The individuals named below were released by their captors. In most cases the release followed intervention by influential local figures, accession to kidnappers’ demands (including payment of ransom and withdrawal from the country) or both. There are however a handful of cases where the individuals were freed after they succeeded in persuading their captors that they were innocent of accusations leveled against them, sympathetic to the captors’ agenda or otherwise deserving of freedom.

RELEASED HOSTAGES