The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(June 2017) |
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In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will. Kidnapping is typically but not necessarily accomplished by use of force or fear, but it is still kidnapping if a person is fraudulently enticed into confinement. There must be movement, however, not only false imprisonment.
Motives for kidnappings vary. Criminal gangs and insurgent groups may engage in kidnappings for economic reasons, to exert territorial control, to generate support, or as bargaining leverage. [1] [2] [3]
Kidnapping of a child is known as child abduction, which is a separate legal category. Kidnapping may be done to demand a ransom in exchange for releasing the victim, or for other illegal purposes. Kidnapping can be accompanied by bodily injury, which elevates the crime to aggravated kidnapping. [4]
Kidnapping can occur for a variety of reasons, with motivations for the crime varying particularly based on the perpetrator.
The kidnapping of a person, most often an adult, for ransom is a common motivation behind kidnapping. This method is primarily utilized by larger organizations, such as criminal gangs, terrorist organizations, or insurgent groups. Typically this is done for financial incentive, with sums of money varying depending on the victim or the method of kidnapping.
Mexican gangs are estimated to have made up to $250 million in kidnappings from Central American migrants. [5]
According to a 2022 study by political scientist Danielle Gilbert, armed groups in Colombia engage in ransom kidnappings as a way to maintain the armed groups' local systems of taxation. The groups resort to ransom kidnappings to punish tax evasion and incentivize inhabitants not to shirk. [2] A 2024 study argued that insurgent groups are more likely to engage in kidnappings "under two conditions: to generate support and reinstate bargaining capacity when organizations suffer military losses on the battlefield and to enforce loyalties and display strength when organizations face violent competition from other non-state actors." [1]
Kidnapping has been identified as one source by which terrorist organizations have been known to obtain funding. [6]
Express kidnapping is a method of abduction used in some countries, mainly from Latin America, [7] where a small ransom, that a company or family can easily pay, is demanded. Express kidnapping is also used for an immediate ransom in which the victim is taken to an ATM and forced to give the captor money.
Tiger kidnapping occurs when a person is kidnapped, and the captor forces them to commit a crime such as robbery or murder. The victim is held hostage until the captor's demands are met. The term originates from the usually long preceding observation, like a tiger does when stalking prey. This is a method which has been used by the Real Irish Republican Army and the Continuity Irish Republican Army.
In the past, and presently in some parts of the world (such as southern Sudan), kidnapping is a common means used to obtain slaves and money through ransom. In the 19th century, kidnapping in the form of shanghaiing (or "pressganging") men supplied merchant ships with sailors, whom the law considered unfree labour. [8]
Other motivations include the kidnap of a person for sexual assault purposes, and instances such as:
Bride kidnapping is a term often applied loosely, to include any bride "abducted" against the will of her parents, even if she is willing to marry the "abductor". It still is traditional amongst certain nomadic peoples of Central Asia. It has seen a resurgence in Kyrgyzstan since the fall of the Soviet Union and the subsequent erosion of women's rights. [9]
Kidnapping has sometimes been used by the family and friends of a cult member as a method to remove them from the cult and begin a deprogramming process to change their allegiance away from the group. [10]
Kidnapping on the high seas in connection with piracy has been increasing. It was reported that 661 crewmembers were taken hostage and 12 kidnapped in the first nine months of 2009. [11] The IMB Piracy Reporting Centre recorded that 141 crew members were taken hostage and 83 were kidnapped in 2018. [12]
Jurisdiction of kidnapping varies depending on the country, with each one having their own way of defining and prosecuting the crime. Some such countries with clearly defined laws on kidnapping include:
In Australia, kidnapping is a criminal offence, as defined by either the State Crimes Act or the Commonwealth Criminal Code. It is a serious indictable offence, and is punishable by up to 14 – 25 years imprisonment. [13]
Kidnapping that does not result in a homicide is a hybrid offence that comes with a maximum possible penalty of life imprisonment (18 months if tried summarily). [14] A murder that results from kidnapping is classified as 1st-degree, with a sentence of life imprisonment that results from conviction (the mandatory penalty for murder under Canadian law). [15]
The General Law to Prevent and Punish Crimes of Kidnapping establishes a prison sentence of 20–40 years for an individual convicted of holding another person as a hostage. The prison term increases to 25–45 years if the kidnapping occurred with violence against the victims, and then increases to 25–50 years if the kidnapping was committed by members of public safety. If the kidnapping results in homicide, the prison sentence will be from 40 to 70 years. [16]
