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Surviving Captivity: From Government Detention to Hostage Survival

Think of captivity in general as being that of governmental entities or non-governmental entities. As a rule of thumb, the closer the captor is to a governmental entity, the more you may expect decent treatment. Governmental entities normally follow some form of laws and regulations that regulate prisoner treatment. Hostage-takers are usually non-governmental in nature and therefore tend to be the hardest to predict as far as treatment is concerned. It is important that if you end up in a hostage situation, you use your situational awareness to determine the captor’s motives.

WHAT TO DO IF ARRESTED OVERSEAS

MAINTAIN YOUR INNOCENCE

If detained by an overseas government entity, such as the police, you should always maintain your innocence. An admission of guilt could lead to fines, imprisonment, or worse, depending on the accusation. The legal protections provided by a foreign government may be greatly limited, compared to your rights in the United States.

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US EMBASSY: ASK EARLY AND ASK OFTEN

Be very persistent in asking to speak to someone from the American embassy or consulate. If there is not a US Embassy in that country, ask to speak to someone from the “A, B, C” countries (Australia, Britain, Canada).

HOW TO CONDUCT YOURSELF WHILE BEING DETAINED

You must maintain bearing and courtesy at all times. Remember to control emotions and do not get into a conversation, interview, or interrogation with the police if detained on a serious charge. Be sure to ask the nature of your detention and be persistent until the detention authority provides an answer. Respectfully decline to talk and ask to speak to someone from the embassy as soon as it is evident that the offense is a serious one. American diplomatic personnel from the embassy can help provide an attorney who understands the laws of the detaining country.

Lesser offenses may be easier to talk your way out of or you may be able to pay a simple fine. Again, you must always use situational awareness. Do not initiate the offer of a bribe because it may lead to compounding potential legal offenses. Cooperate and be courteous and polite at all times. The police may just want to question your passport or other paperwork, ask about something in your bag, or simply try to eliminate a list of suspects from a larger investigation. Not every time the police question individuals is it for a serious matter. You should always ask if you are being placed under arrest. Stay alert and make sure to understand what is going on before talking to anyone. If detained, you usually have the right to know why. If language is an issue, demand an English-speaking attorney. Ultimately, if you are arrested and determine that an immediate release is not imminent, you must get word out to the American embassy. Embassy officials will be able to get word to family members, help with money transactions, ensure humane treatment, and help to facilitate legal representation.

SURVIVING A HOSTAGE SITUATION

Hostages are often forced to endure months and even years of complete isolation, which can be more damaging mentally than even physical torture. Because of this fact, psychologists who specialize in helping former hostages recover suggest doing whatever you can to keep your mind busy when isolated through imagination, meditation, making a schedule, exercising, or whatever else to keep your mind occupied. Photo Credit: GettyImages

One of the most dangerous moments of hostage captivity is the moment of capture—usually due to high levels of stress and adrenaline, both from the captors and the captives. Since the captors will almost always be armed, it’s important to gain control of your emotions and not appear to resist. That said, the time of capture is often also the best time to escape due to the fog of war, so if you see an opportunity, then you must decide if the risk of capture outweighs the risk of attempting an escape; if so, then make a break for it. Photo Credit: GettyImages

Blindfolds may be used to disorient you or so that your captors are not seen by you. If used, be careful not to let them see you looking out under your blindfold as their not being recognized may be one of the factors keeping you alive. Photo Credit: GettyImages

When captured by a terrorist, it is probable that your captor will try and dehumanize you, as this makes the job of holding you captive or even torturing you much easier to do. To combat this, you should try to establish a one-on-one rapport with your captor by humanizing yourself through friendly conversation about topics common to both of you. Stay away from hot-button topics such as religion or politics, as it will only cause them to have their negative feelings towards you reinforced, which will put you in even more danger of being injured or killed. Photo Credit: GettyImages

