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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 12:05 am
Time: 12:05 am
Results for hostage taking
4 results foundAuthor: IKV Pax Christi Title: Kidnapping is Booming Business: A Lucrative Political Instrument for Armed Goups Operating in Conflict Zones Summary: In 2001, Pax Christi Netherlands published a report about the kidnapping industry in Colombia. The report had two objectives. The first was to demonstrate that, in countries such as Colombia, the kidnapping practices of the illegal armed groups provided the financial fuel for the conflict. Secondly, the report was intended as an indictment. Kidnapping was presented as a violation of human rights and, within the context of a war or internal armed conflict, in many cases as a violation of international humanitarian law. Seven years on, and the number of kidnappings worldwide has risen even more. The crime has lost nothing of its potency as a cause of human tragedy. Kidnapping is a serious violation of the most elementary right of mankind: the right to a dignified existence. We set out in this report to provide a brief summary of the kidnapping issue on a global level, in particular of kidnapping in conflict regions and fragile states. The questions to be answered are concerned with the financial and political requirements that the kidnappers set, and with the impacts of these practices on the conflict and its perpetuation, and on the performance of the state. Following on from the previous report, the emphasis of this investigation is on kidnapping and extortion in Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. Firstly, we wished to ascertain how the kidnapping issue has developed in these countries in the past ten years. This raised the question of whether there was any relationship between the kidnapping practices in Colombia, and trends in this crime in the neighbouring countries. Another primary question regarding Colombia was concerned with the role of the kidnapping theme in peace talks and other dialogue between illegal armed groups and the Colombian government, and with the possible role of the theme in any future peace talks. The final chapter investigates the kidnapping-related policies of the EU member states, and as far as possible we compare their policies with their actions in practice in recent years. The main question is whether there is any European consensus on how to deal with kidnapping, and how to suppress the phenomenon. What obstacles are there to a joint approach to the kidnapping issue? Details: Utrecht, The Netherlands: IKV Pax Christi, 2008. 66p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 9, 2011 at: http://www.ikvpaxchristi.nl/files/Documenten/LA%20Colombia/English%20Colombia/Eng%20brochure_Opmaak%201.pdf Year: 2008 Country: International URL: http://www.ikvpaxchristi.nl/files/Documenten/LA%20Colombia/English%20Colombia/Eng%20brochure_Opmaak%201.pdf Shelf Number: 122328 Keywords: ExtortionHostage TakingKidnapping |
Author: Pax Christi Netherlands Title: The Kidnap Industry in Colombia: Our Business? Summary: Today, almost one country in four around the world is affected by the crime of kidnapping. Colombia has been at the head of this sad list for a number of years. Even mass kidnappings and the kidnapping of small children have become part of this cynical form of financing a war. Taking hostage of unarmed, defenceless individuals not only paralyzes the individual victim, but also affects the psychological and economic integrity of an entire family. Moreover it creates an impossible moral dilemma for the individuals, companies and governments involved when ransom is demanded. On the one hand, paying ransom seems the only way to save the life of the victim. On the other hand, it contributes directly to the war. Pax Christi Netherlands has developed contacts over a large number of years with a wide variety of civil sectors in Colombia, especially the churches. We had to witness at close quarters many personal tragedies of the kidnapping of a loved one. The initiative to finally force an open discussion on the role of European companies and governments was suggested by various of our Colombian partners. One third of the abducted foreigners in Colombia are European, and together they account for a huge amount of ransom. While Europe is talking about the support of the European Union in dialogue and peace initiatives in Colombia, it fosters the war through ransom and extortion money at the same time. The subject is surrounded by a wall of silence. In Colombia this can be explained by sheer fear. All parties involved - Colombians and foreigners alike - have their own reasons to keep silent or to hide the reality behind smoke screens and blatant lies. This, combined with a general climate of corruption and lawlessness, is the main reason that no effective action has yet been taken in Colombia. The traditional code of silence did little to help the production of this report. Less easy to understand is why the crime of hostage taking is not denounced more explicitly in international human rights circles. This report - far from pretending to be complete - is addressed to both Colombians and Europeans when dealing with the dilemmas mentioned above. Far from condemning the decisions taken by anyone who is confronted with the crime of kidnapping, the document seeks to stimulate discussion about this growing form of terrorism. It is high time for the development of a common strategy. But above all, this initiative should be an incentive for the international community to devote more attention to kidnapping as a gross violation of human rights. Details: Utrecht: Pax Christi Netherlands, 2001. 121p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 10, 2014 at: www.paxvoorvrede.nl Year: 2001 Country: Colombia URL: www.paxvoorvrede.nl Shelf Number: 133254 Keywords: ExtortionHostage TakingKidnapping (Colombia)Ransom |
