A Global Hostage Crisis

How Washington tries to prevent international adversaries from using captive Americans as leverage: A Dispatch Explainer.

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Brittney Griner, accused of drug smuggling, appears at the Khimki City Court in Moscow. (Photo by Pavel Pavlov/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

[UPDATE: American officials announced Thursday that they had secured the freedom of basketball star Brittney Griner from what the State Department considered wrongful detention in Russia. Griner’s release came after a one-for-one prisoner exchange for Viktor Bout—nicknamed the “Merchant of Death”—a Russian arms dealer who was sentenced to 25 years in prison by a U.S. court in 2012. Many Americans are still behind bars in foreign countries across the world, including Russia.]

American basketball star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner celebrated her 32nd birthday in a Moscow prison cell last week. Unless the U.S. government can strike a deal with Russia, Griner may spend eight more birthdays there—all for accidentally bringing trace amounts of cannabis oil into the country. 

The high-profile case of Griner, one of nearly 60 Americans known to be either wrongfully detained by foreign governments or held hostage by terrorist groups overseas (though the number is believed to be much higher), is forcing the Biden administration to rethink strategies it’s preferred to keep quiet: hostage negotiations with foreign governments. It comes as America’s adversaries are getting wise to the power of seizing U.S. nationals as political and economic bargaining chips. 

Bartering with foreign governments for unjustly detained Americans isn’t a new problem, but it is becoming a bigger one: Between 2001 and 2011, an average of five Americans per year were wrongly detained abroad, according to a recent report by the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation. Between 2012 and 2022, that number shot up to 34. Just five countries make up 75 percent of current wrongful detentions: Russia, China, Iran, Venezuela, and Syria. 

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  1. Avatar photo
    Barry Alexander

    At some point, we're going to have to say "You go into these countries at your own risk. We will be unable to help you if you run into problems." Broadcast it to the world, send a mass mailer to all Americans, whatever. Make a list of countries that the US government will make no effort to help you if you are taken hostage there.

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    Seth

    Enough tears in the comment section being shed for Griner to fill an ocean, yet nothing but dry eyes for the victims of Bout who had justice torn away from them. We allowed Putin to use our domestic identity politics against us to secure the release of his pet monster. Russia played us like a fiddle. For every cheering journalist in DC or New York who welcomes this trade, there is a former child soldier out there who thinks differently.

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    Rjosephpaquette

    Unless you are on the State Department payroll with diplomatic status, do not travel to our enemies. Problem solved.

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  4. Mary Stine

    Griner could have carried zero traces of cannabis oil in with her and still been arrested for being openly lesbian and in a gay marraige. She could have been arrested for her hairstyle, for Pete's sake, or her shoes. And she certainly could have been arrested if she'd been openly Jewish.
    Let's stop castigating these unfortunate Americans trapped in hostile countries as reckless or criminal and instead give them support for doing what the rest of us are too cowardly to do: engage openly and honestly with the enemy and give them the opportunity to see Western citizens as real human beings.
    I'd bet most conservatives over 50 remember that Rev. Billy Graham made several successful crusades into the USSR and was never detained, nor were any of his entourage. Was he a fool and criminal also? Please remember that at the height of his career Christians were as despised as Jews in the USSR.

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      WKDawson

      You're right that they could have found any excuse to arrest her. Some of those examples would be unavoidable. The thing is, they _did_ ding her on something that many places consider illegal. We cannot avoid being made a target if someone is looking for ways to get us, but we don't need to do things that give them an easy catch either.

      She should be deeply circumspect about having been bought off for a real criminal for such a brazen display of American privilege.

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      1. Mary Stine

        Well, yes, flaunting privilege is never a good idea. But I'm unclear that is what she did. It appears she had used this cannabis oil in the past, and some residue was still in her cosmetic bag. Just the scent on her luggage would be enough for a drug sniffing dog. If this is the case, then everyone will need to purchase new luggage, cosmetics and clothing for every trip through a cannabis intolerant zone (which includes some of our own states), if one is using even medicinal cannabis.
        It's a terrible conundrum with these authoritarian states. Sending any emissaries there, even the most law abiding and decent, is still a risk. But if no one goes, then we have an isolated dangerous bubble like North Korea, where dear leaders' lies are impossible to refute.

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          WKDawson

          Yeah, I don't know anymore how much she had on her. When I first read the NYT on this some months ago, I had the impression it was not a trace amount but not nothing either.

          There was one occasion when I was passing through Amsterdam and stayed at a youth hostel. I was taken by surprise when someone offered to share a joint. ... and then going around town, open the door to some restaurant, and a waft of scented air would hit like a ton of bricks. I was aware that marijuana is legal there, but I didn't expect that it would be so prevalent. My exposure was extremely limited but had I traveled from there to one of those places, perhaps that might have become a problem.

