WASHINGTON – Brittney Griner. Austin Tice. Citgo 6. And now, potentially, three American military veterans who were captured by enemy forces after traveling to Ukraine to fight Russia.
They are among nearly 50 Americans the State Department believes are wrongfully detained by foreign governments. At least a dozen more Americans are being held hostage — including by extremist groups — or on criminal charges that their families dispute.
American citizens are increasingly attractive targets for US adversaries – including China, Russia, Iran and Venezuela – who want to use them as political pawns in battles with the United States.
Ms. Greener, a professional basketball player, is perhaps the most prominent American to be caught up in what the State Department called dubious charges. She was detained in February at an airport near Moscow after authorities said they found hashish oil in her luggage. Her arrest came just days before Russian forces invaded Ukraine, which is armed by the United States and its allies.
Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, said last week that the Biden administration would continue to work to ensure that Ms Greener, Paul Whelan – another American held by Moscow – and “all wrongfully detained Americans and the hostages are safe at home.”
Here’s a look at “wrongful detentions,” as they’re known, and some of the struggles of Americans held abroad.
What does “unlawfully detained” mean?
Generally, an American who is held by a foreign government for the purpose of influencing US policy or extracting political or economic concessions from Washington is considered “wrongfully detained.” In these cases, negotiations between the United States and the other government are key to securing Americans’ freedom.
The State Department does not report the exact number of Americans it has determined are in this category. But a senior State Department official said there are 40 to 50 Americans wrongfully detained overseas.
“Hostage” is a general term used to describe Americans who have been blocked from leaving a foreign country. Some are held by terrorist organizations or other groups with which the State Department does not have diplomatic relations. In these cases, the FBI and other intelligence or law enforcement agencies lead the negotiations.
According to the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, named for a journalist killed in Syria by the Islamic State in 2014, 64 Americans are wrongfully detained overseas or held hostage.
What you need to know about Brittney Griner’s detention in Russia
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Why were you in Russia? Griner was in Russia playing for an international team during the WNBA offseason. Trading time off for overseas competition is common among league players for many reasons, but often the biggest motivation is money.
Does this have anything to do with Ukraine? Ms. Greener’s detention comes amid a heated standoff between Russia and the United States over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but it remains unclear whether Russia may have targeted Ms. Greener as leverage against the United States.
How long have some of the Americans been held?
An unlawful detention can last for days or weeks or last years. One of the longest-detained Americans is Mr. Tice, a freelance journalist who was captured in Syria in 2012. American officials believe he is being held by the Syrian government, which he denies.
In an interview with CBS News on Wednesday, Mr. Tice’s parents urged the Biden administration to meet with Syrian government officials, even though diplomatic relations between the two countries have been officially suspended since 2012. “This is what will bring Austin home.” , said his mother, Debra Tice. President Biden met with Mr. Tice’s parents in May and pledged to “work in every way possible” for his release, according to a White House statement.
Siamak Namazi, an American detained in Iran, said last month that the Iranian government would apparently release him and its other captives, including his father, only if the Biden administration offered “sufficient incentives.”
“Tehran seems to be demanding more for our release than the White House can handle,” Mr. Namazi, who has been detained in Iran since 2015, wrote in a guest essay for The New York Times.
What is the State Department doing to release them?
The State Department’s Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs handles negotiations for wrongfully detained Americans.
The office has grown to about 25 negotiators and other staff in recent years, from five, as more Americans are detained by foreign governments. For each case, an expert is appointed for the country in which the person is detained.
The process is extremely difficult, said the senior State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe some of the office’s functions.
All foreign governments that detain Americans have shaky relations with the United States at best. In some cases, such as Iran, messages are sent through other governments that serve as intermediaries; in others, American officials work their way through the levels of a foreign government’s bureaucracy to reach someone high enough to influence a decision.
The communications are intended to reinforce the consequences of continuing to detain the Americans, the official said.
He said foreign governments often feel like the aggrieved party and usually start with what he calls unreasonable demands.
The State Department does not provide legal assistance to detained Americans and their families.
Does the United States pay ransom or exchange prisoners?
A 2015 directive from President Barack Obama prohibits the promise of “ransoms, prisoner releases, policy changes or other acts of concession” to bring detained Americans home. The policy removes key incentives for hostage-takers to detain Americans in the first place and prevents the exchange of U.S. revenue or other resources that could be used for other criminal activities, the document noted.
But there have been numerous prisoner swaps with foreign governments to release detained Americans — most recently Trevor Reed, who was held for more than two years in Russia before his release in April. Simultaneously, as part of the negotiations, a Russian pilot who was imprisoned in the US on charges of cocaine trafficking was released.
Mr. Reid had suffered from tuberculosis while in prison, which made his case all the more urgent.
Similarly, U.S. officials late last month tried to persuade the Venezuelan government to release Matthew Heath from an underground prison on humanitarian grounds after his family said he had tried to kill himself. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro refused, although he released two other Americans in March.
Britney Greener’s plight in Russia
The American basketball star spent months in a Russian prison on charges of smuggling hashish into the country.
Iran is holding Mr. Namazi and three other Americans while Tehran negotiates with world powers to curb its nuclear program. Chief US negotiator Robert Malley said the fate of the detained Americans was not directly related to the talks.
“But I will say that it is very difficult for us to imagine going back to the nuclear deal while four innocent Americans are being held hostage by Iran,” he told Reuters in January.
Does public pressure or other publicity help?
It depends.
In some cases, heavy public pressure may not help, the senior State Department official said. Fear of provoking an already hostile government is among the reasons the negotiations are being conducted in secret.
Family members of many wrongfully detained Americans are also wary of discussing details of the cases passed on to them by the State Department or other officials — in part for security reasons and in part to ensure the U.S. government doesn’t withhold any updates.
But some have created advocacy networks to pressure the U.S. government to negotiate more aggressively and, above all, to ensure that their loved ones are not forgotten.
“We wake up every day knowing that they are suffering far more than we can imagine — so much so that many of them are afraid to wake up at all,” the relatives of 19 Americans captured overseas wrote in a letter to the Biden in June.
Ms. Greener used the public attention on her case to ask Mr. Biden to intervene not only on her behalf, but on behalf of other Americans who are wrongfully detained.
“I realize you are dealing with so much, but please don’t forget about me and the other American detainees,” she said in a handwritten note to the president this month. “Please do everything you can to bring us home.”
Russia has hinted that it wants to swap Ms. Greener for Viktor Bout, a former Soviet military officer who was convicted of offering to sell weapons, including anti-aircraft missiles, to federal agents posing as members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
After Ms. Greener pleaded guilty to drug charges this month, saying she had no intention of breaking the law, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei A. Ryabkov said the “noise and publicity” surrounding its retention “constitutes interference in the truest sense of the word.”
In some situations, especially when the Americans are already well-known, the State Department official said public attention can help.
But more often, and even when it appears on the surface that negotiations are at a standstill, officials are quietly working on the case, he said.
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