On September 3, Russia marks the Day of Solidarity in the Fight Against Terrorism. People around the country commemorate the victims of terrorist attacks, including law enforcement officers who died during counterterrorist operations and on duty.

This commemorative date was established following the tragic events that occurred in September 2004, when 334 people, mostly children, died in a terrorist attack on a school in Beslan.

It is important to remember that terrorism is an unjustifiable crime, no matter when, for what reason, and who perpetrates the attack. Day after day, terrorists and their accomplices continue to cynically violate one of the fundamental human rights: the right to life. Anyone can become a victim of terrorism, regardless of citizenship, ethnicity, or religion.

We firmly believe that international counterterrorism cooperation should be organised strictly on the basis of international law, primarily the UN Charter, without political bias, double standards or hidden agendas. In particular, it is unacceptable to divide terrorists into “bad” and “not so bad” groups, justifying the latter as supposedly being freedom fighters.

We can defeat this evil only together, acting as a single united anti-terrorist front.

“Beslan: the mystery clarified one year later”, by Thierry Meyssan, Voltaire Network, 7 September 2005.