A Deal with the Devil: The price of paying ransom
By Lynne Bell
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听听听听听听听听听听听 As I write this, two horrific videos have surfaced after the murder of Canadian citizen John Ridsdel in the Philippines.
听听听听听听听听听听听 I haven't watched them-and I won't-but according to transcripts released by a Norwegian group that monitors jihadist activity, the first video contains footage of the innocent hostage's barbaric murder and states: 鈥淛ohn Ridsdel was beheaded on 4/25, due to non-compliance of Canadian Gov.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 The second video reportedly contains footage of Ridsdel's three fellow hostages-Canadian Robert Hall, Filipina Marites Flor and Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad. Each of them-surrounded by armed, masked men-address the camera.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Hall states 鈥淭o the Canadian government, I'm told to tell you to meet the demand. I don't know what you're doing, but you're not doing anything for us. John has been sacrificed, his family has been decimated, and I'm not sure why or what you've been waiting for.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wholeheartedly condemned those who murdered Ridsdel but maintained that Canada simply will not pay ransom to kidnappers and will not be held hostage by the criminal likes of Abu Sayyaf, the Philippine terrorist group who murdered Ridsdel, an innocent Canadian citizen.
听听听听听听听听听听听 One of the reasons for Canada's longstanding policy regarding the refusal to pay ransom payments is that doing so would endanger all Canadians who travel abroad. Italy and France are two countries who have reportedly paid millions in ransom payments to captors of their citizens. As a result, not only are the Italians and French seen as especially desirable targets by terrorists, but the cash these criminals receive aids their cause greatly-creating exactly the opposite effect of what most civilized countries hope to achieve.
听听听听听听听听听听听 But of course, real life is more complicated. As I sit here in my office, none of my loved ones are in such an unspeakably awful situation, and most of us would move heaven and earth-governments be damned-to save any member of our families or any of our friends from a fate like John Risdsel's.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Alberta's Amanda Lindhout and her mother Lorinda Stewart know how hellish kidnapping is-both from the side of the captive and from the side of the hostage's frantic loved ones back home.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Lindhout was kidnapped in Somalia in August 2008 and was held for 15 months by a group of Somali men, where she endured torture and the fear of an agonizing death for nearly every day of her captivity.
听听听听听听听听听听听 She was finally freed when her family pulled together a ransom and she was released-without the official assistance of the Canadian government.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Perhaps surprisingly, both Lindhout and her mother stand behind this country's policy of refusing to pay to kidnappers for the release of their hostages.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Lindhout recently told CBC News: 鈥淚t's so complicated, and people come to me expecting in a way that I would have a really clear answer about that,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he answer is probably not what most people expect, given what I've been through, but I understand Trudeau's position. I actually understand and agree with how a policy like that serves to protect Canadians who are out travelling around the world.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 At one point during Lindhout's captivity, her mother endured the nightmare of a phone call from her hysterical daughter after she had been bound and gagged, tortured and assaulted for three consecutive days. Lindhout's kidnappers told her she would be tortured every day until they received payment-and this was the telephone message they had their sobbing victim relay to her mother who was thousands of miles away in Canada.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Stewart says she agrees with Canada's policy of non-payment of ransoms, but adds that she would change the law, so that families trying to gain their loved one's freedom under such difficult circumstances would be able to do so without facing government roadblocks-or even criminal charges- in Canada.
听听听听听听听听听听听 After 鈥渟elling everything鈥� and paying what was rumoured to be $500,000 to gain her daughter's freedom, Stewart told CBC News: 鈥淚'm really hesitant to say that I lost everything because I feel like I gained everything when Amanda came home.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 I suspect we all would feel the same way-but if the Canadian government officially adopts the policy of making ransom payments for the release of its innocent citizens held captive by terror groups, it almost normalizes and legitimizes these crimes.
听听听听听听听听听听听 And that really would be like making a deal with the devil.
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What if鈥�
By Kelly Running
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听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淲e don鈥檛 negotiate with terrorists.鈥� It鈥檚 a saying you hear, whether in reality or on the silver screen, but is it a quote to live by or is it one a country should ignore?
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Recently in the news a Philippine militant group murdered a Canadian hostage. In a video released before his death, the Canadian hostage pleaded with the Government of Canada to meet the demands of the militant group holding him.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 After refusing to pay, however, a second video was released which apparently shows the beheading of the Canadian hostage.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 His family now mourns his death and there is talk that the Canadian Government could have stopped it had the country simply paid. According to a National Post article, however, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has vowed that Canada will never pay ransom when faced with the decision.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Britain and the United States both state that they too will never pay ransom for its citizens. There are countries out there that will pay: France denies that they paid a ransom but four journalists were released in Syria in 2014 after demands were made. Spain reportedly paid for the release of 36 crewman from a Spanish trawler to Somali pirates. Austria, Switzerland, Qatar, Oman, and Israel have also reportedly given in to ransom demands.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 In such a difficult situation, what is the right decision?
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 I鈥檓 not sure if there actually is one. On one hand the countries that refuse to negotiate with terrorists, their citizens are left in the hands of their captors to potentially meet their end. On the other hand, countries that pay ransom are taking a risk, what if the terrorists don鈥檛 follow through on the deal, however, they are more likely to bring home a citizen alive.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Yet, if a country negotiates a ransom they are willing to pay, does that put those citizens at more of a risk than citizens from other countries. If places like Canada, the United States, and Britain refuse to pay a ransom are those citizens less likely to be taken than people from countries that do negotiate and pay?
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 It鈥檚 one of those Catch-22 situations where you are darned if you do and darned if you don鈥檛. There is no right answer and no wrong answer when we鈥檙e looking at what if鈥檚. You can look back on anything in the world, in your life and question, what if this was done or what if that was done? There鈥檚 no guarantee for you to know the outcome if those different choices had been made.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 What if Hitler had been accepted into art school? Would the world be vastly different than what it is today?
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 The point is we can鈥檛 know for certain what would or wouldn鈥檛 happen in the world, so our government must make policies that it thinks will best protect its citizens. This idea of refusing to negotiate a ransom isn鈥檛 intrinsic to the current liberal government either, I don鈥檛 want people to go off blaming Trudeau like they do for everything else. If you want to blame people, blame those who voted for him, because he鈥檚 there representing the majority.
听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听听Whether negotiations take place or not, it is the choice of the government and their efforts in ensuring Canadian citizens are safe.听
