Beslan questions

John B. Dunlop is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and an expert on Russia's two wars in Chechnya, nationalism in the former Soviet Union, Russian cultural politics, and the politics of religion in Russia. He is the author of numerous books on Russia and Chechnya, examining the management by Russian authorities of the two main hostage crises since the beginning of the second war in Chechnya in 1999.

Deutsche Welle: Mr. Dunlop, your working paper is called "September 2004: Beslan Terrorist Incident - New Findings." Could you please summarize what these new findings are?

Dunlop: In the paper I updated the information I supplied in my 2006 book, "The 2002 Dubrovka and 2004 Beslan Hostage Crises." In the new working paper, published by the Center on Democracy Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford University, I looked at some questions I hadn't been able to resolve in my book. In particular I was looking at who initiated the storming of the school building, the origin of the first two explosions which have been heavily debated in the Russian media, and also I focused on the issue of negotiations. That is, whether a negotiated settlement to the siege in the school building would have been possible.

What are your conclusions to these questions?

In my paper I summarize the research of a number of Russian liberal commentators but also more conservative figures. From their research it appears that the first two explosions which led to the storming of the building were the result of shots taken at the school by Russian security forces.

What were your other sources of information apart from those open sources such as newspapers, web pages etc.?

I don't have any other sources other than those in the Russian media but I also read widely through the Western media. But as I said before, sources within the Russian media, in particular the Novaya Gazeta newspaper which has done a tremendous job investigating this issue, were extremely helpful.

You said that the questions surrounding the first two explosions were among the most important. Why is that?

The official Russian media and parliamentary organizations had insisted that the first two explosions were caused by the terrorists, that is that the bombs set up by the terrorists had gone off inside the school building and as a result of the investigations by the sources I mentioned, it became clear that the explosions were caused from outside the building - and there is video footage of this - by the Russian Special Forces.

Could international research help to shed more light on more unanswered questions?

Yes, of course. I think that would be very useful but given the authoritarian political system in Russia it would be very difficult.

Why do you think the authorities in Russia, particularly the Kremlin, don't want to reveal the whole truth about Beslan?

Because I think the truth doesn't make them look very good. It seems clear that the priorities for Mr. Putin and his special forces were to, first of all, protect the lives of Russian troops there at the school. Second of all, to kill the terrorists and thirdly, only thirdly, to save the hostages.

How can your paper help the ex-hostages and the families of those involved in the Beslan tragedy?

I think my paper helps by pulling together a huge amount of information that was available in the Russian liberal media and bringing that to the attention of the western public, and thus it helps groups such as the Mothers of Beslan to further their argument that the Putin regime used excessive force and committed crimes according to Russian law.

Interview: Mikhail Bushuev (nda)
Editor: Rob Mudge