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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 2:40 am
Time: 2:40 am
Results for ransom
6 results foundAuthor: Ploch, Lauren Title: Piracy Off the Horn of Africa Summary: Pirate attacks in the waters off Somalia and the Horn of Africa, including those on U.S.-flagged vessels, have brought renewed international attention to the long-standing problem of maritime piracy. According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), at least 219 attacks occurred in the region in 2010, with 49 successful hijackings. Somali pirates have attacked ships in the Gulf of Aden, along Somalia’s eastern coastline, and outward into the Indian Ocean. Using increasingly sophisticated tactics, these pirates now operate as far east as the Maldives in good weather, and as far south as the Mozambique Channel. Hostage taking for ransom has been a hallmark of Somali piracy, and the IMB reports that more hostages, over 1,180, were taken at sea in 2010 than any year since records began; over 86% of those were taken by Somali pirates. The increase in pirate attacks off the Horn of Africa is directly linked to continuing insecurity and the absence of the rule of law in war-torn Somalia. The absence of a functioning central government there provides freedom of action for pirates and remains the single greatest challenge to regional security. The lack of law enforcement capacity creates a haven where pirates hold hostages during ransom negotiations that can last for months. Some allege that the absence of Somali coastal security authorities has allowed illegal international fishing and maritime dumping to go unchecked, which in turn has undermined coastal communities’ economic prospects, providing economic or political motivation to some pirates. The apparent motive of most pirate groups, however, is profit, and piracy has proven to be lucrative. Somalia’s “pirate economy” has grown substantially in the past two years, with ransoms now averaging more than $5 million. These revenues may further exacerbate the ongoing conflict and undermine regional security. The annual cost of piracy to the global economy ranges between $7 and $12 billion, by some estimates. The U.N Security Council has issued a series of resolutions since 2008 to facilitate an international response, which is coordinated by a multilateral Contact Group. The Council has authorized international navies to counter piracy both in Somali territorial waters and ashore, with the consent of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG), and has also authorized, as an exemption to the U.N. arms embargo on Somalia, support for the TFG security forces. Counter-piracy patrols by multinational naval forces near Somalia are intended to compliment mariners’ self-protection measures. Increased patrols and proactive efforts by ships have reduced attacks in the Gulf of Aden, but the U.N. Secretary-General warns that “while the effectiveness of naval disruption operations has increased and more pirates have been arrested and prosecuted, this has not stopped piracy. The trend of the increased levels of violence employed by the pirates as well as their expanding reach is disconcerting.” Some suggest that a perception of impunity exists among pirates and financiers; nine out of ten Somali pirates apprehended by naval patrols are reportedly released because no jurisdiction is prepared to prosecute them. The United States has sought to prevent, disrupt, and prosecute Somali piracy through a range of interagency and multilateral coordination and enforcement mechanisms. The Obama Administration has initiated a new “dual track” policy toward Somalia, where some contend that international efforts to build a credible central authority have failed. Congress has examined options to address piracy both diplomatically and militarily. Congress appropriates funding and provides oversight for policy initiatives with implications for piracy in the region, including maritime security assistance to regional governments, support to peacekeeping operations in Somalia, and funding for U.S. Navy operations. Congress continues to debate options for addressing pirate safe havens and improving the prospects for prosecution of pirate suspects. Details: Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2011. 47p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 24, 2011 at: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R40528.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Africa URL: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R40528.pdf Shelf Number: 121821 Keywords: Hijacking of ShipsMaritime CrimeMaritime SecurityPirates/PiracyRansom |
Author: Detotto, Claudio Title: Understanding Ransom Kidnapping and Its Duration Summary: What factors drive the length of a kidnapping experience? A theoretical model is developed to conduct comparative statics. A unique data set covering all kidnappings for ransom in Sardinia between 1960 and 2010 is analyzed. Factors related to the ability to pay and cost of abduction matter. The effect of policies aimed at deterring the crime have mixed effects on its duration. Details: Sassari, Italy: University of Sassari and CRENoS, 2012. 29p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 28, 2013 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2104265 Year: 2012 Country: Sardinia URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2104265 Shelf Number: 131505 Keywords: Kidnapping (Sardinia) Ransom |