Be aware of the Stockholm syndrome and don’t fall victim to it while in captivity. Stockholm Syndrome normally occurs when a hostage becomes emotionally dependent on his or her captor and eventually begins to emphasize with the captor’s struggle to a point where some have been known to switch over to the side of the terrorists who captured them. The syndrome got its name when Patty Hearst, granddaughter of William Randolph Hearst, a well-known American newspaper publisher, was kidnapped and eventually was arrested for partaking in an armed robbery as a member of the terrorist group that initially took her hostage. Photo Credit: GettyImages

Don’t expect to eat well as a hostage. That said, it is very important to eat in order to maintain your strength and survive the situation, so this would be the time to get over any food aversions you may have and try to eat whatever they give you, no matter how unsavory or unappetizing it may look or smell. Photo Credit: GettyImages

You often hear the experts say that the use of torture as a means of extracting information is not effective and I would agree if it were not for the fact that just about everyone, including the United States of America, uses torture as a means of extracting information during interrogation. Whether it works well or not is anyone’s guess, but regardless of its effectiveness I would say that you should be prepared to be tortured if you are ever unlucky enough to be taken hostage. My advice to you is to try to maintain your dignity the best you can. If they want information, then tell them anything. It doesn’t even need to make any sense. The idea is to get them to stop long enough for you to regroup and bounce back. Don’t beat yourself up for the things you may say under the duress of torture. There is no shame in it, as every person has a breaking point. Just don’t let them break your will to survive. Photo Credit: GettyImages

A hostage situation is unlike any other captivity situation. Instead of being arrested by a recognized government entity for something that the captor feels was illegal, or being taken captive on a battlefield as a legitimate combatant, you are essentially kidnapped or taken against your will by a non-recognized, non-government entity. Additionally, the captors may have no intention of following or have no understanding of international law as it applies to the treatment of prisoners. In a hostage situation, your captors may be highly educated or they may have very little to no education at all. They may be highly organized professionals, or they may be a band of novices who are more afraid than you are. They could even be religious fanatics with no regard for the life of an “infidel” (non-believer). Hostage situations are a wild card. However, the chances of becoming a hostage are, for the most part, remote unless you are traveling in areas known for taking Westerners hostage, by groups such as the F.A.R.C in Colombia, pirates off the Somali coast, or in a war zone.

THREAT OF A SKYJACKING: TAKEN HOSTAGE IN THE AIR

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The attacks of 9/11 taught Americans and the world that terrorism poses a strong threat to those traveling by air. That said, the US Department of Homeland Security and global aviation security agencies have increased security precautions exponentially since then. Even with the increase in security safety measures, the threat of terrorism remains. This threat can increase significantly depending on where you travel around the world. You must remember situational awareness when traveling by air. If something looks suspicious, be sure to alert airport or airline officials immediately.

When traveling, there are certain situations of which you should be aware, including people who look nervous or out of place, baggage left unattended, and anything that looks out of place in an airport. While on the aircraft, you should look for people who seem suspicious, uneasy, or overly jumpy. 9/11 introduced a new tactic of using airliners as missiles to hit ground targets. Considering this, not every skyjacker is determined to commit suicide and some still have other motives for taking over an aircraft. That is why it is important for you to look at the situation and then decide whether to resist or cooperate.

SKYJACKING FACTORS FOR CONSIDERATION

In the event of traveling on an airplane that is the being skyjacked, there are certain factors that you should consider:

• First and foremost, did the perpetrators replace the flight crew with their own pilot or pilots? If they left the aircrew intact, this is a possible indicator that at some point they want the aircraft to land safely.

• Next, are they abusing passengers? This will give you a good idea of the hijacker’s mindset.

• Finally, you can determine the goals of the hijackers by what they are doing.

• Are they telling everyone to stay calm? This may be an indicator that the use of the aircraft itself is the goal.

