Kidnapping Hijacking Taking hostages Captivity (Psychological aspects)

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KidnappingHijackingTaking hostagesCaptivity(Ps
ychological aspects)

• Štepán Vymetal
• Vyškov, Czech Republic 06/25/2009

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Captivity of civilians as hostages is an
international crime!

• Additional relevant crimes are
• Terrorist attack
• Hijackning
• Kidnapping
• Stealing children
• Abduction
• Taking hostages
• Illegal restraint
• Blackmail/Extortion

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Who can become hostage?

• Individual
• Group of people
• Organisation/community
• Society (terrorism)
• Offenders often demonstrate that government is
  unable to help own citizens!

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Types of Cases

• Stealing of children (extortion of rich
  parents, conflict in family)
• Kidnap or taking adult hostages (political or
  economical reason)
• Taking hostages during unsuccessful criminal act
  (bank/shop robbery, jail-break)
• Escalation of domestic violence
• Sectarian violence
• Hijacking (plane, ship, bus, train, car)
• Suicidal terrorism

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Air France hijacking

• AF flight (220 passangers, 12 crew) was hijacked
  on 24 December 1994 by the Armed Islamic Group
  (GIA) at Algiers, where they killed 3 passengers.
• The aircraft riched Maarseilles on Dec. 26.
• French special forces stormed and killed all 4
  hijackers in 20-min. gun battle.
• 166 passengers and crew survived.
• One of the most successful anti-terorist
  operations in history.

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Offenders

• Psychopatic personality (often cold, felonious
  motivation, absence of empathy)
• Mental ill (psychosis)
• Drug users
• Fanatics
• Common criminals
• Normal people in crisis
• combinations

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Motivation

• Economical (ransom)
• Political or ideological (army pullout, release
  of prisoners, independency)
• Escape way
• Revenge (self-destroing)
• Solving of crisis interpersonal situation
  (stealing of children, rejected partner,
  divorce)
• Psychopatological (irrational/dark/incomprehensibl
  e)
• Mimicking behavior
• combinations

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Feelings of hostage stages

• Impact (mental denial, feeling of unreality,
  then mental and physical tense and anxiety)
• Definition of situation and partial calm
  (interpretation of situation, adjusting to rules
  of game, belief that everything will be solved
  soon)
• Disillusion (waiting, lack of information)
• Resignation (mental exhaustion, resignation to
  fate, apathy)
• Receiving of rescue (new impact/extrem stress,
  confused reactions, ambivalence, high anxiety,
  flooding of emotions)
• Acute Stress Reaction (variation in emotions,
  euphory, depression, anxiety, irritation, sleep
  disturbances, flashbacks)
• Processing of traumatic experience (long term,
  specific psychological support is often needed)

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Captivity in Columbia

• Ingrid Betancourt a Colombian-French politician
  was kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces
  of Colombia (FARC) on Feb. 2002.
• She was rescued by Colombian security forces six
  and a half years later on July 2008.
• Rescued along with 14 other hostages (incl. 3
  Americans and 11 Colombian policemen and
  soldiers)
• Experience of captivity in FARC camps
• Isolation, separation in jungle
• No one was harmed during the rescue!

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Experience

• Strong emotional and/or physical reactions can
  appear some time after traumatic event
• People have different level of specific
  resiliency and recovery (it depends on social
  support, physical health, coping strategies,
  trauma exposition)
• Acute Stress Reaction is vital reaction of human
  being. No matter how strange or insane it looks,
  it is a normal reaction to abnormal situation!

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Many specific factors

• Each kidnapping and captivity is specific.
• Many factors play a role in coping
• Number and kind of hostages
• Organisation and kind of offenders
• Motivation of crime, aims
• Time
• Life conditions
• Character of crisis negotiation and of the storm
• etc

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Experience of hostages

• Feeling of fear and total dependence on offender
  dominates
• Loss of control over one's own life
• Contact with persisting danger
• Extreme stress situation
• Deprivation of basic needs
• Psychological and physical pressure, threats
• Forced to suffer or to do things in contravention
  of one's own personality, will and morality
• Facing up to violence, harassment, excruciation,
  degradation, dehumanisation

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Munich massacre

• The Munich massacre occurred during the Summer
  Olypics in West Germany, 1972.
• Members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken
  hostage and eventually murdered by Black
  September, a militant group with ties to Fatah
  organization.

