UN General Assembly
1976

137. Seizing hostages is no doubt one of the most odious forms of violent coercion. Now this practice has spread to the Americas, where it has created threats to public order in the form of kidnappings which defy authority to obtain the objectives pursued, disregarding the fact that the victims are actually innocent persons-and this makes these deeds barbarian crimes. 138. In this danger zone of crime in the international arena we must admit that the instruments available to us so far have been ineffective to prevent or punish violations which are contrary to moral and cultural progress, in contrast to the technology which is leading us to ever deeper penetration of outer space. 139. The General Assembly in previous years has been concerned with this serious situation, and the statements made on those occasions were so conservative that we could say today that they have been largely the cause of the evil we are now facing without any apparent remedy.