As a Hostage in Libya (2): Lessons Learned

The Austrian Alex Sänger (pseudonym) worked as a contractor for a security company in Libya from 2013 to 2016. He was taken hostage twice, spending 16 days and then over 10 months in captivity under various militias and local governments. Here - in the first part of the interview - he told us about his captivity. Today, SPARTANAT wants to know from Alex what his "lessons learned" are. How should a hostage behave?

SPARTANAT: How did you feel in January 2016 when you were released?

Sänger: It was very chaotic. At first, Libyans picked us up in a company vehicle, driven by a policeman with a long beard and a white Jallabia. They said they were taking us to the airport. Then, just before the airport's last traffic light, they turned around again. Then we drove in the other direction, 17 kilometers across town, then turned back to the airport. There we waited for a chartered plane to land, and three European intelligence agents (from three different countries) to pick us up. The final negotiations took place on-site, and then they escorted us out.

What was really sad that day: I had managed to keep a diary for almost all 10 months, apart from a few days. They were little notes hidden in my jacket. I didn't want anyone else to find them, so I gave the jacket to one of the service staff and told him: Please take this with you on the plane. And he left it there. And that's really a shame because many people would have enjoyed that diary, especially the psychologists. I had written down what I had noticed - fights that could be heard, jets - but also how I felt myself. Documented all the highs and lows.

SPARTANAT: But you didn't believe in the release at first moment either?

Sänger: I only believed in the release when I got out of the airport in Vienna - and no one was waiting for me. The whole thing was really chaotic, we had to take a detour through half of Europe until we finally arrived in Vienna. All very chaotic.

SPARTANAT: Due to your training with a special forces unit, you were with the Commando Unit - you had a military SERE training that should prepare you for captivity, interrogation, and escape. Looking back: Did it do you any good? What was good and important to prepare for a situation that you actually found yourself in?

Sänger: I did the SERE training in 2010. I am really glad that I completed it. But also that my wife did it too. Because I had told her at the time, this is the training and you also hear that this and that could happen to the woman and the family. This means that the SERE not only helped me, but it helped my wife tremendously. It was really good that she had heard all this before, even concerning journalists or stupid questions from others.

"The most important thing in captivity is to stay physically and mentally fit."

Personally, the SERE training helped me because I already knew about the different phases of abduction or hostage-taking that could occur. For example, the possibility that the hostage may be resold permanently. Also, very important is the first phase, the time of actual hostage-taking. As I saw, the kidnappers are particularly nervous during that phase. As I saw, they are all just little soldiers who don't know themselves and often just follow orders. And then during the captivity: the most important thing is to train the brain with everything that comes to mind. Not only physically but also mentally, make sure to stay fit. And then many things that otherwise seem relatively self-evident: that you pay attention to hygiene, that you should stay gray. When being interrogated, never reveal everything at once, always make sure to give something, but still remain interesting to the interrogator. If there is something to lie about, lie as close to the truth as possible.

SPARTANAT: From the other side: What were your biggest problems during captivity for yourself?

Sänger: Psychologically, knowing if my family was being taken care of. Initially, if they even knew anything about me. Then if they were being cared for. Towards the end, the fear was: Were they being watched by journalists? What happens when I come home? Will my children take me back? And how much interest will the media or ministries have, all with a view to my family. Those were my biggest psychological problems.

Physically: the first captivity was relatively short, lasting 16 days. The problem there was that there was no opportunity to wash. Always the same clothes. I filled the drinking bottle I had with me with my urine at night, in case there was nothing to drink. During the second captivity, I had a strong fever for seven days, there is a week that is like erased, I don't know what happened to me. During solitary confinement, I developed problems with my knees because I always had to kneel to pee in the bottle. I still have a scab there, I don't know what kind of dirt was on the floor. And I had extreme problems with my intestines because I had to suppress bowel movements. I had extreme pain. My Serbian colleague had the psychological issues as mentioned above, a decent amount of paranoia. But he also lost 29 kilograms, which led to extreme joint pain. He is still in treatment for this.

"If I had to cry, I would hide under the blanket and make sure no one noticed."

One thing that was also very tough was that in these six months, when I was in a cell with others, I couldn't show any emotions. If I had to cry, I would hide under the blanket and make sure no one noticed. But sometimes you feel angry or would just want to scream... I really dreamt, at times, the first thing I do when I get out: I scream out loud. Or I hit the wall with my fist. Something. Just to show emotions. That was very difficult...

SPARTANAT: So, defensive powerlessness is something that eats away at you...

Sänger: Yes. Only once, lost in my thoughts, as I paced back and forth in the cell, I softly hit the wall with my hand. And suddenly everyone was silent... And then the policemen came and interrogated me right away. Only later did I find out from my colleague that the others in the cell had exaggerated the situation, as if I had completely lost control. That's when I realized: no more talking. And not doing anything. Not even stamping my foot. Otherwise: Inshallah. Allahuakbar.

SPARTANAT: Simply powerless. (Pause) Were you able to take care of yourself physically?

