Brittney Griner's time in Russia shined light on wrongfully detained Americans

Mike Brest

December 27, 06:00 AM December 27, 06:00 AM

Brittney Griner was the most prominent American wrongfully detained abroad and the biggest success story for the Biden administration's efforts to secure their freedom in 2022, but not the only one.

Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens leads the State Department in its work to get Americans the government deems wrongfully detained back. U.S. officials don't say how many Americans fit that description, though nonprofit groups say the number is about 60 people. Carstens has overseen the return of more than a dozen this year alone, most recently the two-time Olympic basketball player who had been detained in Russia for 10 months and returned home.

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Griner and former Marine Trevor Reed were set free after President Joe Biden agreed to two separate prisoner exchanges with Russia. In December, the administration gave up convicted and notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout. In April, it was convicted drug smuggler Konstantin Yaroshenko. The deals left behind fellow Marine Paul Whelan, who is serving a 16-year sentence on espionage charges that the Biden administration says are both bogus and the reason Russian officials are treating him differently than other detained Americans. Marc Fogel, a Pittsburgh-area teacher, is accused of bringing marijuana into the country, like Griner.

The administration, while celebrating Griner's return, reiterated its commitment to getting Whelan back. Carstens told Whelan as much in a recent conversation: Their work goes on, even as they celebrate Griner's return.

Meeting an American regaining their freedom is “humbling” for Carstens, he said during an interview on CNN, adding, “I’m very grateful that President Biden allows me a chance to do this job. It’s also a painful job. When you get a chance to shake someone’s hand, it’s one of the rare moments where you can celebrate a victory. But know this, even as we’re welcoming someone home, we still have work to do. As I’m shaking Brittney’s hand … my brain is already thinking about Paul Whelan, what we can do to get him back.”

The U.S. also secured the release of seven Americans who were wrongfully detained in Venezuela in early October. Jorge Toledo, Tomeu Vadell, Jose Luis Zambrano, Alirio Zambrano, and Jose Pereira, who are five of the Citgo oil executives who have been held since 2017, were released in the swap. So were Matthew Heath, a former U.S. Marine corporal from Tennessee, and Osman Khan. In exchange, the U.S. freed Franqui Flores and his cousin Efrain Campo, the nephews of President Nicolas Maduro’s wife. An earlier agreement freed Gustavo Cardenas and Jorge Fernandez, who were also detained in Venezuela, but former Green Berets Airan Berry and Luke Denman and Eyvin Hernandez and Jerrel Kenemore are still being detained there.

Weeks before that October deal, the U.S. got Navy veteran Mark Frerichs in a prisoner exchange with the Taliban for Bashir Noorzai. The Afghan leader had been imprisoned in the U.S. for smuggling more than $50 million worth of heroin here and into Europe. This success hasn't carried over to other Middle Eastern countries. Austin Tice, a journalist, was kidnapped in Syria in 2012, and his whereabouts remain murky. Another three Americans, Emad Shargi, Siamak Namazi, and Morad Tahbaz, are currently wrongfully imprisoned in Iran.

"We are working on every unjustly detained American every single day, and irrespective of the relationship that we may have with the countries in question, irrespective of what’s going on more broadly with those countries, we’re working on these cases, including the cases that you cited," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a CBS interview when asked about the Americans detained in Iran. "And for me, it’s a number one priority to bring Americans anywhere who are being unjustly detained, to bring them home, to get them back with their families. I have a card that I keep in my pocket. I’ve got the names of those Americans on that card. I’m working it; we’re working it every day."

There are also three Americans wrongfully detained in China: Kai Li, Mark Swidan, and David Lin. Paul Rusesabagina, who was portrayed in the film Hotel Rwanda, is being wrongfully detained in Rwanda, according to the State Department.

Iran, China, Venezuela, Syria, and Russia account for roughly three-quarters of the current detention, according to a September report from the Foley Foundation. That organization is named after the late James Foley, a journalist who was murdered by the Islamic State after nearly two years in captivity. Iran has held at least four Americans wrongfully every year since 2007; China has held at least one U.S. national since 2002. The same is true of Venezuela since 2013 and Russia since 2017.

The number of Americans detained from 2012-22 was an average of 11 per year. This represents a 175% increase from the average of four from 2001-11, according to the report. Since 2012, the number of Americans detained each year has ranged from seven to 17. The duration that wrongfully detained Americans are held has also increased in recent years, with nearly half of the current hostages being held for more than five years.