lubna
22-10-2004, 11:07
When hostages become captives
By Lawrence Smallman
Thursday 21 October 2004, 8:58 Makka Time, 5:58 GMT
The kidnapping of the director of Care International in Iraq has
fuelled a debate over the legitimacy of taking hostages and killing
captives.
For British Prime Minister Tony Blair, abducting 60-year-old aid
worker Margaret Hassan "shows the kind of people that we are up
against".
For Australian journalist John Martinkus, seizing foreign nationals
is an intelligent way of "fighting a war" when you are outnumbered
and outgunned. And unlike Blair, Martinkus has first hand hostage
experience.
Released unharmed over the weekend, SBS Television Dateline's
Martinkus said his captors freed him after establishing his
independence on Iraq coverage.
"These guys [are] not stupid. They're fighting a war but they're not
savages. They're not actually just killing people willy-nilly. They
talk to you, they think about things," he said at Melbourne airport
on Tuesday.
"There was a reason to kill [British captive Kenneth] Bigley, there
was a reason to kill the Americans; there was not a reason to kill
me - luckily I managed to convince them of that," he said.
SBS executive producer Mike Carey said the journalist was freed after
his captors used a popular internet search engine to establish he was
an independent reporter who did not support the US presence in Iraq.
Justification
Various Iraqi groups have abducted more than 100 foreign nationals in
a bid to destabilise Iraq's US-appointed interim government and force
troops to leave.
And the kidnap of Care International's director is just the exception
that proves a rule, says Egyptian politician Majdi Husain: 99% of
those taken captive in Iraq are legitimate targets.
While the secretary-general of Egypt's Labour Party accepts Margaret
Hassan and French journalists Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot
should be released at once - he says most other captives were
collaborating with US forces and were fair game.
Husain also told Aljazeera on Sunday that the media should not
describe the vast majority of foreigners detained by various Iraqi
groups as hostages.
"They are not hostages but prisoners and according to Islamic law,
they can be exchanged, set free or executed. All those who were
killed were agents and partners of the occupation," he said.
Collaborators
Husain asks why some prominent Muslim voices suggest killing those
who actively support the US war effort is wrong, especially when two
thirds of those taken captive were later released in exchange for
political or financial gains.
"The war effort is not restricted to those who just carry weapons.
The war effort includes transport and supplies. Aren't supply lines
part of military activity?"
"An Iraqi interpreter working for an American soldier - isn't that
part of the war effort? Undoubtedly, all those killed were not
civilians."
Husain's comments, while no doubt unpopular in the West, find
currency among mainstream scholars at the al-Azhar University in
Cairo, who have issued numerous fatwas (rulings) legitimising this
position.
Perhaps one of the more famous statements on the subject was made by
the late Shaikh Mahmud Shaltut: "Anyone working in the enemy military
camps and factories is one of them and may be killed."
Civilian contractors
This is particularly relevant in Iraq where so many of the tasks that
would normally be performed by the army have been contracted out to
private firms. Referred to as civilians in the Western media, Husain
says "they are anything but civil".
And there are plenty of modern day Islamic scholars who rule out all
links with US forces.
Dr Sajid al-Dalimi, a professor at the faculty of sharia at Baghdad
University concludes that even an Iraqi working for the occupation
troops in Iraq should be "considered a spy who betrays his country
and people".
But it is not just Muslim clerics who discuss the ethics of taking
captives. Bruce Blythe, head of Crisis Management International in
Atlanta, says the practice is just "another way for have-nots to
level the playing field ... another tool in their arsenal".
Involved in hostage rescue and negotiation attempts himself, Blythe
adds that it has become clear that Iraqi groups taking captives "are
being more purposeful about it".
Accepting that a tiny minority of groups that take foreign captives
have made mistakes and that atrocities happen in all wars, Husain
wonders why both the US and Britain have forgotten their own records
in taking and killing captives.
Vietnam forgotten
In September 2004, the US record in Vietnam took a new turn. More
evidence emerged of a US army platoon - known as Tiger Force - that
killed hundreds of unarmed men, women and children over a period of
months in 1967.
