Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt, freed just weeks ago from rebels who held her hostage for years, on Tuesday implored diplomats to create an international bill of rights for victims of terrorism.
“If there is no political will, there is nothing,” Betancourt said at the UN’s first symposium on victims of terrorism.
Such a statement could spell out legal protections and lead to the creation of a UN Web site that lists acknowledged terrorism victims, she said, adding that “the most important step now is to think about the possibility of having a status.”
Betancourt holds Colombian-French citizenship and was running for Colombia’s presidency when she was kidnapped by leftist guerrillas six years ago. Colombia’s military freed her in July along with 14 other hostages.
She was among 18 people summoned from the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas to share their experiences as victims of bombings, hostage-takings and other terrorist attacks in the past several decades. Arranging the discussion was especially tricky considering that the UN does not have an agreed upon definition of what constitutes terrorism.
Naomi Monchari Kerongo, a former trade development officer in Kenya, was among 4,000 injured when twin bombs ripped through US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing 213 people. Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for that attack, which collapsed buildings into rubble.
In a trance-like recitation on Tuesday, Kerongo told of spending two years in a mental hospital, losing her job, her house and her family. Ten years after the attack, she is now destitute and living in the slums of Nairobi. Tanzania bombing survivor Henry Kessy was moved to put his hand on her shoulder when her eyes glistened.
“Nothing can take us back to the day before the bomb blast,” Kerongo said. “But something can and must be done to answer our call for help … We are not asking for charity. It is justice we seek.”
Most speakers urged greater international cooperation in fighting terrorists, with greater attention paid to the societal and mental health consequences of the losses and pain caused to victims, their families and the broader communities.
Betancourt and Laura Dolci Kanaan — a UN human rights officer in Geneva, whose five-year-old son is growing up without a father because he was killed in the 2003 bombing that targeted the UN headquarters in Baghdad — proposed an international bill of rights for victims of terrorism.
That’s something UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he would consider.
“The list keeps growing longer, bringing with it greater pain and grief that cascades mercilessly through families, communities and nations,” Ban said. “And it is for the sake of humanity that we must create a global forum for your voice and listen to you, the victims. Your stories of how terrorism has affected your lives are our strongest argument why it can never be justified.”
Ban’s top policy official, Robert Orr, who also heads a counterterrorism task force, said the UN decided what should be considered a terrorist act and the participants were then chosen accordingly.
Some in attendance noted the absence of any victims of “state-sponsored” terrorism that is not defined legally.
The UN General Assembly agreed by consensus last week to reaffirm its counterterrorism strategy adopted two years ago. It calls for stepping up border controls, developing a database on “biological incidents,” clamping down on counterfeiting of travel documents and developing ways to stem terrorism on the Internet.
By shifting attention onto victims’ needs and away from terrorists, UN officials also hoped the symposium would show the generational impacts of terrorism.
Ashraf Al-Khaled recalled the shock of losing his father and father-in-law during a suicide bombing attack at his wedding reception in Amman, Jordan, in November 2005.
Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for three bomb blasts at three luxury hotels that night, killing at least 57 and injuring hundreds more.
“Suddenly everything white turned into red,” he said. “My wife and I lost 27 people in our wedding.”
Australian Ben Borgia recalled losing his mother and 13-year-old sister in the 2002 nightclub bombings on Bali.
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