European court rules Russia mishandled Beslan school siege: HumSub.TV
European court rules Russia mishandled Beslan school siege: HumSub.TV: Russian authorities breached European human rights laws when they stormed a school seized by militants in 2004, contributing to the deaths of more than 300 hostages, the continent’s rights court ruled on Thursday.
Among the more than 330 dead were at least 180 children. A further 750 people were wounded when security forces used “tank cannon, grenade launchers and flamethrowers” while trying to free more than 1,000 hostages at the school in the southern Russian town of Beslan.
This, said the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, “contributed to the casualties among the hostages” and did not respect the hostages’ “right to life” by failing to restrict lethal force to what was “absolutely necessary”.
The court also said Russian authorities had been aware of a possible attack on public places such as schools but had not prepared sufficiently. “While certain security measures had been taken, in general the preventive measures in the present case could be characterised as inadequate,” it said.
Russia’s government said it would appeal against the ruling. “We cannot agree with such a conclusion in a country that has been a victim of terrorist attacks multiple times,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
“Unfortunately the list of such countries is growing and is unfortunately growing regularly, so such conclusions for a country that endured an attack are absolutely unacceptable,” Peskov said.
A lawyer who represented victims of the siege and their families said they had only achieved a partial victory, and the focus would now be on trying to hold to account Russian officials over their failings.
“We are not entirely happy with the decision,” said Sergei Knyazkin, a lawyer for campaign group the Beslan Mothers Committee. “Three million euros in compensation is not enough, because you cannot measure the death of children in such figures.”
“The victims insist that the authorities carry the blame for the badly-conducted operation to free the hostages in Beslan,” Knyazkin told Reuters.
Militants demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya seized some 1,100 children, parents and teachers as they celebrated the first day of the school year in September 2004. On Sept. 3 the siege ended in a series of explosions and a bloody shootout when Russian forces moved in.
European court rules Russia mishandled Beslan school siege: HumSub.TV
European court rules Russia mishandled Beslan school siege: HumSub.TV
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Introduction
HumSub TV is Pakistan’s leading forwarding-thinking, edutainment channel, aimed at promoting and upholding peace, interfaith harmony and social responsibility within Pakistan through informative and insightful programmes and documentaries; analytical interviews on issues pertaining to social, economic, legal and environmental set-up; dedicated shows to canvass and thereby promote the culture and heritage of Pakistan and in-depth coverage of national and international news.
HumSub TV is the first channel and thus a pioneer within its own right that mainly focuses on emphasising the “Rights” as well as the “Obligations” of the citizens in light of the Constitution of Pakistan, numerous International declarations signed by the Government and various laws that have been promulgated over the years but are not in the knowledge of the common citizen.
HumSub TV also aims to enter into bilateral agreements with other countries to promote not only their culture, heritage and tourism, but also their educational and medical facilities.
Following the successful launch of HumSub TV’s head office in Blue Area, Islamabad; the bureau office has been set up in Lahore.
Vision
To project positive image building of Pakistan and inculcate nationalism, as per the vision of the founder of the nation, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah.
Mission
HumSub TV is resolute about the promotion of a pluralistic, inclusive and egalitarian society in Pakistan where all citizens are allowed to contribute to promote interfaith harmony, peace and collective wisdom in the social, political and economic development of Pakistan and to encourage critical and lateral thinking in the society. HumSub TV strives to make a positive contribution to this end.
HumSub TV’s Theme
HumSub TV, Pakistan’s first EDUTAINMENT Channel, has been set up for not only those audience residing in Pakistan or overseas but the international community on the whole. The vision of the channel is to project positive image building of Pakistan and inculcate nationalism as per the vision of the founder of the nation.
HumSub TV strives to make a positive contribution to this end by promoting pluralism, inclusiveness and egality in Pakistan and give voice to the suppressed. It endeavors to act as a positive catalyst for social change and Pakistani nationalism. It envisions providing a platform for airing critical and lateral thinking and collective wisdom by inviting positive minded intellectuals and opinion forming individuals for the promotion of interfaith harmony and peace in the social, political and economic development of Pakistan.
Whereas the channel airs upbeat edutainment programmes, it, nonetheless, has the primary objective of countering negative anti-Pakistan regional and international propaganda as well as advancing fundamental rights as encapsulated in the Constitution of Pakistan.
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