WASHINGTON, DC – The number of Americans wrongfully detained by countries has increased markedly and now account for about 90 percent of U.S. citizens unjustly held abroad, according to Diane Foley, President and Founder of the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation.
At a panel discussion at the Atlantic Council on Feb. 15, she said 19 countries have targeted U.S citizens in contrast to terrorist groups and other criminal organizations who were largely responsible for kidnapping Americans in years past.
Foley’s son James, a conflict journalist, was killed by ISIS in 2014 after he was captured in Syria. The Foley Foundation is dedicated to bringing home Americans wrongfully detained abroad or held hostage and promoting the safety of journalists and international travelers worldwide.
“Americans are now held longer and it is harder to get them out,” Foley said. “These countries use our foreign policy against us. We need a commitment to bring our Americans home. Our country has a moral duty to protect Americans when we are out in the world.”
The Foley Foundation and other groups and individuals intent on improving the situation of detainees have been working to enlist Congress in the cause. For example, they would like to see more financial support for hostages, wrongful detainees and their families to pay for advocacy trips that families make to Washington and elsewhere to plead their case and for basic necessities which often have to be provided to detainees by their families, and post-captivity travel home and psychosocial medical needs.
The co-chairs of the recently established Congressional Task Force on American Hostages and Americans Wrongfully Detain Abroad, Rep. French Hill, R-AR, and Rep. Haley Stevens, D-MI, addressed the Atlantic Council conference by recorded message.
