Articles
The Price of Freedom: Ransom Reform in the US
Despite claims by the media that the recent directive on kidnappings legalises privateransom payments to terrorist groups in the US, it seems that the policy has sidestepped the issue, writes Lara Sierra-Rubia.
The US Department of Homeland Security estimates that 30 US citizens are currently being held hostage abroad, including Americans kidnapped by criminal gangs. Following the Islamic State (IS)’s beheading of James Foley in Syria in August 2014, US President Barack Obama ordered a review of US kidnapping policy. The review was also taken in response to criticisms levelled against the government by the families of hostages that current policy was inconsistent, uncommunicative and lacked transparency in its approach to hostage situations. The review resulted in a Presidential Policy Directive (PPD), issued in June 2015, which seeks to clarify the government’s position on private individuals paying kidnap ransoms to terrorist groups.
While the international media interpreted the PPD as a watershed development, claiming that the directive allows private individuals to pay ransoms, the directive reportedly does not formally legalise ransom payments to terrorist kidnappers. The word ‘ransom’ appears only once in the PPD document, reinforcing the government’s continued policy of not granting concessions – including paying ransoms - to terrorists. While no family of an American hostage has been charged to date for paying a ransom for the return of their loved one, prosecutors have reportedly threatened legal action against victims’ families in the past.
This practice partially drove the need for a new policy to address the issue. However, the PPD sidesteps legalising private ransom payments to terrorists. Yet, it is this omission that suggests that the government is unwilling to explicitly outlaw ransom payments by private individuals.
The PPD also states that the US government will be more involved in kidnapping cases involving US citizens. On 1 September 2015, President Barrack Obama appointed the first Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs. The PPD also establishes a Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell (HRFC) that will track all cases of US nationals held hostage, provide regular reports to the President, recommend hostage recovery options and strategies, and coordinate various US government departments’ efforts to provide “support and assistance” to hostages and their families. Although the HRFC is likely to improve government communication and consistency across cases, this development raises questions for kidnapping insurance companies over how much coordination will be required between the HRFC and intermediaries during hostage negotiations.