I’m in quite a bit of a mood for Russia at the moment after finishing Kremlin Rising. The book went into detail about Putin’s life and how he has consolidated power to the Kremlin since being elected, but it both started and ended with the massacre at Beslan School No 1. The authors themselves were WaPo correspondents and in Beslan during the hostage crisis, and they go into great detail about the actions of both the Chechen terrorists and the outright corruption of the Russian security forces, of which the latter is quite extensive and relatively untold since it isn’t very politically correct to criticize Russia about it with regards to Beslan. But the rabbit hole goes pretty deep, and the Beslan Mother’s Committee is speaking out against the government for its absolutely atrocious approach to the investigation.

The Beslan Mothers Committee has addressed foreign heads of states asking for political asylum in any country where citizens???????? rights are respected. The statement was read out on air by the Ekho Moskvy radio station Thursday.

???????We, parents and relatives of the terrorist act????????s victims, have lost hope for a just investigation of the tragedy????????s cause,??????? Ella Tetayeva, a Committee activist, was quoted by the Gazeta.ru website as saying.

???????We shall not live in a country where a human life costs nothing. We are asking for political asylum in any country where human rights are respected,??????? Tetayeva said.

The Beslan Mothers Committee unites female relatives of last year????????s school siege in North Ossetia which claimed 331 lives. Their mission they say is to unite all mothers across the world against war and terror. The organization has about 200 activists, according to its official website.

The Beslan tragedy marks its first anniversary on Thursday, Sept. 1. The Beslan mothers have repeatedly said the investigation in progress is too inefficient and slow. The officials who allowed the terrorists to enter the school with all the weapons, and those who ordered the beginning of a counter operation with hundreds of hostages in the building should bear responsibility together with the terrorists who performed the attack, the Mothers say.

Last week they openly blamed President Putin for the tragedy.

The outright official corruption in the government’s handling of the investigation into Beslan has been dismal, from beginning to end. Local officials bought off which allowed the terrorists entry and fooling the nation by broadcasting on state media that only a few dozen hostages were taken (until the truth was leaked) are a token few of the ways that the Kremlin operated.

But, of course, the government can’t allow itself to look bad. That’s why the investigation into the only surviving terrorist, Nurpasha Kulayev, is being conducted as a criminal investigation. By doing so, an inquiry into the exact actions of the Russian government will not be conducted. No senior officials will be fired. No changes will be made.

It is terribly important that the truth come out about Russian actions, because the people of Beslan think that the actions taken by their government were wrong and led to the deaths of their children. In fact, that may have been the case, as more and more information is making its way out. There are reports from people inside and out that the government used flame throwers and even fired a tank shell in its counter-terrorism operation, an action that likely triggered the events that followed.

In order to get a complete picture of exactly what happened at Beslan, it is necessary to carry out a full investigation into the actions of the Russian government, but Putin won’t let it happen because a real investigation will lead to real evidence that will embarrass his administration.

Additional Reading: Prayers for Beslan, One Year Later, and Kesayev: Beslan Questions.