Anti-kidnapping manual

UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa formally presented a copy of the manual to Colombian Attorney General Mario German Iguaran Arana during the current session of the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice being held in Vienna. She said that the purpose of this manual is to save lives.

The UN agency developed the manual to give police officers and policy-makers concrete guidelines on how to respond to kidnappings, building on the contributions of experts from 16 countries and the financial support of the government of Columbia, where kidnapping of civilians has often been rampant during a long civil conflict.

Identifying different types of kidnapping, including kidnapping for extortion as well as political or ideological purposes, it advises governments on drawing up effective legislation, preventive measures and contingency plans.

It also provides practical guidance for senior police investigators, covering subjects such as negotiation, surveillance and intervention options.

UNODC said it has developed a course based on the manual to train experts for countries of the Caribbean and more such training is also planned for Latin America this year.

This manual is reportedly based on good practices identified by experienced practitioners. Hopefully, it will help to make the global law enforcement response more effective.

Kidnapping could have local, national and international dimensions. So, all the countries need coherent national strategies to combat this crime.

The manual might have great significance for a country like ours. Hope, our authorities concerned will collect the manual and adopt best practices for the country.

The UNDP has presently been supporting a project in Bangladesh for strengthening capacity of the police force. Needless to say, this support should be in terms of our local needs and reality.