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• By the end of the ordeal, the terrorist group had
  killed 11 Israeli athlets and coaches and 1
  German police officer.
• Five of the eight members of Black September were
  killed during an abortive rescue attempt.
• The three surviving terrorists were captured, and
  were later released by West Germany following the
  hijacking by Black September of a Lufthansa
  airliner.

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Stockholm syndrom

• Stockholm syndrome is a specific emotional
  response of hostages.
• The hostage shows positive feelings and signs of
  loyalty to the hostage-taker, regardless of the
  danger or risk in which they have been placed.
• It is possible reaction, not necessary!
• It can be based on unconcious process or
  rational behavior.
• It is life protective stay, supported by
  negotiators.

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Stockholm bank roberry

• The syndrome was named after the robbery of
  Kreditbanken in Stockholm in 1973.
• 4 hostages 2 offenders, 6 days in strong-room.
• Victims became emotionally attached to their
  captors.
• Defended them after were freed.

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1980

• In one year (1980) 42 embassies and diplomatic
  missions were seized worldwide by terrorists and
  radicals
• 22 ambassadors were taken hostage
• 5 embassies were destroyed
• 53 people were killed in embassy shoot-outs
• (not include US embassy in Teheran)

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Iran hostage crisis

• Was a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the USA
• Group of Islamist students and militants took
  over the American embassy in Teheran
• Motivation support of the Iranian Revolution
• 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days
  (Nov.1979 - Jan.1981)
• Main stressors homesickness, boredom,
  confinement
• Forcing grown men to live together in a small
  space day and night, month after month, is a form
  of slow torture

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It was seen as a violance of a centuries-old
principle of international law granting diplomats
immunity from arrest and diplomatic sovereignty
in their embassies
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Iranian Embassy Siege

• On April 30th, 1980 the group of 6 armed Arab
  separatists stormed the Iranian Embassy in London
  (political motivation).
• 26 hostahes were taken (including one police
  constable and two visiting journalists).
• 5 hostages were released
• On day 6 the terrorists killed 1 hostage (press
  attaché) and threw his body outside.
• News teams were camped outside the embassy.
• The siege was ended by British special forces. 19
  hostages saved.

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Lima Syndrom

• Lima syndrome is a situation in which abductors
  develop a sympathy for their hostages. It is the
  inverse of the Stockholm syndrom.
• Syndrome was named after an abduction at the
  Japanese Embassy in Lima, Peru in 1996.
• Within a few days, the abductors had set free
  most of the hostages, including the most valuable
  ones, due to sympathy.

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Japanese embassy hostage crisis

• 14 members of the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary
  Movement took hostage more than 600 of high-level
  diplomats, government and military officials and
  business executive who were attending a party at
  the official residence of Japans ambassador.
• The motivation was political.
• Most of the hostages were soon released.
• 72 were freed after 126 days by Special forces.

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Storm the residence

• 1 hostage, 2 commandos
• and all 14 abductors died.
• All abductors were killed

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Worst-case Beslan
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Beslan massacre - Day 1

• September 1st, 2004, School no. 1, Beslan, North
  Ossetia, RF
• 32 armed terrorists (muslim pro-Chechen rebels)
  took more then 1200 people (about 800 were
  children)
• Hostages were concentrated in gym with explosive
  materials
• Male hostiges and women-terorists were executed

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Day 2

• 15 small babies with 11 nursing women were
  released
• About 5000 relatives waited close to school
• Lack in negotiation
• No food and wather for hostages, hot temperature
  in gym some hostiges drank own urine, some
  children are unconscious
• Hostage-takers stressed, sleep deprivated, under
  drugs, unpredictable

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Day 3

• 2 explosions in the gym big fire shooting
• A chaotic battle broke out (many local
  civilians , local police, special forces, army
  involved)
• Terrorists used children as a shields
• Using of heavy weapons from special forces
• Chaotic rescue operation
• A few of ambulances

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Fatalities and injures

• Official fatalities Hostages 334, Other people
  10, Special forces 10 Hostage-takers 31 (Total
  385)
• Official injuries Security forces 55, Others
  728 (Total 783)
• Long term psychological impact to community!

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Prevention of kidneppingRisk reduction
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Worldwide kidnappings

• Kidnapping is a real and dangerous threat in many
  countries.
• The only guaranteed way to avoid kidnapping
• is not to go to risky areas.
• Since this is impractical for many travelers, the
  next best thing is to be aware of the risks!

