There are currently at least 53 Americans being held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad in 13 countries, according to the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation. Some are being held by terrorist organizations, while others are held by foreign governments seeking to obtain political gain in exchange for their release. Too many of these Americans have been held for more than two years. Too many of their families have endured the absence of their loved one across not one, not two, but three U.S. administrations. Why has it taken our government so long to bring them home?
The issue of international hostage-taking is non-partisan. After James Wright Foley, an American journalist, was kidnapped, held hostage, tortured, and then publicly beheaded in 2014 along with two other American hostages, President Obama ordered hostage policy reforms to create structures and processes to prioritize the return of Americans held hostage abroad and better engage with their families. President Trump kept these reforms in place and brought many Americans home from captivity, making this issue a critical and public priority throughout his administration.
At the end of December 2020, the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act was signed into law, with strong bi-partisan support. This law, named in memory of former FBI agent, Robert Levinson, who was cruelly taken by the Iranian regime and is considered the longest held hostage in American history, codifies the 2015 hostage policy reforms and offers criteria for Americans wrongfully or unlawfully detained by foreign governments. It also provides a specific vehicle for sanctioning individuals who take Americans hostage.
We know President Biden cares about this issue — he was Vice President when President Obama issued the 2015 reforms. Biden’s Secretary of State, Antony J. Blinken, spoke to hostage and detainee families within his first week in office, and he kept in place Trump-appointed Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs (SPEHA) Roger D. Carstens, providing much needed continuity and comfort to the families working with the SPEHA’s office.
So why has only one American been brought home since President Biden was elected?
Bringing Americans Home 2021, an annual review of the efficacy of U.S. hostage and detainee policy from the family and returned hostage viewpoint, published by the Foley Foundation in partnership with New America, found that both the 2015 reforms and the Levinson Act additions are largely durable and effective. But there is so much more work to be done.
Critical improvements are needed in hostage prioritization, leadership continuity, timely intelligence, declassification and information sharing with families, and more comprehensive mental health and reintegration support for returning hostages and wrongful detainees. Additionally, there is a critical need to hold hostage-takers, both non-state actors and foreign governments alike, accountable for their crimes so they are deterred from this horrific practice.
We are counting on President Biden to make the freedom of these 53 public cases and the hundreds of unknown cases of American hostages his top priority.
Our government cannot afford to be bogged down in process or big picture scenarios any longer, when so many Americans are suffering for so long.
While we appreciate the efforts and advances that continue to be made, the only true marker of success for our government is when they actually bring our fellow Americans home.
Margaux Ewen is executive director of the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation.