The
kidnappers' toll
by Brian Whitaker
Originally published in Middle East
International, 10 March, 2000
THE
POLISH ambassador to Yemen became the latest
kidnap victim on March 1 when armed members of the Qiyari tribe
abducted him from a busy street in Sana’a. Next day, a Dutch man
and a Yemeni working for a project to develop small industries
were shot dead at their office in the capital by a Yemeni
fellow-employee, apparently after an argument.
Sana’a is considered one of the
safest parts of Yemen for foreigners, but the two incidents
highlight the ineffectiveness of the government’s campaign to
disarm civilians and the failure of the death penalty to deter
kidnapping.
Since the beginning of 1996 Yemen
has witnessed 38 kidnaps involving 147 foreigners. Despite
increased security measures, the number of incidents has remained
constant since 1997, averaging 10 or 11 a year, plus several
failed kidnap attempts.
The number of individuals
kidnapped fluctuates widely because large tourist groups are
abducted from time to time. The record year was 1997, with 50
foreigners taken hostage. Last year there were only 27 - probably
because there are now fewer organised tours. Only half of the
incidents since 1996 involved tourists: the remainder were
foreigners working in Yemen, and their families.
Italians head the list of those
kidnapped since 1996, with 37 taken hostage, followed by the
French (26), Germans (22) and British (20). Nine Americans have
been kidnapped. Other victims have come from the Netherlands,
Belgium, Poland, Russia, Korea, Sudan, China, Canada and the
Ukraine.
Following the Polish ambassador’s
abduction, the Yemeni government repeated its claim that
"foreign hands" (i.e. Saudi Arabia) are behind recent
kidnaps. The aim, officials say, is to destabilise Yemen by
damaging its international relations, by destroying the tourist
industry, and ultimately by driving away the foreign workers on
whom Yemen depends for its economic development.
Evidence for such a conspiracy is
hard to find, though there have been some odd coincidences. In
1997, four French people were kidnapped shortly before President
Salih visited France, ten Italians a month before he visited
Italy, and four Russians just as Yemen was attempting to
re-schedule its debts with the former Soviet Union. In the same
year, five Germans were taken hostage at a time of improving
relations with Germany, and a Briton was also kidnapped a week
after it became known that the president would make his first
official visit to the UK.
Last week, eight men, including
two Saudis, went on trial in Yemen, accused - among other things -
of plotting to kidnap foreigners. Only one of the Saudis was in
court, and none of the men appears to have actually kidnapped
anyone.
In practice, the damage to Yemen's
foreign relations caused by kidnaps has generally been
short-lived, but the impact on tourism has been serious. The
British government, for example, currently advises against travel
to Yemen and, although plenty of individuals seem willing to visit
the country, tour operators have dropped it from their list of
destinations as result of the official warning. Other European
governments have taken a more relaxed view, though the United
States recently hardened its travel advice to match that of
Britain.
One side-effect of the
"foreign conspiracy" theory is that it allows the Yemeni
government to re-direct some of the blame for its inability to
halt the kidnaps. Conspiracy or not, virtually every kidnap can be
explained in terms of specific grievances. Demands for better
local facilities are one common cause; another is the release of
prisoners (who may well be regarded as having been
"kidnapped" by the state). The Polish ambassador’s
abduction, for example, was sparked by the arrest of Shaikh Khalid
al-Qiyari at Sana’a airport for unspecified security reasons on
his return from Jordan the previous day.
Experience in other countries
suggests several steps towards a solution. The first is to
publicise the outcome in each case to demonstrate that the
kidnappers have obtained no benefit from their actions. The second
is to convince the tribes that kidnappers will be suitably
punished, regardless of their social or political connections. But
in Yemen, perhaps because of the nature of state-tribal relations,
neither of these has been rigorously followed.
On many occasions the government
has agreed to some, at least, of the kidnappers' demands in order
to secure a release (even if it reneged later). When the Polish
ambassador was released after three days, one new agency reported
that the tribe had been given five cars, five men and five knives
to hold as guarantees until their arrested shaikh was set free.
Although the government does not directly reward kidnappers,
mediators are sometimes given a "hospitality fee" which
may be passed to the tribe concerned.
Since the death penalty was
introduced for kidnapping in August 1998, 53 foreigners have been
kidnapped and in one incident four of them died. Numerous people
have been arrested, though only one kidnapper has been executed:
the leader of the Islamic Army, who had also been convicted of
murder. One problem with applying the death penalty more
frequently is that it could put hostages at greater risk. It is
also an extreme response to a situation where, in the past,
kidnappers have not even been systematically arrested and
imprisoned.
Measures to deter kidnappers do
not, however, remove the grievances that motivate them. Underlying
many kidnaps are grievances about the distribution of national
resources which will are likely to continue until government funds
are allocated in a way that is both transparent and patently fair.
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