An Urgent Appeal from Jordan

The political and military arenas of conflict in the Islamic world are witnessing an escalation in the occurrence of kidnappings. Foreign civilian nationals are being abducted at the hands of armed individuals, groups or movements and are being used as hostages for political or material gain. The victims are subjected to ill treatment, torture and murder in spite of their having nothing to do with the conflicts and disagreements in question.

The kidnapping, since the 19^th of July, of twenty-three South Korean citizens, including 18 women, by the Taliban in Afghanistan, is the most recent of these regrettable incidents. Two of the hostages have been murdered, an act that grossly contradicts the tolerant teachings and values of Islam. The remaining hostages are also in danger of being killed unless the Afghan government complies with the kidnappers’ demands.

We at the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, by order of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal, strongly condemn this heinous act and all others of its kind, and invite the global community to join us in condemning and rejecting it and to take all possible measures to terminate it and prevent it from recurring at any time and place and for whatever reason. We declare the kidnapping of civilians, whatever their nationality, an odious and shameful crime that is highly detrimental to those who commit it and, by extension, to Islam as a religion and to Muslims all over the world. Besides distorting the image of Muslims, it deepens the misconception among some that this tolerant religion promotes violence, terrorism, human rights abuse and a lack of respect for international law. It reinforces the beliefs of those who describe the Muslim world as backward and underdeveloped.

We call upon the Taliban to release the South Korean hostages, and others who are detained, immediately and unconditionally. These victims have absolutely no political agenda. They are friends of the Afghan people and have left their countries and families to come to Afghanistan for the sole purpose of doing humanitarian work and extending a helping hand to rebuild the war-ravaged country.