Geneva – Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, March 04, 2025
The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Alice Jill Edwards, today warned that hostage-taking by both States and non-State actors is on the rise, with hostages being used as unwitting bargaining chips in international relations.
“Hostage-taking is cruelty – plain and simple – and almost always involves torture,” Edwards said. “It inflicts severe physical and psychological suffering on both hostages and their families.”
In a report presented to the Human Rights Council, the expert urged the international community to take immediate action to end this inhumane practice, hold perpetrators accountable, secure the release of hostages and provide full support to victims and their families.
“I have heard horrific stories from victims. How they were seized, without warning, before being incarcerated in rancid prisons and other hellholes in jungles, basements and tunnels. How they were held without proper legal charges or procedures,” she said.