• Are they singling people out by nationality, race, religion, government affiliation, etc.? This can give insight into the hijacker’s intentions and goals. The hijackers may announce that they have taken over the plane or it may come from the crew. Stay calm. Hijackings normally occur within thirty minutes to an hour after takeoff because the plane will have enough fuel to make it to the hijacker’s chosen destination.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE BEING SKYJACKED

You should return to or stay in your seat as soon as it becomes apparent that there is a situation. A discharged weapon could cause a decrease in cabin pressure and you may need the oxygen mask located at your seat. If you have a government affiliation, hide your papers and documents in a seat or in a magazine in front of you in the seat pocket. Use a tourist passport, if possible, when asked for passports. The most important thing to do is stay calm and try to determine what the captors’ intentions are.

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Prior to 9/11, the standard operating procedure was to cooperate with hijackers, but now the world has changed dramatically. Airline passengers are going to have to communicate with one another and make a decision whether to act aggressively toward the hijackers. It is suspected that this was the case on Flight 93, where the actions of forty passengers and crew may have thwarted the 9/11 hijackers from crashing the aircraft into the US Capitol. Use situational awareness, pay attention to the indicators mentioned above, and then act accordingly.

SURVIVING A LONG-TERM HOSTAGE CAPTIVITY SCENARIO

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Surviving a captivity situation, particularly one that is long term, will most likely be one of the most trying and difficult experiences you will ever have to endure. It is important that you never give up hope that you will be freed from your situation and be able to return home safely to your loved ones. Your inner strength and resilience will be the biggest factor in your survival and your greatest asset in your survival tool box.

WHAT TO DO AT THE TIME OF CAPTURE

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Photo Credit: GettyImages

The most dangerous time in any captivity situation is at first capture. This is the time when tensions are usually at the highest and the captor is most likely to use deadly force. Stay calm, be respectful, and maintain situational awareness. The point of capture is also one of the best times to escape, but you must be smart and understand when the best chance of survival will arise. Appear to cooperate with the captor’s demands, particularly in the face of deadly force. In some hostage situations, you may realize that the captor does not see the captive as human at all, but rather as a symbol (money, politics, religion, or any number of issues) for whatever their motivation was for taking the hostage in the first place.

HUMANIZING YOURSELF AND ESTABLISHING RAPPORT

This can be a very dangerous situation, particularly if a person is being held by an extremist group like Al-Qaeda or other groups known for executing hostages. The best thing hostages can do is to humanize themselves by establishing rapport with the captor. Always remain cognizant of the possibility of Stockholm Syndrome. This occurs when a captive begins to feel so much empathy for the captor that he or she begins to side with the cause of the captor, as in the case of Patricia Hearst. The key for a captive is to get the captor to see the captive as a human being. You can do this by being friendly and talking about non-inflammatory subjects like missing family, sports, or any number of things. Stay away from hot-button topics like politics and religion. Gauge the captor’s responses and if something seems like a sensitive subject, back away and talk about something else. Do not give up; it could take days, weeks, or even months or longer to establish rapport. In a hostage situation, doing this may save your life.

TREATMENT AS A HOSTAGE

Remember, it is difficult to predict the standard of living and treatment you may encounter as a hostage. Be prepared for physical abuse and unsanitary conditions. Expect sleep, food, and water deprivation. Through all of this, it is important that you maintain your personal dignity. Keep faith in the fact that the US government will be doing everything in its power, from diplomatic solutions to surgical strike operations, in order to set you free.

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EXERCISE YOUR MIND

Try to remember everything seen, heard, smelled, and touched while in captivity. Notice the different languages that are heard, what the captors are wearing, and everything you can about the locations in which you are held. All of this information can help develop your situational awareness, as well as prove useful for an escape or rescue. The key is to maintain some level of control, even if it is just being aware of your surroundings. While in captivity, it is imperative to do everything possible to maintain your health. Start an exercise regimen and do anything to keep the mind busy. For example, an American prisoner of war in Vietnam built a house in his mind, one brick at a time. Additionally, you should set routines to occupy time. Be prepared for a rescue at all times. Stay low to the floor in the case of a rescue attempt. If you hear bullets during the rescue attempt, stay in a low crouch; bullets tend to hug the floor and you have less chance of being hit by a bullet by staying off the ground. If grenades are going off, lie flat. Explosions tend to go upwards and you can minimize exposure to the explosion by staying low. You must always keep your hands where rescuers can see them. Do not pose a threat and wait for commands from rescuers.