In Pakistan, there are two kinds of kidnapping: Kidnapping from Pakistan and kidnapping from lawful guardianship. Penal Code 360 states that whoever conveys any person beyond the limits of Pakistan without the consent of that person or of some person legally authorized to consent on behalf of that person is said to kidnap that person from Pakistan. Penal Code 363 states that whoever kidnaps any person from Pakistan or lawful guardianship shall be punished with imprisonment of either description of a term which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to a fine. Kidnapping with a motive of murder, hurt, slavery, or to the lust of any person shall be punished with imprisonment for life with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years and shall also be liable to a fine. [17]
Article 282 prohibits hostaging (and 'kidnapping' is a kind of 'hostaging'). [18] Part 1 of Article 282 allows sentencing kidnappers to maximum imprisonment of 8 years or a fine of the fifth category. [19] Part 2 allows maximum imprisonment of 9 years or a fine of the fifth category [19] if there are serious injuries. Part 3 allows maximum imprisonment of 12 years or a fine of the fifth category [19] if the victim has been killed. Part 4 allows sentencing people that collaborate with kidnapping (such as proposing or make available a location where the victim hostaged). Part 1, 2 and 3 will apply also to them.
Kidnapping is an offence under the common law of England and Wales. Lord Brandon said in 1984 R v D: [20]
First, the nature of the offence is an attack on, and infringement of, the personal liberty of an individual. Secondly, the offence contains four ingredients as follows: (1) the taking or carrying away of one person by another; (2) by force or fraud; (3) without the consent of the person so taken or carried away; and (4) without lawful excuse. [21] [22] [23]
In all cases of kidnapping of children, where it is alleged that a child has been kidnapped, it is the absence of the consent of that child which is material. This is the case regardless of the age of the child. A very small child will not have the understanding or intelligence to consent. This means that absence of consent will be a necessary inference from the age of the child. It is a question of fact for the jury whether an older child has sufficient understanding and intelligence to consent. [24] Lord Brandon said: "I should not expect a jury to find at all frequently that a child under fourteen had sufficient understanding and intelligence to give its consent." [25] If the child (being capable of doing so) did consent to being taken or carried away, the fact that the person having custody or care and control of that child did not consent to that child being taken or carried away is immaterial. If, on the other hand, the child did not consent, the consent of the person having custody or care and control of the child may support a defence of lawful excuse. [24] It is known as Gillick competence. [26]
Regarding restriction on prosecution, no prosecution may be instituted, except by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions, for an offence of kidnapping if it was committed against a child under the age of sixteen and by a person connected with the child, within the meaning of section 1 of the Child Abduction Act 1984. [27] Kidnapping is an indictable-only offence. [28] Kidnapping is punishable with imprisonment or fine at the discretion of the court. There is no limit on the fine or the term of imprisonment that may be imposed provided the sentence is not inordinate. [29] [30] [31]
A parent should only be prosecuted for kidnapping their own child "in exceptional cases, where the conduct of the parent concerned is so bad that an ordinary right-thinking person would immediately and without hesitation regard it as criminal in nature". [24] [32]
Law in the United States follows from English common law. Following the highly publicized 1932 Lindbergh kidnapping, Congress passed the Federal Kidnapping Act, which authorized the FBI to investigate kidnapping at a time when the Bureau was expanding in size and authority. The fact that a kidnapped victim may have been taken across state lines brings the crime within the ambit of federal criminal law.
Most states recognize different types of kidnapping and punish according to such factors as the location, duration, method, manner and purpose of the offense. [33] There are several deterrents to kidnapping in the United States of America. Among these are:
One notorious failed example of kidnap for ransom was the 1976 Chowchilla bus kidnapping, in which 26 children were abducted with the intention of bringing in a $5 million ransom. The children and driver escaped from an underground van without the aid of law enforcement. [34] According to the Department of Justice, kidnapping makes up 2% of all reported violent crimes against juveniles. [35]
From the 1990s on, the New York divorce coercion gang was involved in the kidnapping and torture of Jewish husbands in New York City and New Jersey for the purpose of forcing them to grant gittin (religious divorces) to their wives. They were finally apprehended on October 9, 2013, in connection with a foiled kidnapping plot. [36] [37]
According to a 2003 Domestic Violence Report in Colorado, out of a survey of 189 incidents, most people (usually white females) are taken from their homes or residence by a present or former spouse or significant other. They are usually taken by force, not by weapon, and usually the victims are not injured when they are freed.
