Page 27 - the SyI Quarterly 8

To determine what insights POL videos might hold about the fate of hostages, I carried out a coding
and content analysis of 51 POL videos involving 62 hostages (predominantly males aged from 23 to 70
years) kidnapped by international terrorist organisations. The cases were recorded from 2003 to 2017.

Table 1 (below) provides a summary of the initial capture. Table 2 (below) summarises the narrative
analysis of the POL videos.

Sex Whom demands are Who speaks in the Hostage-takers shown
directed at video
Male – 87% Government – 92% Hostage – 67% 37%
Female – 13% Family – 6% Hostage-taker – 6% (74% died)
Unknown – 2% Both – 27%

Ransom demanded Threats made Deadline given Weapon pointed
24% 29% 20% 27%
(100% died)

Table 1. Descriptive statistics derived from the analysis of POL videos

Religion mentioned Religious symbols Qu’ran cited Positioning
41% 51% 14% On a bed – 2%
Standing – 14%%
Sitting – 70%%
Kneeling – 14%

Other content Armed or masked Criticism of government Directed narrative
captor
22% 39% 45% 59%
(75% Killed)

Table 2. Video Content

From the analysis of the sample, hostages taken in Iraq and Syria had the highest death rate in terms
of this sample – 78% and 70% respectively.

Hostages kidnapped in Afghanistan and Mali had no fatalities (however, it is noted that hostages are
still being held at this time in Mali and, therefore, their fate is unknown).