Kidnappings: Prevention, Survival, Recovery

If you're planning to work in a conflict zone, there's a lot you can do to lessen the risk of being kidnapped or detained. "Plan ahead, do research, conduct your own risk assessment," says AKE's Tim Crockett.

As photographers interviewed in this monh's feature article, "Occupational Hazard," being knowledgeable about the local culture and customs can make a world of difference, as can having a good network of contacts within the country. Photographer Adam Pletts advises: "Make sure you trust the people you're working with and discuss with them what you'll do if anything goes wrong." But if things deteriorate and you do find yourself on the wrong side of a submachine gun, here are some tips for surviving the ordeal:

PREPARE PSYCHOLOGICALLY FOR RISK
Before she went to Baghdad in 2003, Molly Bingham, who was kidnapped and held for several days in Iraq, had spent 10 days in Amman waiting for a visa. The layover gave her an opportunity to prepare psychologically for the experience. "I knew something could happen. I thought, I could get killed, this could end up really badly. I decided it was a risk I wanted to take, because I thought it was really important to cover the effects of the war on the population," she says. "That mental work I did helped me survive the ordeal." Psychiatrist Frank Ochberg advises that, in preparation for conflict zones, journalists gain a working understanding of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. "It helps to have a briefing on it before you experience it," he says. Good resources can be found at the Dart Center web site.

TAKE A COURSE IN SURVIVING HOSTILE REGIONS
Some journalists credit their survival to the tips they learned in a safety training class. "The lessons of walking along a path and learning to look for things like trip wires in a mined area was good training for me," says Bingham. Courses are offered by AKE Group, Centurion Risk Assessment Services, and Objective Team Ltd. If you're a freelancer, the Rory Peck Trust offers financial aid to media workers worldwide who want to take safety training courses.

HAVE A COMMUNICATION SYSTEM SET UP
When working abroad, "I have a 24-hour cycle of communication in place ? my studio knows when to expect a call from me," says photojournalist Ed Kashi, who credits his fast release after being held by the Nigerian army to the media campaign launched by his wife and friends. The communication loop should include a plan for a worst case scenario. "Someone, whether it's your spouse or an editor, should have all of your information available ? your clip file, resume, names of people who can speak out in your behalf," says Committee to Protect Journalists' executive director Joel Simon. Since CPJ itself advocates on behalf of journalists who've been kidnapped or detained, make sure to include its number, 212-465-1004, in your file.

SAFEGUARD YOUR ASSETS
Chances are that if you're grabbed suddenly, you won''t have time to download your images or hide your notebooks ? but it's always a good idea to download often in case of emergency. "One good thing about digital cameras is that you can make multiple copies," says photographer Bradley Clift, who got the chance to copy his work onto CD-ROM the night before he was detained in Sudan. He hid the CDs in an aid worker's office and erased the images on his laptop and camera. "I assumed ?correctly ? that they'd come get my laptop and notebooks," he says.

TRY TO STAY WITH A COLLEAGUE/TRANSLATOR
Photographer Scott Dalton admits that his kidnapping in Colombia was far less traumatic because his colleague, Ruth Morris, was by his side. "We spent a lot of time trying to make each other laugh," he says. "If I'd been isolated, it would have been completely miserable." If you don't speak the local language, try to insist that your translator stays with you ? or ask for one to be provided. Clift says he was saved by an English-speaking aid worker who arrived in the middle of his interrogation."He told me they were writing things down about me that weren't true, trying to get me to sign a confession," he says. "If you make a signed confession in another language, you could be signing your life away."

STAY CALM AND MENTALLY ALERT
Faced with an unknown fate, Bingham says, "It was clear to me that I could spend the rest of my life in that cell driving myself insane, or I could exert some control over my mental health." To stay calm and focused, she did hours of yoga every day, and started writing a screenplay in her head. "It's amazing how slowly the time goes in captivity," says Crockett. "If you look at people who've been in long-term captivity, the ones who've survived best have kept themselves mentally active."

APPEAL TO YOUR CAPTOR'S BETTER NATURE
To your captors, you're initially a commodity ? but things might change if you can get them to see you as a human being. "Perhaps you have children the same age as your guard's children. The aim is to get them to see you in the same light as they see themselves," says Crockett. However, he cautions, don't engage your captors to the extent that you're sympathizing with their cause. ""Don't say, 'I understand'' ? it's almost an insult because you don't come from their country, so you can set yourself up for abuse." Clift adds that it's misguided to claim you know nothing about anything. "That can make you look really stupid. You made it all the way there, and suddenly you got dumb?"

SEEK PSYCHOLOGICAL HELP AFTERWARDS
If you've experienced a trauma, you could be suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or depression. "I'd be with my son, and just watching him would make me cry," says Clift. "I knew I had to get to a therapist." Choosing the right therapist is important: "Don't work with a doctor who has no respect for journalism, or has never talked to anyone who's been in a war zone," says Ochberg. For a guide on how to select appropriate psychological help, see the Dart Center's page on therapy and Sidran Institute.