Joining efforts to combat kidnapping

With the support of the Colombian Government, UNODC is preparing a manual of global good practices to combat kidnapping that will be presented to United Nations Member States in late 2005. In the following interview, Dr. Luis Camilo Osorio, Prosecutor-General of Colombia, shares his country’s experiences with the international community and outlines measures that can be taken in the fight against this phenomenon.

In Latin America and other regions of the world, the incidence of kidnapping has increased. Which anti-kidnapping measures have worked best in Colombia?

What we would specifically like to share with the rest of the world through the United Nations is the positive experience of having successfully established a unified policy among the different State institutions, i.e. prevention, security, oversight, intelligence, investigative and judicial bodies. And basically having a very clear vision of what the goal of the fight against kidnapping is:

we have to aim at putting an end to the mafias and the professional organizations of kidnappers.

Kidnapping is a crime that is easy and quick to perpetrate and that often involves organized crime. How should the State respond to this situation?

I believe that there are many types of kidnapping. Express kidnapping, for example, began in Colombia. It has now virtually disappeared there, but we know that there are other countries enduring those same situations. There are other kinds of kidnapping, such as political kidnappings, where they look for persons in government positions. And there is kidnapping for money, which also takes different forms. I believe that what we have to do is identify all these issues very clearly and determine what the criminal methods are in order to be able to respond to them effectively. If we join efforts and develop a coordinated policy, the experiences gained from one kidnapping will help us deal with others.

Kidnapping affects not only the victims and those close to them, but also the whole of society. In what way does your country protect the personal safety of its citizens?

We have a number of principles that are fundamental: we say “no” to ransom payments and “no” to allowing kidnappers’ blackmail efforts to succeed, but “yes” to rescue without causing physical or mental harm to the person. And it is also very important to pursue the proceeds of crime. This is not only valid for kidnapping, but also for corruption and drug trafficking.