GENEVA - The Special Rapporteur on torture, Alice Jill Edwards, today urged States negotiating the new Crimes Against Humanity Convention to explicitly include hostage-taking within its scope, warning that its omission represents a serious gap in international protection.
"This is a major oversight," Edwards said. "Hostage-taking has become an increasingly deliberate tactic used by parties to conflicts, and by States themselves, to exert pressure, extract concessions or gain military leverage. It inflicts severe suffering - both physical and psychological - and must be recognised."
The draft Convention, currently under negotiation by States, aims to prevent and punish some of the gravest crimes known to humanity taking place during widespread or systematic attacks against civilians, and strengthen international cooperation, national prosecution and accountability for perpetrators.
"I am concerned that despite the profound human cost to civilians and the corrosive impact on societies and international relations, the practice is not expressly addressed in the current text under negotiation," the Special Rapporteur said.
Edwards has previously documented how hostage-taking frequently involves treatment amounting to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, but she said it is also a stand-alone crime under international law. In 2025, the UN General Assembly recognised that hostage-taking may constitute torture and must be prevented.
"Victims are subjected to prolonged detention, isolation, uncertainty and abuse, while their families endure years of anguish, fear and instability. Hostage-taking destroys trust in institutions, undermines social cohesion and leaves lasting psychological harm," the expert said.
Edwards warned that in conflict settings, hostage-taking can also prolong violence. Negotiations over detainees may stall peace efforts, incentivise further abductions and entrench cycles of retaliation.
Including hostage-taking as a crime against humanity in the draft Convention would strengthen States' ability to investigate and prosecute those responsible, improve international cooperation and send an unequivocal signal that civilians must never be used as bargaining chips, the Special Rapporteur noted.
"The Crimes Against Humanity Convention is intended to close accountability gaps," the expert said. "Leaving hostage-taking outside of its scope risks entrenching impunity at a time when this practice is expanding."
She urged States to seize the opportunity presented by these negotiations to correct the omission and ensure the Convention reflects contemporary realities.
"This treaty will shape international law for decades," Edwards said. "Leaving hostage-taking out as a crime will haunt survivors, families and the international community as a glaring omission. A simple amendment is all that is required."
