thing to innocent young children.
Nothing has happened, less one brief uninformative trial of a single captured Islamist.
Why is that?
When I heard about these mothers who have lost their heart and soul... on a hunger strike to get answers, it touched me deeply and here we are.
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