Sänger: I actually did sports every day, as best as I could. Everything that can be done with body weight on two and a half square meters. That was in the communal cell, where I was initially imprisoned. But the food just doesn't provide the energy you burn in a day, even if you only do 100 push-ups. You really get weak.

When they put us all together, we had a relatively large cell, there were even two steps inside where you could walk up. There we both started walking, it was really incredible, with those two steps inside. Oh great! You can't imagine that... (laughs) I couldn't take a single step in the cell before without having to step over something. And then this huge space and the two steps. We calculated that my colleague walked 28 kilometers once. In a figure-eight. We spent a few hours each day doing various physical exercises.

It didn't work in the last two weeks, because we simply didn't get any food, and we immediately noticed that after sports, when no food came... you really feel how you're digesting yourself. It was also so cold, and we had the dilemma that if we didn't move, it was cold and you were constantly shivering, but if you did sports, it was warm, but you burned even more energy than in shivering.

SPARTANAT: How was the hygiene situation?

Sänger: In the second, long captivity, there were disinfectants and cleaning agents in the communal cell. Which was also good, because when eleven people go to the bathroom, I don't want to know what else you can catch. The water was also warm, not because it was hot water, but because the pipes ran over the roof and warmed the water during the day. And it was summer. So we had warm water. In the second cell, there were no disinfectants, only cold water. You really notice the difference. I still don't know how the Arabs do it: if I defecate and wash twice a day, but can't dry off, I get a rash.

SPARTANAT: With a few months in between - which is probably not that long - what are your 'lessons learned'?

Sänger: So starting from work in the security sector, in the position I was in or still am: you must never say everything is fine. I must always be alert. And if something seems odd, you must react immediately. I'm sure I could have avoided the situation if I hadn't been so overworked or if the information flow in the company had been better at the time. It was bad at that time. The other 'lesson learned': as an Austrian, you are alone. 100 percent. I don't know if I mentioned it, but the Hungarian ambassador dealt with our case.

"The most important thing is for the abductee to be open - with cellmates or whoever is there - but not to trust anyone."

SPARTANAT: What would you advise someone who finds themselves in such a situation?

Sänger: I believe there is no universal remedy. The most important thing is for the abductee to be open - with cellmates or whoever is there - but not to trust anyone. Absolutely do not trust anyone! It doesn't matter if you see someone coming back from severe torture, the first question he asks you will surely be spread around again. The others will sell you for a cigarette or a piece of chocolate. Everyone! From inmates to the attorney general, they all lied to us. And most importantly, when you go abroad, to a 'hostile environment' or a 'remote area': I must always have someone who knows where I am and has a specific emergency plan. If you are alone, you are alone. (Pause) I have no great aphorism on hand. (Pause) Just as with the SERE: the gray mouse works quite well.

SPARTANAT: Did you prepare yourself for an escape?

Sänger: The thought of an escape was always there. During the first captivity, we calculated how long it would take us to jump over the wall. How far would we get? That was still on the way to the actual prison.

Then in the maximum-security wing, there would have been no chance to get out. Maybe after an interrogation phase, but it's extremely difficult because you just don't know where you are. The eyes are a big problem because when it's always dark, it takes a few minutes for your eyes to adjust to see again. And then you have to decide: Do you escape into the hands of Daesh? Or swim to Lampedusa? There weren't many other options.

The second time, I was so prepared for the escape that I tied a Djellaba (traditional Arab garment) under the jogging suit that I always wore, but in a way that the fellow prisoners couldn't see it. And I told myself that if they called me for interrogation, I would run away. I calculated exactly from the previous interrogations, that I need 14 to 15 seconds to reach the gate. The guard at the gate didn't have his weapon in hand or he looked in the other direction. Even if someone alerted him from the inside, it would take time for him to get his weapon ready. He probably couldn't aim accurately anyway, and I could jump over the gate in one go. I knew that I could easily manage that. I would have been out, over the gate, taken the first or second small cross street, changed my clothes. Put on the Djellaba and I had prepared ash so I could dye my beard and hair and darken my face. With the hair, it's not so difficult, but with the white skin, you stand out the most. Especially when you're in prison, you're white. Really white.

I just didn't run away because exactly at that one interrogation when I was ready, they let me call my wife. And she was sure and could assure me that it would all be over soon and that everything would be fine. In hindsight, I thought, there were still seven months... (Pause) if only I had run away! Because it only got worse over time. One point is also, that I didn't know at the time that my colleague was also in the same prison. At the time, I thought I was completely alone. What would have happened to him if I had escaped, I don't want to know. But it would probably have made life very difficult for him.

SPARTANAT: There is also no guarantee of what would have happened to you if you had come out. Right?

Sänger: That's the other thing. I actually knew the city very well because I spent a lot of time there. I was also aware of how long it would take, for example, for the first ten kilometers. I had calculated that I would need two days for that. And then I'm still in the city. And only one place came to my mind where I could have gone. I didn't know, at all the others, if they had been interrogated or were under surveillance. I couldn't involve any of our former employees.

And the possibility of getting out of Tripoli to Tunisia is zero. Whether on foot or by taxi. There are so many checkpoints and