Russia

'Find them!'

A Comment on the Moscow Seizure of Hostages

W.G. The terrible events following the Moscow Musical Theatre seizure of hostages are only partly known in Western Europe. Chechen fighters had tried to draw the world's attention to the desperate situation in their country after Western politicians and the mass media had been trying to hush up the bloody conflict in the south of the Russian Federation and place it under a taboo. The USA has been in need of Russia, if not as a partner as an assistant, in their fight against international terrorism. So Putin and his government have failed to feel irritated by media reports of the atrocities the Russian army is committing in Chechnya.

Consequently, the Moscow events must be regarded as an act of desperation committed by men and women of a tortured and humiliated people. At the same time various people now doubt that the hostage takers' design really included the killing of the hostages. On the contrary - so this version reads - they had been prepared to let the theatre visitors go in exchange for their safe retreat, which, of course, was denied by the Russian government for tactical reasons. The full truth of what really happened will probably never be known, since the Russian government remains silent over a number of important details.

Nothing has changed since the collapse of communism as far as the self-image of the Russian administration is concerned. For this reason experts on the subject realised right from the beginning that this seizure of hostages would not end without a number of dead and that the truth would be covered up. It is notable in this context that the victims - with two exceptions - were the Russian government's doing and not the hostage takers'.

The 119 victims (another five severely injured individuals were still in hospitals on 31 October) could definitely have been avoided. For this reason Russian information policy is considered a scandal in Russia itself and abroad. The fact that foreign states were not informed can be explained with the necessity of keeping a state secret (Could it be that war gas was used?). But withholding the information and lying good and proper to one's own population is extremely unusual for a democratic state - and Russia regards itself as such. People are being released from the - - but have to return in view of continuing health problems - but the statistics of the 'cured' have been massaged! The great amount of disorganisation and misinformation that Western observers noted after the event was obviously systematic. And the information provided at a press conference after five full days had elapsed, did nothing to change this impression. At this point in time the fate of 180 hostages was still unknown! And nobody was able to find an answer to the question of what had happened to these people! Some of these individuals have been found in hospitals in the meantime or have been reported dead. The great majority, however, has disappeared and remains so! Are they being kept at a secret location for political reasons or for the sake of medical research?

As a result, the news service Granri.ru as well as the mass media REN-TV, Echo Mosckvy Vashno.ru and News.ru, in a joint action, published an urgent appeal to the public with the motto 'Find them!', in which they ask anybody who might in some way be able to help clarify the fate of the missing persons to get in touch with one of the organisations via electronic mail. The appeal was followed by a list of the missing people, which is being up-dated continuously. Where are they? What has happened to them? Their disappearance would probably have remained unnoticed if some media at least were not trying to help discover the truth. However, some media who have tried this in the past are now banned.

Already another country is carefully studying the Russian reaction to the seizure of hostages. Their desire is to become capable of reacting in the same way to similar events in their own country: The Chinese government - according to Interfax - showed 'extreme interest' in finding out the poison gas mixture used by the Russian special task force in order to be able to use that poison 'when required' in their own country. The Chinese leadership consider the action taken by the Russian leadership in the crisis as 'exemplary' - as the Chinese Press reported. It is necessary, they said, to study this model in order to copy it when the occasion arises. Officers of the security forces in the country received briefing that all the details of the procedure taken by the Russian Special Task Force were to be scrutinised, for it could be used to do away with the scourge of terrorism once and for all in some Chinese regions. They intended - so they said - to ask Moscow to export the gas used to China.

We sincerely hope that China will remain the only country that seeks to emulate the Russian model.