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Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / This thesis develops a theory to determine the best execution time to conduct a hostage rescue attempt. It does so by explaining the phenomenon of a hostage crisis biorhythm and proposing four principles essential for success. The principles of hostage rescue operations presented in this thesis and used in the biorhythm model-surprise, intelligence, operator's skill, and deception-are derived from looking at numerous planning models from special operations, from personal experience, and the thorough analysis of six historical cases. The historical cases show that in every instance any one of these four principles was overlooked, the operation was doomed. These principles have been determined to be the most critical factors that change as the crisis develops throughout the hostage ordeal. A thorough understanding of this biorhythm will provide planning guidelines to assess the best windows of opportunity for a proposed rescue attempt. One main focus of this work will be an in-depth case study of the hostage rescue operation "CHAVIN DE HUANTAR". This case study will present compelling evidence to reinforce my hypothesis, and serves as a template model for successful rescue operations. The analysis of this single case will provide a wealth of information on the success of this remarkable operation. Another main focus of this thesis will be strategic thinking of a hostage crisis using game theory analysis. The findings of this thesis will enable decision-makers to plan and organize hostage rescue forces to act at the appropriate time (window of opportunity), maximizing their chances of success. Additionally, it will provide a useful planning model that can be implemented effectively and accurately, presenting a clear picture of possible outcomes throughout a hostage crisis. Furthermore, this thesis will help the reader become a better strategist during the planning, preparation, and execution of a hostage rescue operation. It will provide a thorough understanding of how these operations work, how to solve them successfully, and how to predict possible outcomes at different stages of the operation applying the principles of game theory. / Major, United States Army

This thesis examines some flaws in the interpretation and application of the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction ('the Hague Convention) and how this has led to the inadequate protection of children against the impact of domestic and family violence. These inadequacies have been identified in the inconsistent interpretation and application of Article 13(1) b) amongst Contracting States. This thesis seeks to address the disparity through a comprehensive analysis of the issues and its root causes, whilst conducting an empirical study with the aim of proposing policy recommendations. The demographics of taking parents shows that the majority of them are primary carer mothers as opposed to non-resident fathers. Added to this, UN global statistics reveal that 30% of women have experienced intimate partner violence and 38% of all murders of women are committed by intimate partners. It is also now recognised that violence and abuse between parents may expose a child to the grave risk of harm. Therefore, domestic violence does not have to be perpetrated on the child directly to suffer harm. The thesis derives its purpose from the conclusions of the Sixth Meeting of the Special Commission that allegations of domestic violence and the risks to the child are not always adequately and promptly examined. The thesis analyses the inconsistencies in the approach by Contracting States towards Article 13 (1) b) in cases involving domestic violence, with a particular focus on case law and the empirical survey that was carried out as a part of this doctoral research. The thesis aims to identify best practices and provide recommendations which it is hoped has influenced the Working Group in the preparation of the draft Guide to Good Practice at the Hague Conference. It is anticipated that the Guide to Good Practice on Article 13 (1) b) will greatly assist judges on measures to improve upon its interpretation and application in cases involving allegations of domestic violence. The underlying rationale is that it is possible to achieve real consistency. Judges need to be aided with a roadmap of the correct approach to analysing the grave risk of harm, whilst addressing evidential and resource issues. It is suggested that the starting point should always be an 'effective examination' of the allegations of domestic violence, rather than first considering protective measure on the basis of an assumption that the allegations are true. An “effective examination” should take place by means of a 'thorough, limited and expeditious' investigation, in line with X v Latvia (Application no. 27853/09) Grand Chamber [2013]. The recommendations put forward in this thesis combine the principle of 'effective examination' and a stronger recognition of the role of the Convention of 19 October 1996 on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Co-operation in Respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children. The objective is to help unify the interpretation and application of Article 13(1) b) in cases concerning domestic violence across Contracting States.

Colombia differs from the rest of the world due to the amount of kidnappings and coca cultivation taking place. Using data between 1999-2008, this paper studies to what extent and in what direction there exists a causal relationship of coca cultivation on kidnappings. A study that has never been done in the previous published economic literature. A negative relationship would mean that policies implemented to reduce coca cultivation would also increase the number of kidnappings. A positive relationship, on the other hand would reduce the number of kidnappings. Using OLS-, fixed effects- and instrumental variable regressions, the results imply a negative relationship. Meaning implementing policies with the aim of eradicating coca production would come with negative externalities in the form of more kidnappings.

This study is intended to address the problem of international parental child abduction from Islamic and international perspectives.  During a decade of working as a judge in the state of Qatar a number of cross-border child abduction cases occurred involving GCC, Arab and Western parents.  In none of these cases has the Hague Convention on The Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (1980) been consulted or mentioned.  There is no evidence that the attention of Qatari judges has ever been drawn to the existence of this important international treaty. However, for the reasons given throughout this study, it will be argued that The Hague Convention is too important to be totally ignored by Muslim countries, while these countries will probably start to face an increasing number of cross-border child abduction cases.  The benefits of acceding to the Convention are made clear by considering a diversity of international cases where the solutions of the Convention best serve the welfare of the abducted children by procedurally ordering their prompt return to their habitual residence, thus putting to an end an arbitrary act of abduction unjustifiably carried out by one of the carers.  It is hoped that in the end this research will bring Islamic and Convention understandings closer to each other with regard to the problem of international parental child abduction.