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HOW TO EXERCISE ESCAPE MINDEDNESS: KNOWING HOW AND WHEN TO TRY AND GET AWAY

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HOW TO PLAN AN ESCAPE

While this is in no way a book on how to circumvent security systems or holding facilities, and I am not going to go into any details on defeating constraints, I will tell you that there is literally a plethora of information out there for you to learn to do these things on your own without my help; simply do a Google search and find out what I mean for yourself. I choose not to discuss these things because with my background and the fact that it was once my job to teach these techniques, tactics, and procedures (TTP’s) to US Special Operations Forces, I choose not to reinforce the fact that specific techniques have been taught to operators who today are out there defending our country, in harm’s way, and always vulnerable to the possibility of being captured themselves. When you do your search, you may find that others do not feel as strongly about not advertising such trade craft, so I am certain you will find the information you seek even if it is without my assistance in doing so. That being said, I do want to talk about a few general topics about the state of mind one needs to be in to make an escape attempt, as well as a few of the more general and non-specific and non-TTP related steps that one can take to aid them in an escape attempt.

ESCAPE MINDEDNESS

An Afghan journalist was held captive by the Taliban for more than seven months along with his colleague, an American New York Times reporter, until they were able to plan and execute a daring nighttime escape that included weeks of careful plotting, taking advantage of weary guards, and dropping down a twenty-foot wall with a rope. The Afghan journalist said that the early morning escape from the second floor of a Taliban compound in Pakistan’s northern tribal areas was a desperate attempt by two severely demoralized reporters who believed that the Taliban were not seriously negotiating and would hold them indefinitely or even possibly execute them in order to bolster recruitment and create propaganda. The two journalists along with their driver were abducted outside Kabul as they traveled to interview a Taliban commander for a book he was writing about Afghanistan. The three men were abducted on a road just a few minutes from where they planned to meet the Taliban commander, in the southeast of Kabul. One of the journalists had previously escorted two other foreign journalists to safe interviews with the commander, and during those meetings he made the mistake of assuming that the two had established a degree of trust. The journalists reported that once captured they were moved along with their driver multiple times by their captors to different safe houses until settling in their final location in the northern tribal area. The two men testified that they had been repeatedly threatened with death by their Taliban captors. The three months they spent in captivity were so “hopeless” that one of the men said that he considered committing suicide with a knife. As their captivity dragged on, the two men began plotting their escape by surveying the compound and its surroundings. One of the men stated that he faked illness to visit a doctor outside the complex. Other times he asked his captors if he could watch local cricket matches — a sport he pretended to adore—so that he could study potential escape routes. Still, it seemed impossible to escape from a town controlled by Taliban and foreign militants. The reporters were smart enough to realize that they needed to humanize themselves to their captors and establish some level of rapport if they were going to get them to become comfortable enough with them to let down their guard enough to create a window of opportunity for them to escape. One Friday evening, in a planned bid to keep their captors awake as late as possible to ensure that the men would eventually sleep soundly, one of the journalists challenged the militants who slept beside them in the same room to a local board game. When the games finally ended at midnight, the journalists waited for the militants to fall asleep. At 1 a.m., the journalists snuck out of the room. They made their way to the second floor, and got to the top of a five-foot-high wall. When they looked down, they said they were greeted by an unnerving view: a twenty-foot drop. Using a rope that one of the men had found and hidden two weeks earlier, they fastened the rope to the wall, and the first man lowered himself along the rope before unclenching his fists for good. He crashed to the ground, leaving him with a sprained right foot and other injuries. He cut his foot, he said, pointing to his swollen and heavily bruised ankle and his bandaged big toe. The second journalist then lowered himself along the wall and jumped down without injury. When asked why their captives did not hear the thump of their impact with the ground, the men stated that they waited to make the escape attempt on a night when the city had electrical power. At night, an old, noisy air-conditioner that ran masked the sound. As the two men walked away, dogs barked at them from nearby compounds. At one point, barking stray dogs rushed at them in the darkness. To their surprise, no Taliban members emerged from nearby houses. After walking for fifteen minutes, they arrived at a Pakistani militia post that one of them had spotted during one of his daytime trips outside the house. In the darkness, a half-dozen guards who suspected they were suicide bombers aimed rifles at them and shouted for them to raise their hands and not move. The men said that they were warned by the guards, “If you move, we are going to shoot you.” As the two men stood shivering in the darkness, it took the Afghan journalist fifteen minutes of anxious conversation to convince the guards that he had been kidnapped along with an American journalist—who hardly looked the part, with his long beard and Islamic attire. The men were eventually allowed in the compound, ordered to take off their shirts, searched, blindfolded, and taken to the base’s headquarters. After Pakistani officials confirmed their identities, they were treated well. Later that day, they were transferred to Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, and to an American military base outside Kabul. When asked about the status of the Afghan driver who had been captured and held captive with them, the journalists stated that the entire ordeal seemed too much for the man to handle emotionally and he appeared to stay in a constant state of being overwhelmed by fear of his captors and had therefore not participated in the planning or the escape.