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      Donald E. L. Johnson, Florida

      As long as fools are willing to expose themselves to life terms in foreign prisons and take their punishment without endangering America or having it blackmailed by our enemies to free them, they should be free to commit themselves to torture and horrible lives if that's what they want to do.

      There is nothing admirable about being a foolish missionary or money grabbing celebrity.

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      1. Mary Stine

        Now Donald, not everyone who goes to places like Russia is a fool or a celebrity. Plenty of ordinary citizens who are teachers, scientists, students and just in-laws go too. But the truth is that even the most well behaved can get arrested just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Those folks weren't trying to get arrested or even insult anyone. They were trying to meet with Russian friends and family. But that alone can be a dangerous thing in a malevolent autocracy with a thug ruler.
        Just because a few got arrested and there was a great hew and cry to return them isn't a reason to condemn all the adventurous souls going to Russia who got arrested.
        I will posit the argument that even the fools or money grubbers have done democracy a favor by bringing public attention to the problems of autocracy.
        The greater favor has been done by ordinary, non-attention seekers who've forged alliances of friendship and profession with Russians, and made hatred less appealing, and democracy more desirable.

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    Ethan Cordray

    This article talks a lot about the "carrot" approach to hostage negotiations -- offering prisoner exchanges and money for prisoners' release -- but you know, the last time I checked the United States was a world-bestriding imperial hegemon with an incredibly powerful military. What about the "stick" approach? As in, "Release these Americans, or say hello to some cruise missiles." Is that something we ever think about doing?

    I've noticed that we haven't seemed to have any Somalian pirate hijackings of American crews after we killed all those Somali pirates.

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  6. Bobby D

    Is Griner unlawfully detained? It’s my understanding that she broke Russian law—a law similar to laws in places like Japan and Singapore. Are those serving prison sentences in Japan for the same crime also being unlawfully detained? Never mind that her act, if committed in the US, would violate US federal law. Maybe she would have been arrested for something else anyway.

    By the way, how does one accidentally possess cannabis?

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      WKDawson

      I think possession in Japan is 8 years. The conditions are at least not cruel, but it is a harsh sentence.

      Although it seems some people are saying it was a small amount, it is still true that "wrongfully detained" is not exactly correct. Basically, if you are going to other places in the world, you just don't do that sort of stuff at all. Usually, it is performance-enhancing drugs that create the most noise in sports, so it seems a bit unusual that she was dinged on depressants. At any rate, this stuff will show up in urine samples, hair samples, etc.

      I am happy that we are moving away from all this stuff about illegal drugs in the US. I think it was a bad idea and that we should be aiming at treatment, not punishment. Nevertheless, I would still argue that it is probably better to say away from that stuff altogether if at all possible. I guess people do that stuff because they have issues, but aside from perhaps PTSD, it is better to face them in the fullness of mind.

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    2. Michael.Terrien

      I don't think you accidentally possess it, but you can easily accidentally bring the trivial amount she had across a border. What she possessed is de facto legal under federal law (i.e. the theoretical violation would never be enforced) and de jure legal in an increasing number of states. And absolutely nowhere civilized would sentence you to 9 years in a labor camp for it. Perhaps "unlawfully" isn't quite the right word but "unjustly" unquestionably fits. Oh, and Putin's a thug and he's using her as a hostage. I hope you don't doubt that.

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      1. Bobby D

        It’s true that she’s unlikely to be prosecuted for possessing such an amount in the US. Even so, it is a violation of federal law. If she were a non-US national seeking to bring such an amount into the US and the drug-sniffing dogs found it, she’d likely be denied entry and barred from ever coming into the US into the future. Further, federal regulations require many employers to take a zero-tolerance approach to THC, and to dismiss any employee found to be in possession of any quantity of THC on any of its sites.

        Again, I don’t see how one “accidentally” brings this stuff along on a foreign trip. That’s like saying that you accidentally brought toothpaste along. Placing something in your travel bag requires an intentional act. It’s far more likely that she thought that she’d get away with her crime because of her status as a professional athlete.

        Lastly, there are hundreds of American citizens serving prison sentences in Japan for doing something similar to what Griner did. If you try to enter Japan with any amount of THC in your possession and you are caught, you’re likely to be sentenced to about 5 years in a Japanese prison. Why is there no outcry for these people? Now we know. They weren’t “intersectional” enough and were not outspoken critics of the President’s former political opponent. Consider that Biden has left Paul Whelan to rot in a Russian prison, despite the fact that he is unlawfully detained. But Whelan is a straight white guy, so he gets a middle finger from the administration. It seems to set a bad precedent to give highest priority to the detained person’s political views and the number of boxes checked off on the intersectionality scorecard.