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Statistics 2006

• Estimated number of kidnaps per capita of
  population

• Absolute number of kidnappings

1. Mexico
2. Iraq
3. India
4. South Africa
5. Brazil
6. Pakistan
7. Ecuador
8. Venezuela
9. Colombia
10. Bangladesh
11. Nigeria
12. Haiti
13. Afganistan

1. Iraq
2. Mexico
3. The Chechen Republic
4. Ecuador
5. Brazil
6. Haiti
7. South Africa
8. TrinidadTobago
9. Colombia
10. India

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First questions of a hostage

1. Who are my kidnappers?
2. What do they want?
3. What is my value?

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Behavior of hostages must be according to the
type of kidnapper/situation
Understand situation!
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1. Who are my kidnappers? Types of kidnappers

• amateurs
• professionals
• mentally ill or pathological persons
• political or religious fanatics

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2. What do they want?

• 1) Amateurs and professionals gt blackmail
• b) Mentally ill or pathological persons often
  blackmail too, but it is hard to understand them
• c) Political or religious fanatics need to
  impress gt highest risk!

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3.What is my value?

• Amateurs and professionals need hostages alive
  to blackmail
• Mentally ill or pathological persons mostly need
  hostages alive too
• Political or religious fanatics need to impress
  gt mostly kill hostages

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General behavior of a hostage

• Watch the mood of the kidnappers
• Dont provoke
• Cooperate
• Take a time
• Dont panic Tricks how to not panic watch
  carefully any detail in the room, play chess in
  your mind, remember all your teachers from the
  high school etc.
• In case of political or religious fanatics try to
  escape

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Interrogation of a hostage
Know your ID number, have a copy in your email
box.

• Some tricks
• Watch carefully some details in the room
• Keep the right position of your body
• Control your gestures
• Drink anytime you can
• Reformulate the talks and questions

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How to survive kidnapping?

• Kidnapping is a terrifying experience, but you
  have personal resources for coping with the
  situation.
• Remember, you are only of value to them alive,
  and they want to keep you that way.
• The common hostage responses fear, denial, and
  withdrawal are all experienced in varying
  degrees.

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Surviving kidnapping 1

• The terrorists are nervous and unsure, easily
  irritated, often irrational. It is a
  psychologically traumatic moment for the hostage.
  
• Violence may be used even if the hostage remains
  passive, but resistance could result in death.
  You may be blindfolded, drugged, handled roughly,
  or even stuffed in the trunk of a car.
• Try to regain your composure as soon as possible
  and to organize your thoughts. (Being able to
  behave rationally increases your chances for
  survival).

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Surviving kidnapping 2

• The more time that passes, the better your
  chances of being released alive.
• If drugs are administered, do not resist. (Their
  purpose will be to sedate you and make you more
  manageable these same drugs may actually help
  you to get control of your emotions, which should
  be your immediate goal. If conscious, follow your
  captors instructions).
• If taken hostage, your best defense is passive
  cooperation!

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Surviving Hijackings 1 Tips of U.S. Bureau of
Diplomatic Security

• Blend in with the other airline passengers.
• Avoid eye contact with your captors.
• Remember there may be other hijackers covertly
  mixed among the regular passengers.
• Although captors may appear calm, they cannot be
  trusted to behave reasonably or rationally at all
  times.
• Stay alert, but do not challenge them physically
  or verbally.

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Surviving Hijackings 2

• Comply with their instructions.
• If interrogated, keep answers short and limited
  to nonpolitical topics.
• Carry a family photo at some point you may be
  able to appeal to captors' family feelings.
• Minimize the importance of your job!
• Give innocuous reasons for traveling.
• Never admit to any accusations.

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Surviving Captivity

• Try to establish some kind of rapport with your
  captors. Family is a universal subject.
• Avoid political dialogues, but listen
  attentively to their point of view.
• If you know their language, listen and observe
  and if addressed, use it.
• Maintain your dignity and self-respect at all
  times.

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• Plan on a lengthy stay, and determine to keep
  track of the passage of time. (Captors may
  attempt to confuse your sense of time by taking
  your watch, keeping you in a windowless cell, or
  serving meals at odd hours. However, you can
  approximate time by noting, for example, changes
  in temperatures between night and day the
  frequency and intensity of outside
  noisestraffic, whistles, birds and by observing
  the alertness of guards. )
• Manage your time by setting up schedules for
  simple tasks, exercises, daydreaming,
  housekeeping.

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• Build relations with fellow captives and with the
  terrorists.
• If hostages are held apart, devise ways to
  communicate with one another. (Where hostages
  are moved back and forth, to bathrooms for
  example, messages can be written and left.
  However, do not jeopardize your safety or the
  safety or treatment of others if attempting to
  communicate with fellow captives seems too
  risky).
• Maintain your physical and mental health it is
  critical to exercise body and mind. (Eat food
  provided without complaint keep up your
  strength. Request medical treatment or special
  medicines if required).

