In a strong call to strengthen the international criminal justice framework, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Alice Gill Edward, urged member states to explicitly include the crime of hostage-taking in the draft convention on the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity. Edward described the exclusion of this crime from the current draft convention as a “grave omission,” warning that this oversight would perpetuate a culture of impunity and undermine efforts to protect civilians in times of both peace and conflict.
Historical context and existing legal gap
This call comes at a crucial time, as the UN General Assembly debates a long-awaited draft convention to fill a significant gap in international law. While comprehensive international conventions exist for genocide and war crimes, there is still no similar global legal instrument dedicated exclusively to crimes against humanity. Historical trials, such as the Nuremberg trials after World War II and the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, were based on customary international law and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, but the absence of a separate convention weakens the global commitment to systematically preventing and prosecuting these crimes.
Hostage-taking: a tool of intimidation that amounts to torture
The UN Special Rapporteur affirmed that the practice of hostage-taking, whether by states or armed groups, is not merely a deprivation of liberty, but an act that inflicts severe psychological and physical suffering on victims and their families, often amounting to torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. Hostages live in constant fear for their lives and are frequently subjected to physical and psychological abuse, while their families endure devastating anxiety and uncertainty. Using human beings as bargaining chips or as a means of terrorizing a society is a flagrant violation of human dignity and fundamental principles of international law.
The importance of inclusion and its expected impact
Including hostage-taking as a standalone crime against humanity in the new convention will have significant legal and political implications at the local, regional, and international levels. Internationally, it will provide a more robust legal basis for prosecutions in national and international courts, compelling states to criminalize the act in their domestic laws and cooperate in extraditing suspects. It will also send a strong deterrent message to anyone contemplating this practice, underscoring that the international community will not tolerate it. On the humanitarian level, this inclusion represents recognition of the suffering of victims and a crucial step toward achieving justice for them and ensuring that such atrocities are never repeated.