        The incoming Republican House should hold hearings on this and make the lives of every person in State involved in Griner’s release utterly miserable. We all know that if she were a middle-aged white family man from Nebraska, Biden would have let her rot in a Russian prison.

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        1. Mary Stine

          Just because something ain't right is no reason to commit another wrong. And that's what you are urging forward here.
          What's not right is that celebrities (of every stripe) and the very wealthy can afford the battle for swift justice. The rest of us cannot, and we'll have little chance of influencing our congresspeople who are wealthy. Elect more people from the working classes, from a broader swath of life, and we'll likely see more attention paid to those citizens of whom you speak.
          Just holding hearings to investigate one administration that you hate, and one individual you also hate, is not going to solve this problem of long standing that far predates the Biden and even the Trump and Obama administrations.
          To solve it you will need support from both sides. And you will need to rebuild trust in the federal government. "making other people's lives miserable" is not going to do that.

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          1. Bobby D

            I don’t have any particular hatred for anyone.

            This issue bothers me because I grew up overseas in a country where possession of any amount of THC is treated seriously. I had two friends who spent the better part of their 20s in prison because they wrongly thought that their family wealth would keep them from having to face any serious consequences. The US government did nothing for them. In fact, it stated that its explicit policy is that, as long as thee is evidence of a crime and the punishment is consistent with what would be meted out to locals, the US will do nothing. That’s the policy of the State Department. And it’s a long-standing policy. In fact, I’m not aware of another time in recent decades where the US has intervened in such a situation when the detaining country is not on the axis-of-evil list (North Korea, Iran, etc.). To receive any attention from State, you always had to demonstrate that that you didn’t actually commit the charged crime. Otherwise, the door would be slammed on your fingers.

            That was all true until Griner came along. This is a substantial departure from long-standing US government policy. So, it’s not “hatred” to inquire as to why our government made the exception that it did.

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  7. Avatar photo
    JohnD

    Thank you, Charlotte. This is an important story, but I would like to add an interesting, and somewhat personal dimension. We are reaching out to the Dispatch community to share information about another fellow American in a very difficult situation in Russia, and in need of our awareness and support.

    First, a little background. Our oldest daughter is a professional educator, working in International School communities worldwide. Recently she concluded a 4 year stay in Moscow, Russia at the Anglo-American School, teaching High School Physics to the children of expatriates working in Moscow. Most of her students were either American, from other English-speaking countries, or South Korea. Our daughter would have stayed longer, but the geopolitical situation in Russia, especially regarding Ukraine, suggested that the prudent course of action was to leave.

    One of her former coworkers, Marc Fogel, taught Social Studies at that high school for 9 years. Our daughter worked closely with Marc for three years, and can attest to his high character, as well as his excellence as a high school teacher. Marc is a 61-year-old, lifelong educator from western Pennsylvania.

    In August 2021, while entering Russia for what would have been his 10th (and final year) of teaching before his retirement, Marc was detained at the Moscow International Airport and found to have several grams of marijuana (prescribed medicinal marijuana) in his suitcase. Since then, his family has not heard from him, and he was recently sentenced in Russia to 14 years of hard labor.

    Marc has not as of yet been designated by the State Department as ‘wrongfully detained’. Until he receives this designation from the State Department, he has no chance of leaving the Russian prison system before his 14-year sentence is completed.

    We need to be aware of Marc’s situation and be aware that he and his family need our support. I fear that if Marc does not receive the ‘wrongfully detained’ designation, and is not included in these State Department negotiations, he will never leave Russia alive.

    Yes, Marc made a mistake by assuming that Russian customs agents would act as they always had in his previous travels into and out of Russia. However, please be aware that Marc is a private citizen like all of us, with a wife and children back here in the USA. He has been in prison now for over a year and has clearly paid for the minor crime he committed. He is not a drug smuggler, drug addict, spy or criminal. The one thing that we as fellow citizens could do is ask or political leaders (The White House, our respective Senators, and House members) to ensure that Marc Fogel, like Brittany Griner and Paul Whelan, are designated as wrongfully detained and included with them in any hostage negotiations.

    And for those who pray, please keep Marc and his family in your prayers.

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      WKDawson

      I am sorry to hear that. This is more like what often happens to us regular folks, not the high-profile things like this article alludes to. That is what especially gets me. I agree that Griner's situation is grim, but what about your 61-year-old friend doing hard labor? Griner is young and can endure hard labor, not so clear your friend can at 61. Moreover, what about _his_ family? They surely won't trade some out-and-out brutal criminal for his behind. So all this crying and wailing really does seem a bit irritating.

