The empty seats at the table
Just before Christmas, the Biden administration secured the release of six Americans who had been wrongfully jailed in Venezuela. The video of the men returning to American soil was a heartwarming moment and a holiday miracle for their families. But the prisoner exchange — the administration traded a Venezuelan man awaiting trial for money laundering for a total of 10 Americans detained in Venezuela — was also a sad reminder of how many other families are still waiting for the phone call that their loved one is coming home.
The government does not disclose every case of Americans wrongfully detained overseas — but there are dozens who are being held either as hostages or on criminal charges manufactured by hostile foreign governments that amount to the same thing. A report issued in September by the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, named for a US journalist kidnapped in Syria in 2012 and later killed, said there were at least 53 people wrongfully detained at the time, which actually represented a decrease compared to recent years. (The foundation listed 57 cases as of last week, while noting the number was fluid.)
High-profile cases include that of Evan Gershkovich, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal being held on specious espionage charges in Russia, and journalist Austin Tice, kidnapped in Syria in 2012 and believed to be held by the regime of Bashar alAssad. Australian, Japanese, Canadian, and European hostages are also being held unjustly. Counts of those wrongfully held do not include people imprisoned on bona fide criminal charges.
Efforts to free hostages often create agonizing dilemmas for diplomats, who have to weigh the humanitarian imperative to free innocents against the fear that making deals will only invite more hostage-taking in the future. When the Biden administration secured the release of hostages held in Iran, it made concessions — unfreezing $6 billion in Iranian assets and freeing several Iranians held in American jails — that unleashed a firestorm of controversy. These deals also force diplomats to make no-win decisions about whose freedom to prioritize: When the administration struck a deal with Moscow to free WNBA star Brittney Griner this year, it left Paul Whelan, who has been held in a Russian prison since 2018.
There are no good solutions. In Israel, which is grappling with a hostage dilemma on a much larger scale after Hamas kidnapped hundreds of people during its Oct. 7 attacks, the government agreed to a temporary cease-fire and freed some Palestinian prisoners in exchange for women and children held hostage. Now it’s under political pressure to strike another deal but also facing strong counterpressure to not relent in its military campaign against Hamas.
The protests in Israel on behalf of hostages point to what ordinary Americans can do. Especially during the holiday season, we can make clear that the families grieving a missing loved one are not alone — that we remember hostages and expect the government to bring them back. The families of Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, Austin Tice, and every other American held wrongfully overseas deserve the same kind of joyful reunion as the ones last week.
Especially during the holiday season, we can make clear that the families grieving a missing loved one are not alone — that we remember hostages and expect the government to bring them back.