Annual dinner to be held May 3 at National Press Club in Washington, DC.
WASHINGTON, DC – The James W. Foley Legacy Foundation today announced the honorees for the 2023 James W. Foley Freedom Awards to be presented at the foundation’s annual dinner in Washington, DC on May 3.
“We are delighted to honor Roger Carstens, Mickey Bergman, Mouaz Moustafa, and Sean Langan for their tireless advocacy and moral courage,” said Diane Foley, President and Founder of the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation. “Their individual efforts to bring home every American who is unjustly detained abroad, to advocate for the downtrodden, and to seek the truth embody the values of moral courage that drove my son Jim Foley and continue to inspire so many people around the world.”
Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens will receive the 2023 Robert A. Levinson Excellence in Government Service Award in honor of his long track record of bipartisan public service working to bring home US nationals who have been unjustly detained and held hostage overseas. “Special Envoy Carstens has been instrumental in bringing our people home and building the hostage enterprise that works with families of Americans detained and held hostage overseas,” said James W. Foley Legacy Foundation Founder and President Diane Foley. “His tireless and effective diplomacy has helped the U.S. government recognize hostage-taking as a true national security threat and begin to prioritize how our government handles these cases.”
Richardson Center for Global Engagement Vice President and Senior Advisor Mickey Bergman will receive the 2023 James W. Foley Legacy Foundation American Hostage Freedom Award. Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize 2019 as part of his work at the Richardson Center, Mr. Bergman has helped pioneer the discipline of Fringe Diplomacy, exploring the spaces just beyond the boundaries of governmental capacity and authority. “Mr. Bergman and his team have facilitated the release of more political prisoners than any other organization,” said Ms. Foley. “The world is a safer place thanks to his innovative barrier-breaking diplomacy.”
Executive Director of Syrian Emergency Task Force Mouaz Moustafa will receive the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation Humanitarian Award. Founded in March 2011 to respond to the Assad regime and its allies’ attacks on innocent Syrian civilians, the Syrian Emergency Task Force today works on the ground in Syria and around the world to bring an end to the killing in Syria through advocacy, humanitarian initiatives, and the pursuit of justice and accountability for war crimes. “Mr. Moustafa’s tireless humanitarian advocacy on behalf of the Syrian people is a powerful example of moral courage in action,” said Ms. Foley. “His work to expose and document war crimes, hold human rights abusers accountable, and to help survivors rebuild their lives brings hope to some of the most desperate places in the world.”
The documentary filmmaker and journalist Sean Langan will receive the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation World Press Freedom Award. The director of such award-winning films as Tea with the Taliban, Fighting the Taliban, Mission Accomplished, Afghan Ladies Driving School, African Freedom Railways and Coming Home: The United States v Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, Mr. Langan was kidnapped along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and held hostage by the Taliban with his translator for three months before being released in June 2008. “Mr. Langan’s documentary films and his own harrowing story of bravery and survival exemplify the moral courage in journalism,” said Ms. Foley. “Despite the danger, he traveled to Iraq to skillfully interview the former British jihadists Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee ElSheikh, which provided critical evidence for their conviction in their 2022 U.S. federal criminal trial for the kidnapping, torture and murder of four Americans, Kayla Mueller, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig and James Foley.”
To learn more about the James W. Foley Freedom Awards and the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation please visit www.jamesfoleyfoundation.org. You may also contact Amy Coyne, Director of Corporate & Community Relations, at amy.coyne@jamesfoleyfoundation.org.