In 2009, Phoenix, Arizona reported over 300 cases of kidnapping, although subsequent investigation found that the Phoenix police falsified data. [38] If true, this would have been the highest rate of any U.S. city and second in the world only to Mexico City. [35] A rise in kidnappings in the southwestern United States in general has been attributed to misclassification by local police, lack of a unified standard, desire for Federal grants, or the Mexican Drug War. [39]
In 2010, the United States was ranked sixth in the world (by absolute numbers, not per capita) for kidnapping for ransom, according to the available statistics (after Colombia, Italy, Lebanon, Peru, and the Philippines). [40]
In 2009, the Los Angeles Times named Phoenix, Arizona, [41] as America's kidnapping capital, reporting that every year hundreds of ransom kidnappings occur there, virtually all within the underworld associated with human and drug smuggling from Mexico, and often done as a way of collecting unpaid debts. However, a later audit by the U.S. Department of Justice Inspector General found only 59 federally reportable kidnappings in 2008, compared to the over 300 claimed on grant applications. [42]
During the year 1999 in the United States, 203,900 children were reported as the victims of family abductions and 58,200 of non-family abductions. However, only 115 were the result of "stereotypical" kidnaps (by someone unknown or of slight acquaintance to the child, held permanently or for ransom). [43]
1999 [44] !! 2006 [45] !! 2014 [46] !! 2018 [47] | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Pakistan | Pakistan | Pakistan | Pakistan |
2 | Mexico | Iraq | India | England |
3 | Brazil | India | Mexico | Germany |
4 | Philippines | South Africa | Iraq | Mexico |
5 | Venezuela | Brazil | Nigeria | Morocco |
6 | Ecuador | Mexico | Libya | Ecuador |
7 | Russia and CIS | Ecuador | Afghanistan | Brazil |
8 | Nigeria | Venezuela | Bangladesh | New Zealand |
9 | India | Colombia | Sudan | Australia |
10 | South Africa | Bangladesh | Lebanon | Netherlands |
Kidnapping for ransom is a common occurrence in various parts of the world today. In 2018, the United Nations found Pakistan and England had the highest amount of kidnappings while New Zealand had the highest rate among the 70 countries for which data is available. [48] As of 2007, that title belonged to Iraq with possibly 1,500 foreigners kidnapped. [49] In 2004, it was Mexico, [50] and in 2001, it was Colombia. [51] Reports suggest a world total of 12,500–25,500 per year with 3,600 per year in Colombia and 3,000 per year in Mexico around the year 2000. [52] However, by 2016, the number of kidnappings in Colombia had declined to 205 and it continues to decline. [53] [54]
In 2021, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported that the United States was the country with most kidnappings, totaling 56,652. [55]
Mexican numbers are hard to confirm because of fears of police involvement in kidnapping. [56] According to Pax Christi, a Catholic peace movement, "Kidnapping seems to flourish particularly in fragile states and conflict countries, as politically motivated militias, organized crime and the drugs mafia fill the vacuum left by government". [45]
Since 2019, the risk of kidnapping has risen worldwide, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This increase is mostly seen in kidnappings for ransom. This factors from a variety of aspects, including socioeconomic disparities, insufficient resources, and flawed judicial systems. Another impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on kidnappers is the economic strain that it had put many families through. This pressured kidnappers to increase kidnappings as well as ransom demands. After 2022, the diminishing effects of COVID-19 have led many countries to welcome back in-person interactions, travel and tourism. The connection between increased tourism and kidnapping is reflected through the rise of global kidnapping rates from 2019 to 2021-2023. [57]
The highest recorded ransom demand in 2021 was $77.3 million while in 2019, it was $28.7 million. Between those two years, the average global ransom demand increased 43% while the median global ransom demand increased by 6%. In Sub-Saharan Africa, regions such as Congo (DRC), Nigeria, and South Africa are likely to maintain higher levels of kidnappings due to ongoing effects of religious extremist groups, recent genocides, and civil wars. While there is no hard evidence of which country had the most kidnappings in 2021, the American region (which includes Mexico) maintains its position as the region with the second highest kidnapping rates. [59]
The annual number of recorded kidnappings per capita by country for the last available year according to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is shown in below table. [60] Each countries definition of kidnapping might differ and does not include unreported kidnappings.
