Abduction and kidnapping: management and response
Abduction is the incident that tests everything an organisation has prepared, in the first hour, with no opportunity to prepare further. What happens in that hour is largely determined by what was arranged months earlier.
Download: abduction management (PDF, English) Download: advice note on abduction and kidnapping (Word document) Download: kidnapping, a growing industry (PDF, English)What has to exist before
| Arrangement | Why it cannot wait |
|---|---|
| A written policy on what the organisation will and will not do | Whether ransom will be paid, whether the organisation will negotiate directly, and who decides. Deciding this during an incident means deciding it under pressure from people who are not responsible for the consequences. |
| A crisis management team that has met | A team that meets for the first time during an abduction spends the first hours working out who is in charge. |
| Contact with a professional adviser | Response consultants and insurers require a retainer or a policy in place. They cannot be engaged on the day. |
| Information on the individual | Photograph, description, medical conditions, languages spoken, next of kin, and the details of what they were doing and where. Assembling this during an incident wastes hours and produces errors. |
| A family liaison arrangement | The family will learn of the abduction quickly and will need contact before then, not after. |
| Insurance covering kidnap and ransom, and legal costs | Cover has to exist at the time of the incident. It cannot be bought afterwards. |
| A position on publicity | Media interest is immediate and can change the situation on the ground. |
The first hours
Four things happen at once, and they are done by different people. Establishing what is known, from the witnesses, the local authorities and anyone who was in contact with the person. Securing the safety of everyone else, including the immediate withdrawal of staff from the area if that is what the assessment requires. Notifying the family, in person, and appointing the person who will keep in contact with them. And notifying the authorities and the insurer, in the order the policy requires.
Two rules apply throughout. Information is held in one place and released from one place, so that the organisation is not simultaneously telling the family, the police and the press three different accounts. And nothing is done that could increase the danger to the person held, which in practice means no public campaigning without advice, and no contact with the captors except through the channel the organisation has decided to use.
The period of captivity
Captivity is usually longer than organisations expect. During it, the organisation keeps contact with the family, maintains a single point of contact, manages the internal pressures that arise from colleagues who want to act, and continues to fund the family's practical needs. It also prepares for release, which requires medical and psychological arrangements to be in place in advance, and a plan for what happens in the days immediately afterwards.
Afterwards
The recovery period is a duty of care matter and is frequently mishandled. The person needs medical and psychological care, control over what is said about them, time, and a route back into work if they want one. The organisation needs a review that establishes what happened without turning the person into a case study, and a decision about whether the programme continues and on what terms.
Related
Practical guidance and research on the security of humanitarian staff, for the organisations that send them.