Federation Council approves amendments to the Law on Combating Terrorism which concern the burying of terrorists

The Federation Council (the upper house of the Russian parliament) on Wednesday approved the amendments to the Law on Combating Terrorism. According to these amendments, "the bodies of terrorists killed in operations to thwart a terrorist action shall not be returned and no information shall be given about the place of their burying." The law has been sent to the Russian President to sign it.

The amendments have been supported by 133 senators, two were against and seven abstained.

The text of the document containing the amendments to the Law on Combating Terrorism was presented to the senators by the head of the committee for defence and security, Viktor Ozerov. According to him, the terrorists killed in anti-terrorist operations prior to the enactment of this law will not be handed to the relatives for burying either.

Viktor Ozerov said that the law complied with International Law. "We, as legislators, determined limitations concerning the burying of terrorists," explained the head of the committee. Speaking about the prohibition of telling the relatives where the terrorists are buried, the senator explained that "the place of their burial may become a place for political propaganda and provocations."