To: President of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Mr. N. A. Nazarbayev
From: RK Citizen Svetlana Nikolaevna Gubareva

Honored Nursultan Abishevich,

On October 23–26 of 2002 my family and I were among the hostage audience at the musical «Nord-Ost» in the Moscow theater at Dubrovka. As a result of an action by Russian special services my family perished. It is awful to fall asleep, holding a live and healthy daughter by her hand, and to come to when your child is already dead.

I am extremely thankful to all of our embassy employees in Moscow who helped me and supported me with their attention and sympathy.

Many correct words at the time were expressed about support and help for those suffering from the terror act, about the necessity of fighting terrorism. But what has really occurred?

For over two months I lay in Moscow city hospitals. The firm for which I worked paid sick leave from the tenth lowest calculated level (noticeably lower than my average monthly pay) — not as if it the damage to my health were due to forces outside my control, but as if I had negligently gotten my feet wet and became ill.

Upon finding out that we were among the hostages, my sister, R. N. Ishchenko, flew to Moscow on October 26th, 2002. At first the city administration of Karaganda promised to pay for her trip. Returning after the funeral of my daughter Alexandra Letyago, my sister went to the city Akimat for the promised help. A bureaucrat there refused to pay, since she was not a close relative such as my mother — though both my parents died about ten years ago. In answer to her question regarding the help which you, Nursultan Abishevich, promised to me as a former hostage, she was told that all which was possible had already been done by the Kazakhstan embassy in Moscow, and that it was now Russia's turn.

My official request for help from the aid society «Ispat Karmet», mailed to Mr. G. M. Prezent, and at whose office I presented myself in person, has still received no reply.

An investigation carried out by Kazakhstan secret services led to eavesdropping on my telephone conversations and an inquiry into my past. Employees of Kazakhstan intelligence went to my neighbors, asking about my moral state, comparing me to a kind of prostitute or terrorist.

I went to the Kazakhstan ministry of foreign affairs with questions about this investigation, but I was sent from office to office until in the end they recommended that I make an inquiry with the government of Russia in Moscow.

I have tried to return to work, but due to my physical and psychological condition I had to resign.

While investigating the terror act at Dubrovka, the Russian government has not even tried to maintain a semblance of law. There is obvious criminal negligence by the Russian special forces, who were guilty in allowing the seizure of the hostages in the first place, and negligent in organizing their liberation — especially their evacuation and first aid. Even after more than a year, this negligence has yet to be brought before a criminal court.

They took away my daughter's primary right — her right to live, and took from me my purpose in life, my happiness, my health, and my hope for a happy old age. My Sasha died on the territory of a neighboring government, not from terrorists' bullets or from an explosion, but from the actions of chemical weapons, which were used by the Russian special forces during the storming of the theater.

How could it happen, that the special forces of Russia, in the middle of their own capital, could let terrorists into the theater? Who were the organizers of this terror act, and who financed it?

Why was the decision made by the Russian authorities to use gas and storm the theater at the very moment that there was a real chance for freeing the hostages by negotiation? How legal was the usage of narcotic drugs in this situation?

Why were the victims' causes of death on the death certificates listed as an «aggregate of factors», such as dehydration (a crude lie!), lack of food, stress, serious chronic illnesses, and «long-term uncomfortable positioning», while the «special drug» was not seriously examined as a cause of injury («it has but a moderate connection with the cause of death»), and haven no experts been allowed to examine the data on its presence in the victims?

Of what gas «safety» does Mr. V. V. Putin speak, when in the opinion specialists the usage of the pharmacologicals in this gas leads to disturbances of liver, kidney, and lung functions, as well as chemical hepatopathy and a great probability of death if an antidote is not quickly used?

Why was there no medical aid made ready for the victims before the special operation, which led to the deaths of 130 people? Why were all the terrorists — who could have given information on the organization of the terror act — killed without exception, and not simply arrested and held for investigation?

Why did not a single terrorist set off a bomb, despite the fact that the action of the sleep gas took longer than ten minutes? Were there even any explosives in the theater?

Why did the Russian powers hide the fact that also taking part in the seizure of the theater was one Khanpash Terkibayev — an agent of the Russian FSB, and who afterwards supposedly died in an automobile accident? These are but a few of the questions to which I would like the right to receive answers.

On July 16th of this year my daughter would have been fifteen, but SHE WILL ALWAYS BE THIRTEEN. Who is at fault? Who is responsible? Will the Republic of Kazakhstan take some actions because of the death of Citizen Alexandra Letyago? Will my government protect my rights and interests?

Svetlana Gubareva, a citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan, former hostage

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