Thesis (M.S. in Defense Analysis)--Naval Postgraduate School, Sept. 2004. / Thesis Advisor(s): Frank R. Giordano, Gordon H. McCormick. Includes bibliographical references (p. 179-189). Also available online.

The following study is an exploratory analysis of intimate partner kidnapping. The current study will give a descriptive picture of the victim, offender, and incident characteristics of a form of intimate partner violence that has never been studied before, intimate partner kidnapping, as well as a form of physical violence often seen in the literature, intimate partner assaults. The study will use a combination of the National Incident Based Report System (FBI, 2009), and the American Community Survey (Census, 2012) to identify these characteristics and also to identify any potential relationships between structural-level correlates and rates of intimate partner violence. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of multiple forms of intimate partner violence using police data, as well as, understand their relationships to structural-level correlates of counties. The current study uses the National Incident-Based Reporting (FBI, 2009) system from the year 2009 in order to identify both types of intimate partner violence. It is rare that police data is used to study intimate partner violence, and the current study expands our knowledge of this violence by using a different type of data to study this area. Additionally, the American Community Survey (Census, 2012) estimates between 2005-2009 are utilized to measure the structural-level variables, including concentrated disadvantage, racial heterogeneity, immigrant concentration, and residential stability. Overall, this study finds that intimate partner kidnapping is a different form of violence than intimate partner assaults. Only one structural level variable, residential stability is significantly associated with intimate partner kidnapping, whereas, 3 of the 4 structural level iv variables are significantly related to intimate partner assaults and most in the direction expected. The conclusions suggest that intimate partner kidnapping may be a part of “coercive controlling violence” which involves severe amounts of control, isolation, and intimidation, and may not have the same relationships to structural-level correlates as other types of intimate partner violence, such as physical assaults.

No abstract provided. / Thesis (LL.M.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2011.

On August 28, 1955, Emmett Louis Till was abducted from the home of his uncle, Mose Wright, near Money, Mississippi. A body was recovered three days later in the nearby Tallahatchie River, which divides Tallahatchie and Leflore Counties, and the body was closer to the Tallahatchie bank of the river. A week later the Grand Jury of Tallahatchie County indicted J. W. Milan and Roy Bryant on separate counts of murder and kidnapping. On September 198, 1955, in Sumner, Mississippi, there began a trial destined to be the most publicized kidnap-murder trial since the Bruno Hauptman case, seventy reporters covered the trial, representing newspapers and magazines from all over the United States and from some foreign countries. Nearly every newspaper in the country gave the case and trial front-page play, as did many of those published in other countries. / Typescript. / A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate School of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Summer Semester, 1963. / "August, 1963" / Includes bibliographical references. / Marion D. Irish, Professor Directing Thesis; William W. Rogers, Committee Member; Malcolm B. Parsons, Committee Member.

No dia 4 de setembro de 1969, integrantes da Ação Libertadora Nacional (ALN) e do Movimento Revolucionário 8 de Outubro (MR-8) planejaram e executaram, no Brasil, o sequestro do embaixador dos Estados Unidos, Charles Burke Elbrick. O objetivo imediato era a libertação de 15 prisioneiros políticos e a transmissão de um manifesto em rede nacional que trataria de denunciar a imagem pública do regime, nacional e internacionalmente. O objetivo dessa tese é investigar esse episódio a partir da compreensão das relações entre Brasil e Estados Unidos, tendo como foco as diretrizes da política norte-americana para os casos envolvendo sequestros e assassinatos de diplomatas que tiveram lugar sobretudo a partir da década de 1960. Nesse sentido, assim como as próprias ditaduras do Cone Sul, os sequestros podem e devem ser entendidos também como um fenômeno transnacional e não como acontecimentos isolados. A partir do trabalho de análise nas fontes produzidas, em ambos os países, buscamos inserir esse episódio num quadro mais geral de abordagens descortinando, por exemplo, a carreira do embaixador Charles Burke Elbrick, a redefinição da segurança diplomática norte-americana no pós-1969 e a atuação dos sujeitos envolvidos e suas distintas motivações, conflitos e interesses. Tais reconfigurações certamente não são um ponto isolado, mas figuram como fundamentais na tentativa de elucidar o alcance da negociação estabelecida, além de tornar compreensíveis as entranhas desse episódio. / At September 4th 1969, Ação Libertadora Nacional (ALN) and Movimento Revolucionário 8 de Outubro (MR-8) members schemed and executed, in Brazil, the kidnapping of the USA ambassador Charle Burke Elbrick. Their main goal was fifteen political prisoners liberation and denounce, domestically as abroad, the regime public image through a manifest read on TV. In this thesis, we want learn more about this episode through the relationship between Brazil and United States perspective, focusing USA political guidelines for incidents evolving ambassadors kidnappings and murderers, mainly from 1960s onwards. In this sense, as well as the Southern Cone dictatorships, kidnappings like that could be regarded as a transnational event and not as isolated occasion. Through a comparative source analysis from these two countries, we aim to put this episode in a broader view, uncovering, for example, Charle Elbrick\'s career as ambassador, the North-American diplomatic security reconfiguration post-1969, and the role played by those evolved in this scenario as well as their motivations, interests and conflicts. These transformations surely are not isolated, but became essential to clarify the negotiation\'s range between Brazil and USA, in addition to make possible to understand with more accuracy this episode.