![]() Due to the profitability of these actions, sub-contracting of hostage taking had occurred and vast zones in the African Sahel were abandoned by tourists and non-governmental organizations because of this threat. $ 150 million by Al Qaeda terrorist groups, whose strategy was based on kidnapping foreign civilians, and holding the hostages in trying conditions of detention and under constant threat of execution if the Government did not pay ransom or accede to political demands. Bara said that in the African Sahel, kidnappings resulted in the earning of It was therefore imperative that the international community cooperate in combating terrorism. The sudden and brutal nature of terrorist acts and their trans-national mode of operation and the terrible consequences left on society made it a devastating sort of violence which posed a new threat to human rights. Bara said that in the Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Guinea and the Western Sahara, the economy of terrorism based on hostage taking by terrorist groups and the payment of ransoms for hostages jeopardized the enjoyment of basic human rights. Finally, a human rights approach to hostage talking should also focus on the prevention of future hostage taking and therefore on the causes of terrorism. The rights of victims should guide State policies and practices in respect to hostage taking. Scheinin stressed that hostage taking violated several human rights, including the rights to human dignity, to personal autonomy, to personal liberty, to the right to life and the prohibition against torture or any other form of inhuman treatment. Though the definition in the treaty was not the most perfect one, there was no ideal match between it and the idea of hostage taking as a form of terrorism. Hostage taking as a form of terrorism was subject to a separate treaty ratified by 168 States, the 1979 Convention Against the Taking of Hostages. Scheinin said that hostage taking was an atrocious form of terrorism which reduced victims to a mere means and was morally inexcusable, irrespective of the aims that the perpetrators said they were pursuing. Quisumbing, National Human Rights Commission, Philippines Federico Andreu, Colombian Commission of Jurists and Soumeylou Maiga, President of the Sahel Observatory of Geostrategy and Security, Maii. ![]() ![]() The panelists were Martin Scheinin, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism Kamel Rezzag Bara, Adviser to the President of Algeria Commissioner Cecilia R.V. Kang stressed that terrorism could not be defeated by military force, intelligence operations or law enforcement measures alone but required the development of viable alternatives to those susceptible to terrorist recruitment and urged States to consider the protection of the rights of victims of hostage taking in the context of terrorism. She noted that hostage taking could constitute an act of terrorism if pursued with the intention and purpose to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants, to intimidate the population or to compel a Government or an international organization to do or abstain from any act. Kyung-wha Kang, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, introducing the panel discussion on the issue of human rights related to terrorist hostage taking, said that although the international framework did not provide for a comprehensive definition of terrorism, the elements that could be used to define those actions were contained in several international instruments. ![]() The final section of the article considers end-game scenarios, and assessing the negotiation outcome of such complex and uncertain processes.The Human Rights Council this morning held a panel discussion on the issue of human rights in the context of action taken to address terrorist hostage taking. The intercultural and psychological dimensions of hostage negotiation are also addressed. The article also analyzes the dynamics of the negotiation process, addressing the different phases, hostage attitudes, information gathering, and the role of the media and public opinion. Various situational factors are studied, including the parties involved, hostage taker motivations and profiles, negotiator objectives and what is considered to be negotiable, the issue of legitimacy, and the negotiation context. This article provides an overview of hostage negotiations, drawing upon historical cases and analyzing them from the perspective of negotiation theory. Negotiating with Terrorists: The Hostage Case. ![]()
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