      I am really happy that the US is moving away from the illegal drugs thing. It seemed misguided from the start. I also get that I also can do really absent-minded things that might get me in trouble in foreign countries where, everywhere in the world, the customs people usually lack a sense of humor.

      At the same time, he really should have stayed away from that stuff or had a very clear situation worked out with customs over this (if it is possible). If he really couldn't live without it, he should have found a way to live in the US instead. ... but yeah, don't get me wrong, I'm sorry to hear about this and, being a private citizen living abroad in Japan, I feel a lot about what you are saying here. If you get into trouble outside of the US with some boss or whatever, you'd best consider the possibility that you need to be on the next plane out of that place. Customs in the US have no sensitivity to those realities when you are planning your life, so you get it on both ends.

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      Donald E. L. Johnson, Florida

      Again, if you do dumb things in foreign countries that want to use you as a pawn, you should pay the price of your stupidity, not Americans.

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        JohnD

        Donald - I won’t belabor the point as it is late. Just ask yourself what would you do if this were your son or your brother or friend. Did he make a mistake, yes. However he had no expectation of being rounded up in a geopolitical chess game. He was teaching kids about history, and I have been told he was pretty good at it. I have been a lifelong conservative, and I know conservatism will remain a minority position if we treat every situation with the black and white simplicity you imply. If you are a praying man, I ask for your prayers for Marc and his family. He deserves no less.

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      Anne W (Raw5254)

      I’m so sad to read this. I found myself thinking, while reading about Griner in particular, that no American citizen should be working (or visiting) places that are so unstable, with governments openly hostile to us. At the same time, maybe it’s important to keep in closer contact with their people. I honestly don’t know. There are no easy answers to this one, unfortunately.

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        WKDawson

        Well, I work in Japan. This is a risk that we face, frankly. Japan is presently stable. I have little reason to think that will change.

        I never imagined that Putin would really go this far, but we were all very naive. In the US, there is this __one__ course on Ukraine at Yale (fortunately online).
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJczLlwp-d8&list=PLh9mgdi4rNewfxO7LhBoz_1Mx1MaO6sw_&index=1

        Really, we put so very little value on humanities, and then we are __so surprised__ about the unstable things that happen in the world. All that stuff about business in China? If we valued history, we would have thought of Nationalization in Latin America. If all those fat cats who get the $20 Million salaries had bothered to hire a few history majors, they wouldn't have to say "ABC" (anywhere but China).

        Sorry, I am ranting.

        It is a real shame. Putin didn't have to go this direction, and I was also caught by surprise.

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          Anne W (Raw5254)

          Rant away! Thanks for a great comment. I have often thought that our politicians really need a better background in history. I wish more of them had done some kind of foreign service. We elect people to Congress who are supposed to decide things that impact us globally, and I swear that most of them don’t even have a basic knowledge of The Constitution. One of the things I liked so much about Ben Sasse was exactly that.

          And not just business IN China, but how about the businesses they have here? What about the technology we buy from them? I remember when they were going to put in internet in Europe, and how shocked and worried I was. To be honest, one of the things that concerned me about the way Biden got us out of Afghanistan was the message it sent, so I wasn’t exactly surprised that Russia thought it was a good opportunity to push their agenda. And then Biden started negotiating with Iran again, and down to Venezuela for fuel. Why doesn’t anyone ever think long term?!!

          Besides not buying drones and other military equipment from China, we also need to stop using that damn TikTok! And, I want us to put more money into our military—not to be aggressive, but to be prepared, and let the countries who are aggressive know that.

          Also, thanks for the link; I’m definitely going to watch it. YouTube is fantastic for finding all kinds of great information. I use it a lot, and so glad to know about this!

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        JohnD

        Thanks Anne - yes it is a sad story. We all get caught up sometimes in the geopolitical dimension of these stories, but we should never forget that these are real people who get hurt.

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    Will Bates

    I have sympathy for some of these individuals, especially foreign press, but it is their responsibility - not that of the U.S. The fact is, Griner accepted the risk of going to Russia. Others will do the same. The U.S. should not be accepting responsibility and paying for that recklessness - it undermines foreign policy.

    The U.S. very clearly indicates in its Consulate and State Dept websites that travel to these countries is at one’s own risk.

    Go anyway? You accept the risk.

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    1. Tcfoothills

      She must not have watched the Midnight Express. It is a true story. Taking drugs into other countries is deadly

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      Tmcke

      Very reasonable. But as you can see, the press coverage creates its own demand. So what to do?