Country | Reported annual kidnappings per 100,000 [60] | Year |
---|---|---|
Albania | 0.14 | 2022 |
Algeria | 0.49 | 2022 |
Andorra | 0.0 | 2019 |
Antigua and Barbuda | 1.07 | 2022 |
Argentina | 0.12 | 2022 |
Armenia | 1.52 | 2019 |
Australia | 1.94 | 2022 |
Austria | 0.1 | 2022 |
Azerbaijan | 0.09 | 2021 |
Bahamas | 1.71 | 2022 |
Bahrain | 0.0 | 2007 |
Bangladesh | 0.78 | 2006 |
Barbados | 2.13 | 2022 |
Belarus | 0.08 | 2019 |
Belgium | 10.28 | 2017 |
Belize | 1.23 | 2022 |
Benin | 4.57 | 2017 |
Bermuda | 0.0 | 2017 |
Bhutan | 0.0 | 2020 |
Bolivia | 0.22 | 2022 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0.37 | 2022 |
Botswana | 0.09 | 2014 |
Brazil | 2.06 | 2020 |
Brunei | 0.0 | 2006 |
Bulgaria | 1.22 | 2022 |
Burundi | 0.75 | 2014 |
Cabo Verde | 2.45 | 2018 |
Cameroon | 1.31 | 2020 |
Canada | 9.69 | 2022 |
Chile | 3.29 | 2022 |
Colombia | 0.95 | 2022 |
Costa Rica | 0.42 | 2022 |
Croatia | 0.0 | 2022 |
Cyprus | 0.48 | 2022 |
Czech Republic | 0.02 | 2022 |
Dominica | 8.25 | 2022 |
Dominican Republic | 0.93 | 2020 |
East Timor | 0.32 | 2017 |
Ecuador | 6.92 | 2022 |
Egypt | 0.31 | 2011 |
El Salvador | 0.05 | 2022 |
England and Wales | 11.59 | 2022 |
Estonia | 0.0 | 2022 |
Eswatini | 4.53 | 2021 |
Finland | 0.04 | 2022 |
France | 5.97 | 2016 |
Georgia | 0.1 | 2010 |
Germany | 5.87 | 2022 |
Ghana | 0.36 | 2021 |
Greece | 0.94 | 2022 |
Grenada | 0.0 | 2022 |
Guatemala | 0.8 | 2021 |
Guinea | 0.26 | 2008 |
Guinea-Bissau | 0.71 | 2016 |
Guyana | 0.0 | 2022 |
Haiti | 0.42 | 2018 |
Honduras | 0.27 | 2022 |
Hong Kong | 0.0 | 2022 |
Hungary | 0.07 | 2022 |
India | 5.07 | 2013 |
Indonesia | 0.53 | 2022 |
Iraq (Central) | 1.15 | 2021 |
Ireland | 1.81 | 2022 |
Israel | 7.31 | 2022 |
Italy | 0.24 | 2022 |
Jamaica | 0.67 | 2022 |
Japan | 0.31 | 2022 |
Jordan | 1.9 | 2022 |
Kazakhstan | 0.4 | 2017 |
Kenya | 0.11 | 2022 |
Kosovo | 0.6 | 2021 |
Kuwait | 12.81 | 2009 |
Kyrgyzstan | 0.32 | 2018 |
Latvia | 0.59 | 2022 |
Lebanon | 15.71 | 2015 |
Lesotho | 3.09 | 2009 |
Liechtenstein | 0.0 | 2022 |
Lithuania | 0.0 | 2022 |
Luxembourg | 8.03 | 2022 |
Macau | 0.0 | 2022 |
Madagascar | 0.04 | 2015 |
Maldives | 7.2 | 2017 |
Malta | 0.0 | 2022 |
Mauritius | 1.77 | 2021 |
Mexico | 0.5 | 2022 |
Moldova | 1.43 | 2020 |
Monaco | 2.7 | 2016 |
Mongolia | 0.06 | 2021 |
Montenegro | 0.16 | 2022 |
Morocco | 1.7 | 2022 |
Myanmar | 0.02 | 2022 |
Namibia | 2.73 | 2021 |
Nepal | 0.07 | 2016 |
Netherlands | 2.6 | 2021 |
New Zealand | 7.95 | 2021 |
Nicaragua | 0.05 | 2019 |
Nigeria | 0.33 | 2013 |
North Macedonia | 0.33 | 2022 |
Northern Ireland | 8.27 | 2022 |
Oman | 0.11 | 2022 |
Pakistan | 11.81 | 2022 |
Palestine | 2.48 | 2022 |
Panama | 0.25 | 2022 |
Paraguay | 0.22 | 2022 |
Peru | 3.61 | 2022 |
Philippines | 0.14 | 2019 |
Poland | 0.64 | 2015 |
Portugal | 2.43 | 2022 |
Puerto Rico | 0.89 | 2017 |
Qatar | 0.26 | 2021 |
Romania | 2.07 | 2022 |
Russia | 0.25 | 2020 |
Rwanda | 0.19 | 2013 |
