7/15/2010 10:05 PM 581 This Article Assesses Dilemmas Presented By
BAILLIET 7/15/2010 10:05 PM TOWARDS HOLISTIC TRANSNATIONAL PROTECTION: AN OVERVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC LAW APPROACHES TO KIDNAPPING * CECILIA M. BAILLIET This article assesses dilemmas presented by the global phenomenon of kidnapping. It highlights the challenge presented by failed or semi-failed states, the current reliance on private actors to provide assistance in the face of non-state violence, protection gaps in the transnational legal framework, and the pursuit of asylum as a remedy. It describes the evolution of civil society reclamations for cosmopolitan justice in past situations of state directed enforced disappearance in the Americas to current appeals for communitarian justice in non-state actor kidnapping epidemics. The conclusion calls for innovation in legal institutions and norms addressing the protection needs of victims, as well as broader strategies to tackle the root causes of inequality, poverty, and corruption which have enabled kidnapping to escalate as an industry. I. INTRODUCTION [P]ublic security is the duty and exclusive obligation of the State, strengthens the rule of law, and is intended to safeguard the well-being and security of persons and protect the enjoyment of all their rights. - Ministers Responsible for Public Security in the Americas, October 20081 The global criminal phenomenon of kidnapping is on the rise around the world, increasing at alarming rates in countries such as Algeria, Argentina, China, Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Georgia, Guatemala, Honduras, Afghanistan, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel & Palestine, Kenya, Lebanon, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, Somalia, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen.2 The states with the highest kidnapping rates correlate with the * Professor, Deputy Director of the Department of Public and International Law and Director of the Masters Program in Public International Law at University of Oslo.
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