Hostage released in Sudan speaks of ordeal

Indian petro-energy worker P K Abhilash (pictured) was kidnapped on 13 May and spent 74 days in captivity in the Sudanese jungle. In an interview with the Gulf Times, he discusses those days, including being beaten up by his captors after a failed escape attempt. Abhilash’s plight is similar to those found in Nigeria, where kidnapping of workers in disputed oil districts is becoming commonplace as a way for militants and local tribes to negotiate with the government over the allocation of petro-dollars.

Missionary released in Chad

 

Rebels in Chad who held a US missionary hostage for nine months have released him following extensive negotiations with the evangelical group for whom the man was working. Missionaries are common subjects of kidnappings, with such previous high profile cases including Gracia Burnham in the Philippines and a group of Koreans in Afghanistan last year.

Germans freed in Kurdistan

 

Three Germans who had been kidnapped on 8 July by the PKK when they were climbing Mt Ararat have been released unharmed. The German authorities refused to negotiate with the terrorist group and meet their demands, and it is said that the climbers were freed following action by Turkish troops to close in on the kidnappers.

Sulu mayor charged with complicity in kidnapping

The Philippine Department of Justice (DoJ) today filed charges against Sulu Mayor Alvarez Isnaji and his son Haider for their role in the recent kidnapping of ABC-CBN journalist Ces Drilon and several others. The charges are based on findings from a panel of prosecutors who allege that Isnaji’s “negotiations” with the hostage-takers favoured them and not the victims. This is despite the fact that Octavio Dinampo, a peace activist also kidnapped with the group, states that he thinks Isnaji and his son had no part in the hostage taking.

Suicide or ploy?

 

One of five Britons kidnapped in Iraq last year has committed suicide, according to Shiite rebels holding the five. Or, this was what they were reporting yesterday in a video statement, which did not include any footage showing the (presumed) dead man, whose suicide allegedly took place in May. If this suicide report is true, it is devastating news for the victim’s family. However, false reports of hostages being killed have surfaced in previous cases, and sometimes are used to force negotiations. Let us pray that the latter is the case here.

Middle East tragedy

 

By now, we’ve all seen the gruesome exchange: the black coffins of kidnapped (and now deceased) Israeli soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev swapped for the release of high profile Hezbollah prisoners/terrorists from Lebanon. The Times of London today features an excellent piece about hostage for prisoner exchanges, arguing that it is “churlish to complain that these swaps weaken the fight against terrorism without recognising that the real crime is the brutal kidnapping of soldiers and civilians in the first place”.

Somalia facts and figures

In the world’s most failed state – if one can call it a state at all – the kidnapping and murder of aid workers remains a significant threat to ordinary Somalis being able to receive much needed humanitarian services. Reuters news agency periodically publishes factboxes detailing the violence perpetrated against humanitarian workers in different countries. Here is the one for Somalia put out today, which illustrates the ongoing problem of kidnapping there.

Hostages or heroes?

 

Ingrid Betancourt today received the French Legion of Honour, the country’s most prestigious prize. From Chile, there is also talk of a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. Which begs the question: have we gone mad?

 

 

Don’t get me wrong. I think surviving an experience like Betancourt’s takes incredible courage and fortitude. But I don’t believe that ex-hostages are necessarily worthy of awards and prizes any more than the thousands of nameless persons who work all over the world for the betterment of their communities and countries. If Betancourt had been elected to public office in Colombia, and through her service brought about significant change and peace in her homeland, then certainly the accolades would be well deserved. But that has not happened – yet. If anything, the Colombian military strategists who managed to pull off her rescue should be the ones receiving the prize.

 

Betancourt is not the only ex-hostage to be honoured as such. Three former hostages in Afghanistan were awarded medals by the ex-king (now deceased). In 2004, Time magazine designated two Italian aid workers as heroes after they were kidnapped (and freed upon payment of a large ransom) in Iraq. Granted, the magazine stated that the two were heroes not because they were taken hostage “but because of their brave, good works”. But why not therefore honour the hundreds of other aid workers doing similar work in the difficult setting of Iraq?

 

When we start to recognise hardship as heroism, we set up every person with a sad story as worthy of an award. Real heroes are the ones who look beyond their own worlds and who actually manage to achieve a noble end.

Germany and kidnapping

 

Following recent news of the kidnapping of German tourists climbing Mt Ararat last week, Germans have come under attack in two more regions: three German tourists were abducted in Somaliland last week and two foreign workers affiliated with a German construction company in Nigeria also were seized on Friday. The German government, meanwhile, has called for the quick and safe release of its hostages but refuses to capitulate to the hostage-takers demands.

“You wonder how the Sulu sky can shelter such cruelty”

 

Those are the words that Ces Drilon wrote in her diary after being kidnapped in the southern Philippines last month. Fortunately for Ces, her ordeal ended quickly and without harm. For ABS-CBN news online this week, the journalist documents her nine days in captivity “held by armed men with no ideology, only cruel force and the lust for money”. You can read her three-part series here.