The reason I am telling this story is because I believe it to be an outstanding example of how two men instinctively, and without any formal training, showed a high level of “escape mindedness” throughout the ordeal. They were able to not only spend weeks plotting and planning for an escape, but also had the sense to realize the need to establish one-sided rapport with their captors in order to create an environment most advantageous to making an escape attempt. It also shows how instead of succumbing to their predicament and allowing the severity of their situation to overwhelm them, the men were brave and daring enough to try to survive at all costs. They chose to fight a battle of wills against their captors that led them out the other end of their captivity experience triumphant because of it.

HOW TO ESCAPE FROM THE TRUNK OF A CAR

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You never know what type of situation you may find yourself in when you make the decision to make a break for it. One common place that abductors have been known to place hostages during their initial abduction or when being moved from one location to another is the trunk of a car. Being trapped in the trunk of a car by an abductor is a bad situation that can be deadly depending on the temperature outside and the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the trunk. It is important that you make every effort to escape. Here are some ideas of things you can do to aid in your getaway:

• US cars built since 2002 all have a trunk release cable running into the inner locking mechanism. If your abductors were careless enough to overlook this fact, pull the release cable and make your escape.

• If there is no cable release, you may be able to pry the latch open. Look under the rug for the jack lever and use it to pry the latch open.

• You can try to use the jack to open the trunk by jacking it up from the inside.

• If unable to get out from the trunk, try kicking out the brake lights and then sticking your hand out of the hole to signal other motorists that you have been abducted. Hopefully they will alert the authorities.

• Another technique you can try is to escape through the back seat if the kidnappers leave the car with you in the trunk. Try to use leverage and push or kick the back seat cushion out. Remember to stay calm. Most trunks are not airtight and you should still be able to breathe, although depending on the temperature outside the heat may be a factor. It is important that you keep your wits, don’t panic, and breathe if you want to increase your chances of escape.

HOW TO JUMP FROM A MOVING VEHICLE

Jumping from a moving vehicle is extremely dangerous and should only be attempted in a life-threatening situation where the possibility of escape outweighs the injuries you may obtain by jumping.

• Try to slow the vehicle down by pulling the hand break if it is accessible.

• Plan your exit. Look for a spot where there is grass, mud, or soft dirt for you to land on. Make sure there are no obstacles that you will slam into once you jump.

• Open the door and push yourself out and away from the direction of the vehicle. Make sure you are facing the direction of travel when you jump.