Author: Human Rights Watch Title: Yemen's Torture Camps: Abuse of Migrants by Human Traffickers in a Climate of Impunity Summary: Tens of thousands of African migrants pass through Yemen each year to seek work in Saudi Arabia. A multi-million-dollar human trafficking industry has developed in Yemen based on their passage. Its locus is the hot and dry northern border town of Haradh. Here Yemeni traffickers have found a particularly horrific way to make money: by taking migrants captive and transporting them to isolated camps, where they inflict severe pain and suffering and extort ransom from the migrants' relatives and friends. Yemen's Torture Camps describes how Yemeni officials have conducted only sporadic raids on the camps, and have frequently warned traffickers of raids, and freed them from jail when they are arrested. In some cases, officials actively helped the traffickers capture and detain migrants. It also documents abuses of migrants by Saudi border officials, who apprehend border crossers and turn them over to Haradh-based traffickers. The report is based on interviews with 67 people, including 18 Ethiopian migrants who survived torture in the camps, and 10 traffickers and smugglers, as well as health professionals, government officials, activists, diplomats, and journalists. Human Rights Watch calls on the Yemeni government to launch a concerted effort to investigate and prosecute traffickers, as well as members of the security forces, regardless of rank, suspected of collusion with traffickers. It also calls on police, military, and intelligence agencies to assist in the investigations and take appropriate disciplinary action against personnel implicated in trafficking. Details: New York: Human Rights Watch, 2014. 81p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 14, 2014 at: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/yemen0514_ForUpload.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Yemen URL: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/yemen0514_ForUpload.pdf Shelf Number: 132454 Keywords: Human Rights Abuses (Yemen)Human SmugglingHuman TraffickingImmigrantsMigrantsRansomTorture |
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: Shortland, Anja Title: 'Robin Hook': The Developmental Effects of Somali Piracy Summary: Naval counter-piracy measures off Somalia have failed to change the incentives for pirates, raising calls for land-based approaches that may involve replacing piracy as a source of income. This paper evaluates the effects of piracy on the Somali economy to establish which (domestic) groups benefit from ransom monies. Given the paucity of economic data on Somalia, we evaluate province-level market data, nightlight emissions and high resolution satellite imagery. We show that significant amounts of ransom monies are spent within Somalia. The impacts appear to be spread widely, benefiting the working poor and pastoralists and offsetting the food price shock of 2008 in the pirate provinces. Pirates appear to invest their money principally in the main cities of Garowe and Bosasso rather than in the backward coastal communities. Details: Berlin: German Institute for Economic Research, 2011. 39p. Source: Internet Resource: DIW Berlin Discussion Paper No. 1155: Accessed April 1, 2015 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1940271 Year: 2011 Country: Somalia URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1940271 Shelf Number: 135110 Keywords: Economic Development Maritime Crime Pirates/Piracy Ransom |
Author: Reisen, Mirjam van Title: The Involvement of Unaccompanied Minors from Eritrea in Human Trafficking Summary: Between 2008 and 2014 a new form of human trafficking emerged in the Sinai, called trafficking for ransom. I studied this new phenomenon, together with investigative journalist Meron Estefanos, and Prof Dr Conny Rijken. In follow up research in 2015 and 2016, I travelled regularly to the camps in Northern Ethiopia where many unaccompanied minors arrive from Eritrea as refugees. The youngest unaccompanied child I met there was five years old, accompanied by a sibling only a few years older. I made these journeys with PhD student Selam Kidane. The ongoing and deepening tragic situation in Eritrea, which motivates these children to take such a hazardous journey, and the desperation that underpins their situation, came as a shock, as did the vulnerability of these children to the trafficking networks. It is a deeply worrying situation. The increased attention on Eritrean unaccompanied minor refugees underlines the need for a deeper understanding of the reasons for their vulnerability and the modalities by which they fall into the hands of trafficking gangs and (temporarily) even become part of them. This report has particularly benefited from the interviews carried out and shared by Meron Estefanos. It has also benefited from the input of Africa Monitors, which investigated the subject through their network. Details: Tilburg, NETH: Tilburg University, 2015. 59p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 31, 2017 at: http://194.0.234.211/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/the_involvement_of_unaccompanied_minors_in_ht.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Eritrea URL: http://194.0.234.211/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/the_involvement_of_unaccompanied_minors_in_ht.pdf Shelf Number: 146634 Keywords: Human Trafficking Migrant Children RansomUndocumented Children |