Already steeped in investigations of abuse by US soldiers of Iraqi
prisoners, the army has not yet decided whether to prosecute Tiger
Force's retired commanding officer, Major James Hawkins.
Questions remain over whether army lawyers have the legal power to
charge the 63-year-old former officer, but at least 45 other members
of the platoon could face investigations ranging from assault to
murder of captured civilians.
A former unit medic told one media investigation that soldiers "would
go into villages and just shoot everybody. We didn't need an excuse.
If they were there, they were dead". And the two soldiers that did
protest were transferred out rather than heard.
British example
And travelling back just a little further in time, analysts, such as
Britain's Michael Walsh, have uncovered plenty of evidence that
British troops not only took civilians captive, but executed them too.
Walsh writes that the International Red Cross threatened to bring the
British government before international tribunals for abuse and
illegal enslavement that was going on even three years after the
second world war had ended.
"Tragically even [German] civilians were illegally held, deported and
murdered in the tens of thousands ... the evil killers responsible
have so far evaded justice."
Quoting a former British army veteran, Walsh recounts how, during the
second half of 1945, British troops guarding suspected Nazi civilians
made them live on starvation rations in a camp called Sennelager.
Britain's Daily Mail newspaper also quoted the veteran on 22 April
1995 regarding the treatment of these civilians.
"They were frequently beaten and grew as thin as concentration camp
victims, scooping handfuls of swill from our waste bins.
"They could be shot on sight if they ventured close to the perimeter
fence. It was a common trick to throw a cigarette just inside the
fence and shoot any prisoner who tried to reach it."
Bombing Los Angeles
Given imperfect wartime records, Majdi Husain also asked Aljazeera
viewers why US Vice-President Dick Cheney constantly warns of
possible biological, chemical or even nuclear attack on American
cities when "we are the weak ones".
"They make demands on us that don't exist in international law. There
must be reciprocity. Those who bomb Falluja cannot argue against me
bombing Los Angeles.
"If we had missiles we should have bombed LA or any other [US] city
until they stopped bombing Falluja, Samarra and Ramadi," he said.
But fighters around Iraq do not have missiles, so it may well be that
the captive phenomenon will continue for a long time to come.
Aljazeera
By Lawrence Smallman
Thursday 21 October 2004, 8:58 Makka Time, 5:58 GMT
The kidnapping of the director of Care International in Iraq has
fuelled a debate over the legitimacy of taking hostages and killing
captives.
For British Prime Minister Tony Blair, abducting 60-year-old aid
worker Margaret Hassan "shows the kind of people that we are up
against".
For Australian journalist John Martinkus, seizing foreign nationals
is an intelligent way of "fighting a war" when you are outnumbered
and outgunned. And unlike Blair, Martinkus has first hand hostage
experience.
Released unharmed over the weekend, SBS Television Dateline's
Martinkus said his captors freed him after establishing his
independence on Iraq coverage.
"These guys [are] not stupid. They're fighting a war but they're not
savages. They're not actually just killing people willy-nilly. They
talk to you, they think about things," he said at Melbourne airport
on Tuesday.
"There was a reason to kill [British captive Kenneth] Bigley, there
was a reason to kill the Americans; there was not a reason to kill
me - luckily I managed to convince them of that," he said.
SBS executive producer Mike Carey said the journalist was freed after
his captors used a popular internet search engine to establish he was
an independent reporter who did not support the US presence in Iraq.
Justification
Various Iraqi groups have abducted more than 100 foreign nationals in
a bid to destabilise Iraq's US-appointed interim government and force
troops to leave.
And the kidnap of Care International's director is just the exception
that proves a rule, says Egyptian politician Majdi Husain: 99% of
those taken captive in Iraq are legitimate targets.
While the secretary-general of Egypt's Labour Party accepts Margaret
Hassan and French journalists Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot
should be released at once - he says most other captives were
collaborating with US forces and were fair game.
Husain also told Aljazeera on Sunday that the media should not
describe the vast majority of foreigners detained by various Iraqi
groups as hostages.
"They are not hostages but prisoners and according to Islamic law,
they can be exchanged, set free or executed. All those who were
killed were agents and partners of the occupation," he said.
