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Hostage Report

Download 2024 Hostage Report

Download 2024 Hostage Report

Substantial progress was made in securing the freedom of Americans held captive by foreign governments, but terrorist hostage-taking spiked.









Diane Foley's signature
Jim Foley

Bringing Americans Home: 2023

This report, conducted by the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation (JWFLF), consists of two sections.. The first section, “U.S. National Wrongful Detention and Hostage-Taking Landscape, 2022-2023,” used two JWFLF datasets containing information on 422 U.S. nationals held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad from January 1, 2001, through July 31, 2023, to discuss trends, releases, and detailed outcomes. The second section, “Wrongful Detainee and Hostage Perspectives,” was written by Matthew Heath and Jeffery Woodke, two former captives. Both perspectives provide ways to rethink U.S. strategy on wrongful detentions and hostage-takings. Their stories help to shed light on the toll of captivities and the importance of securing the freedom of all Americans.


Bringing Americans Home: 2022

From 2019–2021, the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation published a yearly assessment of the efficacy of the 2015 U.S. Hostage Policy Review and the implementation of PPD-30 and EO 13698. This report, an extension of those assessments, continues to examine how the U.S. government creates and implements policy in support of U.S. nationals taken hostage or wrongfully detained abroad as well as their families. Most importantly, this report seeks to better understand whether the new structures these policy changes have created help bring Americans home and offers nine recommendations to improve the government’s hostage enterprise.


Bringing Americans Home: 2021

This report, conducted by the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation (JWFLF), is a continuation of JWFLF’s assessments of the efficacy of the 2015 U.S. Hostage Policy Review and the implementation of Presidential Policy Directive 30 and Executive Order 13698. This study seeks to convey the perspectives of U.S. hostages, unlawfully or wrongfully held detainees, their family members, representatives, advocates, former senior military officials, and current and former U.S. officials. It, however, does not represent the perspectives of all former hostages, detainees, and their families, but only presents the perspectives of those who participated in this study


Bringing Americans Home: 2020

This report, conducted by the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation (JWFLF), is a continuation of JWFLF’s initial assessment of the efficacy of the 2015 U.S. Hostage Policy Review and the implementation of PPD-30 and EO 13698. This study was conducted from the perspective of American hostages, wrongfully held detainees, and their family members and representatives. It does not represent the perspective of all former hostages, detainees, and their families, but only presents the perspectives of those who participated in this study.


Bringing Americans Home: 2019

This assessment, conducted by the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, (JWFLF) is the first non-governmental review of the efficacy of the 2015 U.S. Hostage Policy Review and the implementation of Presidential Policy Directive 30 (PPD-30) and Executive Order 13698 (EO 13698) concerning hostage recovery activities. This study was conducted from the perspective of former American hostages, family members of current and former U.S. hostages, and others detained unlawfully or wrongfully by a foreign government. This study does not represent the perspective of all former hostages, detainees, and their families, but only presents the perspectives of those who participated in this study.