UNITED NATIONS EFFORT TO DRAFT A CONVENTION ON THE TAKING OF HOSTAGES

• NCJ Number: 63530
• Journal: American University Law Review Volume: 27 Issue: 2 Dated: (WINTER 1978) Pages: 433-487
• Author(s): S S KAYE
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 55 pages
• Corporate Author: American University
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

EFFORTS BY THE UNITED NATIONS (UN) TO DRAFT CONVENTIONS ON THE TAKING OF HOSTAGES, AND THE NEED FOR SUCH A CONVENTION, ARE EXAMINED. A DRAFT CONVENTION ON HOSTAGE TAKING IS PRESENTED.

Abstract

ALTHOUGH ALL EFFORTS TO ADOPT COMPREHENSIVE TREATIES ON INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM HAVE FAILED, SEVERAL CONVENTIONS USING A PIECEMEAL APPROACH HAVE BEEN ADOPTED. THE HAGUE AND MONTREAL CONVENTIONS ON CRIMES ABOARD AIRCRAFT, AND THE DIPLOMATS CONVENTION, OPENED FOR SIGNATURE IN 1973. ALL OBLIGE STATES TO PROSECUTE OR EXTRADITE AN OFFENDER. RECENT STUDIES OF INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM SHOW THAT A CONVENTION ON HOSTAGETAKING COULD COVER 11 TO 17 PERCENT OF RECENT INCIDENTS OF INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM, OR BETWEEN 20 AND 30 PERCENT OF INCIDENTS NOT COVERED BY EXISTING TREATIES. UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW, EXTRADITION IS USUALLY THE ONLY POSSIBLE RESPONSE TO TRANSNATIONAL HOSTAGETAKING. EXTRADITION TREATIES, HOWEVER, ARE NOT UNIFORM AND OFTEN FAIL TO SPECIFY HOSTAGE TAKING AS A CRIME. MOREOVER, SOME STATES MAY BE UNWILLING, FOR POLITICAL REASONS, TO GRANT EXTRADITION VOLUNTARILY. AMONG ISSUES THAT THE UN'S CURRENT HOSTAGE COMMITTEE MUST CONFRONT BEFORE DRAFTING A CONVENTION ARE THE NEED FOR THE CONVENTION, THE NEED TO STUDY THE CAUSES OF HOSTAGETAKING, THE DEFINITION OF THE OFFENSE, THE MOTIVATION INVOLVED, THE INTERNATIONAL NATURE OF THE OFFENSE, VICTIM CHARACTERISTICS, ACTS OF LIBERATION GROUPS, HOSTAGE TAKING BY STATES, AND OBLIGATIONS OF STATES TO PREVENT HOSTAGE TAKING AS WELL AS TO SECURE HOSTAGES' RELEASE AND THE OFFENDERS' CAPTURE, PROSECUTION, AND EXTRADITION. DETERRENCE OF HOSTAGETAKING WOULD BEST BE ACHIEVED BY STRENGTHENING A CONVENTION'S PROSECUTION PROVISIONS. THE BROAD DEFINITIONS PROPOSED BY THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY IN ITS DRAFT CONVENTION SHOULD BE NARROWED. FOOTNOTES WHICH INCLUDE REFERENCES AND A PROPOSED DRAFT CONVENTION INCORPORATING SOME OF THE WEST GERMANY'S DRAFT PROVISIONS ARE INCLUDED. (CFW)