Collaborators
Husain asks why some prominent Muslim voices suggest killing those
who actively support the US war effort is wrong, especially when two
thirds of those taken captive were later released in exchange for
political or financial gains.
"The war effort is not restricted to those who just carry weapons.
The war effort includes transport and supplies. Aren't supply lines
part of military activity?"
"An Iraqi interpreter working for an American soldier - isn't that
part of the war effort? Undoubtedly, all those killed were not
civilians."
Husain's comments, while no doubt unpopular in the West, find
currency among mainstream scholars at the al-Azhar University in
Cairo, who have issued numerous fatwas (rulings) legitimising this
position.
Perhaps one of the more famous statements on the subject was made by
the late Shaikh Mahmud Shaltut: "Anyone working in the enemy military
camps and factories is one of them and may be killed."
Civilian contractors
This is particularly relevant in Iraq where so many of the tasks that
would normally be performed by the army have been contracted out to
private firms. Referred to as civilians in the Western media, Husain
says "they are anything but civil".
And there are plenty of modern day Islamic scholars who rule out all
links with US forces.
Dr Sajid al-Dalimi, a professor at the faculty of sharia at Baghdad
University concludes that even an Iraqi working for the occupation
troops in Iraq should be "considered a spy who betrays his country
and people".
But it is not just Muslim clerics who discuss the ethics of taking
captives. Bruce Blythe, head of Crisis Management International in
Atlanta, says the practice is just "another way for have-nots to
level the playing field ... another tool in their arsenal".
Involved in hostage rescue and negotiation attempts himself, Blythe
adds that it has become clear that Iraqi groups taking captives "are
being more purposeful about it".
Accepting that a tiny minority of groups that take foreign captives
have made mistakes and that atrocities happen in all wars, Husain
wonders why both the US and Britain have forgotten their own records
in taking and killing captives.
Vietnam forgotten
In September 2004, the US record in Vietnam took a new turn. More
evidence emerged of a US army platoon - known as Tiger Force - that
killed hundreds of unarmed men, women and children over a period of
months in 1967.
Already steeped in investigations of abuse by US soldiers of Iraqi
prisoners, the army has not yet decided whether to prosecute Tiger
Force's retired commanding officer, Major James Hawkins.
Questions remain over whether army lawyers have the legal power to
charge the 63-year-old former officer, but at least 45 other members
of the platoon could face investigations ranging from assault to
murder of captured civilians.
A former unit medic told one media investigation that soldiers "would
go into villages and just shoot everybody. We didn't need an excuse.
If they were there, they were dead". And the two soldiers that did
protest were transferred out rather than heard.
British example
And travelling back just a little further in time, analysts, such as
Britain's Michael Walsh, have uncovered plenty of evidence that
British troops not only took civilians captive, but executed them too.
Walsh writes that the International Red Cross threatened to bring the
British government before international tribunals for abuse and
illegal enslavement that was going on even three years after the
second world war had ended.
"Tragically even [German] civilians were illegally held, deported and
murdered in the tens of thousands ... the evil killers responsible
have so far evaded justice."
Quoting a former British army veteran, Walsh recounts how, during the
second half of 1945, British troops guarding suspected Nazi civilians
made them live on starvation rations in a camp called Sennelager.
Britain's Daily Mail newspaper also quoted the veteran on 22 April
1995 regarding the treatment of these civilians.
"They were frequently beaten and grew as thin as concentration camp
victims, scooping handfuls of swill from our waste bins.
"They could be shot on sight if they ventured close to the perimeter
fence. It was a common trick to throw a cigarette just inside the
fence and shoot any prisoner who tried to reach it."
Bombing Los Angeles
Given imperfect wartime records, Majdi Husain also asked Aljazeera
viewers why US Vice-President Dick Cheney constantly warns of
possible biological, chemical or even nuclear attack on American
cities when "we are the weak ones".
"They make demands on us that don't exist in international law. There
must be reciprocity. Those who bomb Falluja cannot argue against me
bombing Los Angeles.
"If we had missiles we should have bombed LA or any other [US] city
until they stopped bombing Falluja, Samarra and Ramadi," he said.
But fighters around Iraq do not have missiles, so it may well be that
the captive phenomenon will continue for a long time to come.
Aljazeera