Author: Australia. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Title: Martin Place Siege: Joint Commonwealth - New South Wales review Summary: The Martin Place siege on 15 and 16 December last year was both an atrocity and a tragedy. The review found that there were no major failings of intelligence or process in the lead up to the siege. It is nonetheless important we learn whatever lessons At around 8.33 am on 15 December 2014, Man Haron Monis walked into the Lindt Cafe, on the corner of Martin Place and Phillip Street, in the heart of Sydney's commercial district. Shortly thereafter, he produced a gun and ordered that the customers and staff be locked inside as hostages. After a standoff lasting around 17 hours, the siege ended in gunfire. Three people died: two hostages and Monis. Several of the other hostages sustained injuries. The Martin Place siege has deeply affected the community. The Review analysed the events that led up to the siege and the range of interactions Monis had with agencies including the criminal justice system, beginning with his arrival in Australia. It asked: - were the decisions of government agencies in respect of Monis reasonable given the laws and policies in place when the decisions were made? - should decision-makers have had other information before them when making their decisions? Overall, the Review has found that the judgments made by government agencies were reasonable and that the information that should have been available to decision-makers was available. Changes to laws and policies in relation to national security involve judgments about public safety and personal liberty - i.e. the risk framework within which society operates. We expect that public discussion and consultation about these judgments will continue over the coming months as further information about the circumstances of the conduct of the Martin Place siege operation becomes available. However, the Review has concluded that some modest changes are needed to our laws and government processes to mitigate the public security risks exposed by this case. Some of these changes are already being made. For example, new bail arrangements have now been introduced in New South Wales. New programmes to counter violent extremism in the community are being developed. Other initiatives, such as a review of immigration policies, laws and capabilities in relation to visa applications should be pursued. The Review's recommendations would maintain broadly the current balance in our existing regulatory and legislative framework. The Review's decision to not propose steps beyond this is based on our view that introducing substantial further controls involves a larger choice about the sort of society we wish to live in and is properly the province of the public and our elected representatives. Any further controls would be based on judgments as to whether increases in policing, surveillance and controls and the related extra burden on the taxpayer and intrusions into Australians' lives would make us appreciably safer. Details: Canberra: Australian Government, 2015. 90p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 12, 2015 at: https://www.pm.gov.au/sites/default/files/media/martin_place_siege_review.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Australia URL: https://www.pm.gov.au/sites/default/files/media/martin_place_siege_review.pdf Shelf Number: 134913 Keywords: Deadly Force (Australia)Decision MakingExtremistsHostage TakingNational SecurityViolent Extremism |
Author: Human Rights Watch Title: "You Can Still See Their Blood": Executions, Indiscriminate Shootings, and Hostage Taking by Opposition Forces in Latakia Countryside Summary: h r w . o r g D eath announcement identifying 16 members of the al-Qusaybeh family and two other Barouda residents killed on August 4, - 2013 Private Death announcement identifying seven members of the Shihadeh family as well as one member of Ibrahim family from Nbeiteh killed on August 4, 2013 Private Death announcement identifying eight members of the Darwish family from al-Hamboushieh killed on August 4, 2013 Private (front cover) Site of Safwan Hassan Shebli's execution on August 4 in his home in Barouda. - 2013 Human Rights Watch On August 4, 2013 fighters from several armed opposition groups began a large scale operation in Latakia countryside, occupying more than 10 Alawite villages in a matter of hours. The operation lasted until August 18 w hen government forces regained full control over the area. During the operation opposition forces killed at least 190 civilians, executing or unlawfully killing at least 67 of them. The evidence Human Rights Watch has collected strongly suggests they were killed on the first day of the operation, August 4. At the time of writing opposition groups continued to hold over 200 civilians hostage, the vast majority of them women and children. Based on an onsite investigation and interviews with over 35 individuals i ncluding residents who survived the offensive, emergency response staff, and fighters and activists with both the government and the opposition, this report documents extremely serious abuses committed by opposition forces during this operation. Survivors and witnesses described how opposition forces executed residents and opened fire on civilians, sometimes killing or attempting to kill entire families who were either in their homes unarmed or fleeing from the attack, and at other times executing adult male family members, and holding female relatives and children hostage. The evidence collected by Human Rights Watch strongly suggests that the abuses committed by the opposition forces during the operation rise to the level of crimes against humanity. The scale and organization of these crimes indicate that they were systematic as well as being planned in part as an attack on a civilian population. Governments, companies, and individuals should immediately stop selling or supplying weapons, ammunition, materiel, and funds to the groups responsible for these abuses, given compelling evidence that they have committed crimes against humanity, until they stop committing these crimes and perpetrators are held to account. Human Rights Watch urges the UN Security Council to provide a measure of justice to these and other victims of abuse by all sides by referring the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Details: New York: HRW, 2013. 113p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 2, 2016 at: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/syria1013_ForUpload.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Syria URL: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/syria1013_ForUpload.pdf Shelf Number: 139942 Keywords: ExecutionsHomicidesHostage TakingHuman Rights Abuses |