      And for folks who have family overseas (many Iranians) it is a very sensitive matter.

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      1. David R

        Yeah. My (Russian) wife hasn't seen her family in person since she came to the US to marry me ... in early 2019. They've never seen our son in person. And while I suppose they could go without me on the theory that even Putin's not going to harass a three year old and my wife is a Russian citizen (our son is not, because we have no confidence of rational leadership in Russia, and don't want him ever to be eligible for conscription), that doesn't really sound like a great idea to me either.

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        Will Bates

        For certain. Again, I have sympathy (and, in particular, with the example you provide).

        I treat this as like any other hostage scenario. If you pay the ransom, all you succeed in doing is guaranteeing yourself paying more ransoms in the future. There will be another Brittany Griner, and they, too, will expect the U.S. to pay for their ransom also. Everyone gets the message: "Kidnap Americans, the U.S. will pay top dollar for their release."

        It is self-defeating.

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          Tmcke

          But also problematical is the haranguing of the administration by the press. It may be seen as their job but the story was of a sports figure doing something very stupid. Like not carrying anything worrisome... and like why even go to Russia. But the press asks and the pressure builds to "do something."

          This is from the National Review: "but whether it’s Americans stuck in Afghanistan after the U.S. withdrawal or detainees in Russia, it appears President Biden cannot be relied on to perform this most essential mission: bringing Americans home. " ... much the same can be found in the mainstream press.

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  9. Scrumpyjack01

    Why does the author say that Griner was caught with “trace amounts” of cannabis oil? That suggests that she had only vape cartridges with oil residue rather than some cartridges filled with cannabis oil (even if a small amount). Nothing else that I’ve read suggests this, though. Is this just a poor choice of words on the author’s part? (I ask because, if it’s accurate, I’d like to know, since I haven’t seen that claim anywhere else. If it’s inaccurate, though, then it undermines the reliability of the author and the article for me.)

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      Scarlette Tarte

      It doesn't matter. It's a silly thing to hold an American for. Please don't victim blame.

      It's as bad as the people who said that Otto deserved it because he ripped down a poster.

      Sure, we should not break the law in the countries we are traveling to. But countries should also not hold foreign nationals over such minor offenses. They can be banned from ever returning, sure, but unless it's a serious offense, countries should let these people go home.

      She is being used as a pawn in a political game and it's wrong. Hopefully we don't do this to people visiting here that get in minor trouble.

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      1. Scrumpyjack01

        Well, it might not matter with respect to whether Griner deserves the punishment she's received, but it definitely matters with respect to how accurate the author's (Charlotte Lawson's) reporting is here and how much I am willing to trust her reporting to get the details right and be a reliable source of information in the future--which, you know, is exactly why I said I cared about this in my initial post.

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      2. Ken Motamed

        Victim-blame? If she broke another country's law, she's not a victim. Unless you're saying she's a victim of her own greed.

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          Scarlette Tarte

          She is a victim of politics. Russia has allowed others to bring medical marijuana in, and have let small amounts thru in other cases

          It's not right, in any circumstance, to use human beings who are not politicians, spies or other international actors as pawns in a political game. That makes her a victim.

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            Ethan Cordray

            An excellent point. It's very important to remember that Russia (and many other authoritarian countries) often enforce their own laws arbitrarily and inconsistently.

            For all we know, Griner had brought the exact same stuff in and out through customs a dozen times already, and had never gotten hassled. So she'd gotten used to thinking it was okay -- and then this time, the hammer dropped.

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          Scarlette Tarte

          So Otto deserved what he got because he broke a law in North Korea?

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            Donald E. L. Johnson, Florida

            Otto didn't deserve to be killed. But he blundered in N. Korea, not America. He did a stupid kid thing and paid for it with his life.

            Apparently Griner isn't familiar with that story. It should be told over and over again to educate people about the risks that come with traveling to other countries.

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      3. P Satter

        Keeping her for years of mistreatment in a penal colony for something prescribed by a doctor in AZ (her Russian attorney presented the prescription in court) only makes sense if she is a useful pawn for a dictatorship embarking on a war. If they were cracking down, expulsion would have made more sense.

        By the way, Russia apparently allowed FIFA fans to bring medical marijuana into the country for the World Cup in 2018. https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2018/02/28/world-cup-fans-allowed-bring-medical-marijuana-russia-a60648

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    Magpie

    Whatever people think of Griner for violating Russian drug laws, she's clearly a pawn in a geopolitical game. There's no other way to explain an 8+ year sentence for the amount of cannabis oil she was carrying. I hope that justice and mercy win the day and she is released before too long.

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