Saint Kitts and Nevis | 4.2 | 2022 |
Saint Lucia | 8.34 | 2022 |
Saudi Arabia | 0.17 | 2019 |
Scotland | 4.92 | 2022 |
Senegal | 0.01 | 2015 |
Serbia | 0.15 | 2022 |
Singapore | 0.0 | 2011 |
Slovakia | 0.82 | 2022 |
Slovenia | 0.05 | 2022 |
South Africa | 9.63 | 2017 |
South Korea | 0.09 | 2022 |
Spain | 0.2 | 2022 |
Sri Lanka | 0.98 | 2019 |
St. Vincent and Grenadines | 0.96 | 2022 |
Sudan | 1.92 | 2008 |
Switzerland | 0.05 | 2022 |
Syria | 0.11 | 2008 |
São Tomé and Príncipe | 0.0 | 2011 |
Tajikistan | 2.21 | 2011 |
Tanzania | 0.0 | 2015 |
Thailand | 0.0 | 2022 |
Trinidad and Tobago | 1.33 | 2018 |
Turkey | 42.19 | 2014 |
Turkmenistan | 2.63 | 2004 |
Uganda | 2.42 | 2016 |
Ukraine | 0.82 | 2020 |
United Arab Emirates | 2.63 | 2022 |
United States of America | 15.5 | 2022 |
Uruguay | 0.38 | 2022 |
Uzbekistan | 0.16 | 2021 |
Vatican City | 0.0 | 2022 |
Venezuela | 0.66 | 2018 |
Yemen | 0.17 | 2009 |
Zimbabwe | 1.77 | 2008 |
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Assault occasioning grievous bodily harm is a term used in English criminal law to describe the severest forms of battery. It refers to two offences that are created by sections 18 and 20 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861. The distinction between these two sections is the requirement of specific intent for section 18; the offence under section 18 is variously referred to as "wounding with intent" or "causing grievous bodily harm with intent", whereas the offence under section 20 is variously referred to as "unlawful wounding", "malicious wounding" or "inflicting grievous bodily harm".
In Canada and England and Wales, certain convicted persons may be designated as dangerous offenders and subject to a longer, or indefinite, term of imprisonment in order to protect the public. Dangerousness in law is a legal establishment of the risk that a person poses to cause harm. Other countries, including Denmark, Norway, and parts of the United States have similar provisions of law.
In criminal law, incitement is the encouragement of another person to commit a crime. Depending on the jurisdiction, some or all types of incitement may be illegal. Where illegal, it is known as an inchoate offense, where harm is intended but may or may not have actually occurred.
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Rape is a statutory offence in England and Wales. The offence is created by section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003:
(1) A person (A) commits an offence if—
(2) Whether a belief is reasonable is to be determined having regard to all the circumstances, including any steps A has taken to ascertain whether B consents.
(3) Sections 75 and 76 apply to an offence under this section.(4) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable, on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for life.
EWCA Crim 1236, [2007] 3 WLR 488.[ dead link ]