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The kidnapping of Sharon Commins and Hilda Kawuki was an international hostage crisis which lasted from 3 July until 18 October 2009. Sharon Commins, an aid worker from Clontarf, Dublin, Ireland, and Hilda Kawuki, a Ugandan colleague, were abducted from a compound run by the GOAL aid agency in north Darfur, Sudan. They were thought to have been abducted by Janjaweed, meaning "man with a gun on a horse". It was Darfur's longest running kidnap case involving humanitarian workers,〔〔〔 lasting for more than one hundred days, and the third kidnapping in the region since March 2009. It also marked the first time any of GOAL's charity workers experienced a kidnapping whilst in action.〔 There had been a concern that a major shootout would end the siege, however the end occurred peacefully. The Irish, Sudanese and Ugandan governments all refused demands for a ransom to be paid. Commins, an only daughter,〔 was in her thirties at the time of her kidnapping〔 and had worked for GOAL for four years and had been in Darfur for eighteen months previous to her abduction. She was a project manager in Darfur, also wrote reports for the organisation and was previously a press secretary.〔 Commins studied at Dublin City University (DCU), earning a Master's degree in international relations. Kawuki, a nutritionist in her forties at the time of the kidnapping, had worked for GOAL for just over one year and this had been her first time working for the organisation.〔 She used her learning of the Arabic language to the advantage of her self and Commins throughout their time in captivity.〔 ==Kidnapping== Commins and Kawuki were planning to watch television inside their Kutum compound on the evening of July 3 2009.〔 Three men entered and ordered them at gunpoint into their vehicle.〔 Computers and mobile phones were also taken. They were transported for a period of a number of hours until they approached the Chad border as their kidnappers repeated, "No problem, this is strictly business".〔 Commins and Kawuki experienced mock executions during their captivity—"They would make us sit down or force us on our knees () with everyone pointing guns at us. They would sometimes shoot a few bullets to frighten us. Each time you’re hoping it is a mock assassination but you don't know", Commins would say after the two women were released. They were held outdoors throughout this time, transported between various locations, lost a lot of weight and were given little food or water.〔〔 This lack of food and water may have figured in their release. Their captors paid close attention to media coverage of the incident.〔 The two women were sighted in a village in Darfur on 26 August 2009 when an investigator into reports that they had been married to their captors saw them. Commins spoke to her family just once during her ordeal, in a telephone call dated 10 September 2009. The women were not informed they were to be released until very soon before it happened.〔 Their captors may have escaped across the border into Chad. The kidnappers made a two million US dollar ransom demand which the Sudanese government refused to pay, saying it would only serve to encourage further kidnappings. Sudanese authorities negotiated with the kidnappers who were members of a nomadic tribe in north Darfur. Ireland's ambassador to Egypt, Gerry Corr, flew to Sudan immediately when news of the kidnapping first emerged.〔〔 Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin, travelled to Sudan in September 2009, to carry out discussions with Sudanese Government officials in an attempt to secure their release. He also visited the Commins family on a regular basis. The Commins family received a telephone call from Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs each day at 17:30 during which they would be informed of any progress in the case.〔 They also received lots of Mass cards from wellwishers. They also communicated with a sister of Kawuki. GOAL's CEO John O'Shea thanked Ireland for its support on the one hundredth day since the kidnapping. He also issued a letter of thanks following the release of the women. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kidnapping of Sharon Commins and Hilda Kawuki」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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