• Keeping your hands in a position tight to your body protecting your head, try to simulate a parachute landing fall by collapsing your body to the ground starting with the balls of the feet and then rolling into the calves, thighs, buttocks, and your push-up muscle (the side of your upper torso). You want to keep your body in a tight position and roll; do not belly flop into the ground.

• If you survived the jump without injuries that would prevent you from getting up, then waste no time. Get up and move out swiftly, trying to put as much distance between yourself and your abductors as possible.

Note: This is an extremely dangerous maneuver and you could be seriously injured or killed in the process. Make sure you do a thorough risk analysis in your head before attempting this. If the risks associated with not jumping do not outweigh the risks of jumping, do not do it.

WHAT TO DO ONCE YOU HAVE COMMITTED TO AN ESCAPE

Once you have committed to escape, do not look back. Run to safety immediately. Since “safety” is a relative term that is totally dependent on where you are, there is no single answer on where to go. Normally, running into a crowd of people or to a police officer would be considered sufficient enough to make your pursuers give up. If, however, you are in a semi-permissive or non-permissive environment such as a war zone, you may have to run to a friendly patrol or to the US embassy to be considered truly safe.

Note: If you run to safety, understanding the culture of the people in the nation you are visiting is so important. Knowing basic phrases in the local language could mean the difference between life and death. A good example of this is Pashtunwali, the code of the largest ethnic group living in Afghanistan that mandates that if a stranger asks for help, it must be given.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE ESCAPING OR EVADING AND YOU ARE BEING CHASED BY A TRACKING DOG TEAM

There are generally two main types of tracking dogs: those that use the air to track your scent and those that track your scent on the ground. Regardless, a good tracking dog is hard to defeat once they are onto your scent. Their biggest limitation is generally only that of the ability of the handler to keep up with them. It is a misnomer that you can simply enter the water to lose a dog team tracking you. The fact is that doing so can actually make your scent even stronger to them if the body of water is small and slow moving. If you want to use water to help you, then your best bet is to either jump into a fast-moving river with a flotation device such as something you fabricate or even a large branch of driftwood and then put as much distance between yourself and your trackers as you can before you touch land again. You can also swim into a large body of water toward the center and then button hook to a random angle on the shore. Other ways to throw off dogs are putting chemicals on the ground or even using pepper to cover your trail. That said, if the team is good, they will be trained to avoid such tricks. The bottom line is that if you are being chased by a professional dog team, it’s a worst case scenario, and while you will most likely not be able to get them off your trail, you may be able to delay them long enough so you can get away. Here are a few tips to help you defeat or at least delay a dog tracking team and trackers in general:

1. Even the most highly trained tracking dogs can lose focus and become distracted. This will become a factor as the dogs become hungry and fatigued as the search develops. You can assist this process by crossing difficult terrain and putting as much distance between yourself and the tracker team as you can in order to exhaust the dogs, which will make them more prone to losing focus and drive.

2. Scent plumes can vary greatly depending on the temperature, terrain, and weather conditions. The best time to lose a dog that is tracking you is on rocky uneven terrain when the sun is at its hottest. It will also help if there is little to no humidity to hold your scent plume.

3. Another thing you can do is to retard your scent. When I was in Afghanistan we used different chemicals to hide our scent when on sensitive sniper or reconnaissance missions. Some of these products are now available commercially. I’m not saying that they will make you invisible to a good K9 tracking dog, but they will definitely make your trail harder to pick up and follow.

4. The absolute best way to defeat a tracker, K9 and man alike, is to get in a car and drive away. This should be your number one objective if you are being tracked by a determined tracker or tracking team.

5. Don’t leave articles of clothing or even soiled toilet paper or used tampons or bandages in a place that a tracking dog can use it to program in your scent. If the dog doesn’t know what you smell like and they start searching for you in an area highly trafficked by other humans, then it is unlikely they will be able to pick up your scent or tracks, if it’s a human tracker chasing you.