Huddled together,packed among hundreds of children, teachers and parents, are two sisters, eight and ten years old. The school gym is unrecognizable with explosives strung on a basketball hoop and men with guns pointed throughout the room.
The girls and those around them have not had food or water since the siege began two days ago. When anyone cries, the terrorists shoot above their heads to intimidate them. People are forced to drink their own urine. The stench, the stress and the confusion are overwhelming.
All of a sudden, chaos erupts: Guns are fired; the girls watch as their mother and 331 other people are killed.
Although this terrorist attack in a high school in Beslan, Russia, took place one year ago, the tragedy is far from over, and many questions remain unanswered.
From Sept. 1 to Sept. 3, 2004, terrorists linked to Chechnya held about 1300 students, parents and teachers hostage in a Beslan school. Sept. 1, the Day of Knowledge in Russia, is a celebration of the beginning of the new school year, thereby making the date of attack very significant.
But on the third day, something went wrong. For reasons still unclear, shots went off, and the subsequent firing resulted in numerous deaths and injuries.
This year, Sept. 1, 2 and 3 are marked as days of commemoration. Yet there are still two major issues to deal with: the trauma and suffering of the Beslan community and the unanswered questions as to why the incident got so out of hand.
Lisa Aronson, director of the Center for the Study of Mind and Human Interaction in the Medical School at the University and a clinical child psychologist, saw firsthand this summer the anguish and confusion that still remain a part of the Beslan population.
She spent about three weeks in the North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation working with the Union Women of the Don Region, a Russian nongovernmental organization that invited her to help train 24 psychosocial volunteers who would in turn help the people of Beslan.
"It was impressive seeing how this NGO operated," Aronson said. "It really operates like an excellent family organization. They protect each other, and they also have a role in protecting others. They're cheerful, earnest, competent and poor, and they also know how to blend pleasure and hard work."
The volunteers trained by the organization spanned all walks of life. Among them were teachers, housewives, community leaders, social workers and psychologists.
"Although they are at different skill levels, working with a traumatized and bereaved population was new for all of them," Aronson said. "And despite the fact that many had no formal training, the degree of caring and thoughtfulness these volunteers have is amazing. And most of all, their hearts are broken for the community, for what was versus what is."
The main goal of the volunteers, according to Aronson, is to repair the Beslan community and reduce the evident instability by visiting and talking with the victims.
"When there is deliberate, intentional violence by man against man, very particular feelings are generated," Aronson said. "The victimized population wants revenge. There's a breakdown of trust in your fellow man."
This lack of trust has altered the lives of those affected by the Beslan crisis.
"They stay in their homes," Aronson said. "There is a lot of suspicion. Fifty percent of the children that were held hostage did not return to school after the attack. Parents and children are fearful and mistrustful about school."
However, Aronson added, the Ministry of Education has not done anything to combat these feelings. She suggested having orientations to inform parents and students about new safety procedures and extra precautions that have been taken since September 2004.
Many have said this is only one of many ways the government has failed to deal with the crisis appropriately. Many of the victims say they are frustrated due to the large number of questions that remain unanswered by the government.
"How come explosives, guns, grenades and munitions were delivered at this school unnoticed and in advance?" said Yuri Urbanovich, a former professor at the Diplomatic Academy in Moscow and now a politics professor at the University. "How come a truck packed with heavily armed, masked, bearded militants could travel so easily through one of the most militarized regions in Russia crossing all checkpoints and descend at the school? It's inconceivable."
Many cite corruption among the local police, or perhaps even among school officials, as the reason behind the seemingly unnoticed arrival of the terrorists. Further questions remain as to the coordination behind the counterterrorist operation.
"The antiterrorist operation was poorly coordinated, and the question remains open whether many of the deaths were caused by Russian forces' use of indiscriminate weapons such as tank cannons and flame-throwers," Urbanovich said.
Both Aronson and Urbanovich, however, emphasized that Russian President Vladimir Putin was in a difficult situation.
"What can you do?" Urbanovich asked. "You're totally cornered, every step becomes extremely risky, and you carry a tremendous burden of responsibility. It is easy to scapegoat someone. But can you imagine how hard it was for Putin, on one hand, not to show weakness before the terrorists, and on the other, to avoid losses of human lives?"
Urbanovich highlighted incompetence, corruption and lack of coordination between federal and local authorities as fundamental problems in dealing with the Beslan crisis.
"Of course, Putin could have handled the situation better," Urbanovich said. "However, he was under heavy stress, and it's easy to give advice, hard to make decisions. And when terrorists keep almost 1300 children with their parents and teachers at gunpoint, they can dictate any conditions. You can imagine how frustrating and humiliating it was for the president of a great power, since any minor mistake under these circumstances might have lead to deadly consequences."
Aronson also said she believes that crisis management during the hostage crisis must have been extremely difficult.
"Most bureaucracies take a while to get it together, and this is America -- we have so much and we can't get it together [in the face of Hurricane Katrina]," Aronson said. "So imagine a country that's very poor, with a clunky bureaucracy. The ability to coordinate and manage this sort of crisis, especially in a country with corruption, high levels of alcoholism and a top-heavy bureaucracy, is challenging."
Nonetheless, many are convinced things should have been done differently. At the very least, victims want their questions answered. In an attempt to achieve this goal, mothers of victims created a nongovernmental organization called the Beslan Mothers about six months ago.
The group has become increasingly vocal through the trial of the one surviving terrorist from the Beslan attack; the others were, according to some sources, killed during the Sept. 3 firing. Still, a few of the Beslan Mothers and others suggest not all of the terrorists died but that some escaped and are still at large.
In any case, the one ongoing trial has helped the Beslan Mothers become more noticed. Their repeated requests to meet with Putin were finally acknowledged when Putin agreed to meet with them Sept 2 this year.
"The Beslan Mothers are becoming more and more empowered with time passing," Aronson said. "The meeting is a very good move."
The chosen date, however, seems odd and inappropriate to some.
"They were not happy that they were invited during the commemorations," Urbanovich said. "They're commemorating and grieving, and to leave Beslan during these days is psychologically very difficult for them. I don't know why Putin chose this date. It looks pretty strange to me."
Nonetheless, the meeting seems to have had some positive results. Upon returning from Moscow, Beslan Mothers Committee Chair Susanna Dudiyeva said she believed Putin. She added, however, that if the trust everyone has put in Putin is betrayed, he will no longer be trustworthy.
Putin has promised the mothers who lost children in the Beslan school hostage massacre that any official found to have been neglectful in the tragedy will be held accountable.
He pledged a full and public investigation.
All over Russia, cities observed a minute of silence marking the start of the disastrous rescue attempt in which many of the victims died.
"After this tragedy, the Knowledge Day celebrated in Russia on Sept. 1 became a different day," Urbanovich said. "This tragedy changed the spirit of this day throughout the country."
Read More
‘Don’t get too comfortable’: Words of wisdom for the incoming class
By Kate Johnson | YesterdayThese fourth-year students offer their reflections on their first year at the University.
Navigating the University from near and far
By Amanda Chung , Mai Hukuoka and Dana Douglas | 3 days agoAs the 2025-26 school year inches closer, three Life writers came together to discuss their different perspectives as in-state and out-of-state students.
The students behind first-year orientation
By Ingrid Gay | 5 days agoDespite the long days and demand of the job, this year’s OLs are excited to help students from near and far acclimate to Grounds.