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• Establish exercise and relaxation programs.
  (Exercise produces a healthy tiredness and gives
  you a sense of accomplishment. If space is
  confined, do isometrics. Relaxation reduces
  stress. Techniques include meditation, prayer,
  daydreaming. Keep your mind active read anything
  available. Write, even if you are not allowed to
  retain your writings. If materials are not
  available, mentally compose poetry or fiction,
  try to recall Scripture, design a house, even
  play chess or tennis.
• Take note of the characteristics of your captors
  and surroundings. (Their habits, speech,
  contacts exterior noises /typical of city or
  country/ and other distinctive sounds. This
  information could prove very valuable later).

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• If selected for early release, consider it an
  opportunity to help remaining hostages.(Details
  you have observed on the terrorists and the
  general situation can assist authorities with a
  rescue).
• You can expect to be accused of working for the
  governments intelligence service, to be
  interrogated extensively, and to lose weight. You
  may be put in isolation your captives may try to
  disorient you. It is important that you mentally
  maintain control.

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Avoidance of Capture or Escape

• Efforts to avoid capture or to attempt escape
  have in most cases been futile. The decision,
  however, is a personal one, although it could
  affect fellow hostages by placing them in
  jeopardy. Several other considerations should be
  weighed.
• To have any chance of success, you should be in
  excellent physical condition and mentally
  prepared to react before the terrorists have
  consolidated their position. This, also, is the
  riskiest psychological time.
• You would need to have a plan in mind, and
  possibly have been trained in special driving
  tactics or other survival skills.

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• Consider the consequences of your escape before
  attempting it (If you are held in a country in
  which you would stand out because of race or
  other physical characteristics, if you know
  nothing of the language or your location, or if
  you are held in a country where anti-American or
  anti-Western attitudes prevail)
• If you conclude that an escape attempt is
  worthwhile, take terrorists by surprise and you
  may make it. (If their organization has a poor
  track record of hostage safety, it may be worth
  the risk).

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Surviving Rescue operation

• The termination of any terrorist incident is
  extremely tense.
• During an assault
• Remain calm and out of the way. (Try to be far
  from windows and doors).
• Make no sudden moves (-or take any action by
  which you could be mistaken for a terrorist and
  risk being injured or killed. Even in a voluntary
  release or surrender by the terrorists, tensions
  are charged and tempers volatile).
• Follow instructions precisely. Very precise
  instructions will be given to the hostages,
  either by the captors or the police. You may be
  asked to exit with hands in the air, and you may
  be searched by the rescue team. You may
  experience rough treatment until you are
  identified and the situation has stabilized.

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Keep in mind three facts about terrorism

1. The overwhelming majority of victims have been
   abducted from their vehicles on the way to or
   from work.
2. A large number of people taken hostage ignored
   the most basic security precautions.
3. Terrorist tactics are not static. As precautions
   prove effective, they change their methods. There
   is a brief window of vulnerability while we
   learn to counter their new styles.

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Prevention

• Be prepared! Have actual risk information, use
  video monitoring , alarms, lighting outside,
  detect following
• Routine kills! Do not settle into a routine. Vary
  times and routes to and from work or social
  engagements.
• Assimilate to local population. Use cultural
  mimic colouring (clothing, beard, hair style,
  sunburn, behaviour, habits).
• Do not inform about your profession and family
  unknown people. Do not introduce by your name
  using phone.
• Be prepared, be unpredictible, be
  unconspicuous!!!

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• Avoid going out alone. Remember, there is safety
  in numbers. When traveling long distances by
  automobile, go in a convoy.
• Avoid back country roads and dangerous areas of
  the city.
• A privately owned car generally offers the best
  security. Avoid luxury or ostentatious cars. Keep
  your automobile in good repair and the gas tank
  at least half full.
• Driving in the center lane of a multiple lane
  highway makes it difficult for the car to be
  forced off the road.

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About lector

• Crisis, Disaster and trauma psychologist
• Interior Ministry, head of psychology section
• Foreign Ministry, lector
• Czech Airlines, coordinator of psychological
  crisis team
• Czech Police, coordinator of posttraumatic
  intervention team
• Contact 00420-607958920, stepan.vymetal_at_email.cz
• Tragedies and Journalists web brochre
• http//aplikace.mvcr.cz/archiv2008/udalosti/priruc
  ky/novinari/nn_en.pdf

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