March 7, 2025

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Marking U.S. Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day

U.S. State Department Website

In 2023, the United States Congress passed the U.S. Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day Act of 2023. The bill designates March 9 as U.S. Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day and calls on observers to reflect on the need to prioritize and work for the freedom of all Americans held as hostages or wrongfully detained abroad. Hostage advocates raise the Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Flag as a show of support for the mission to ensure all Americans are returned home from captivity. The families of current and former hostages played an important role in championing a day of reflection in honor of those impacted by hostage-taking.

The day is observed on March 9, marking the date in 2007 when former FBI agent Robert Levinson was abducted in Iran. He remains the longest-held hostage in U.S. history. The day recognizes that global hostage-taking of Americans can be perpetrated by both non-state and state actors; the latter is often known as “hostage diplomacy,” where states unlawfully detain foreign nationals within their criminal justice systems for use as foreign policy leverage. Robert Levinson also lends his name to the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act (also known as the “Levinson Act”), passed in 2020 and which codified the term ‘wrongful detention’ in U.S. law and set out criteria which the Secretary of State can apply in determining if a U.S. national is being held wrongfully by a foreign government. The signing of the Levinson Act into law was a landmark achievement, since, at the time, no other country had attempted to pass national legislation or put in place publicly available criteria to make a determination on whether its nationals were being detained by foreign states for leverage.

As hostage advocates and families of the victims reflect on the day, the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation recently released its latest report on the 2024 Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Landscape. In total, at least 54 Americans were held hostage or wrongfully detained overseas in 17 countries at some point during 2024. There remains no publicly agreed upon number of U.S. nationals held captive abroad—though the Foley Foundation data suggests that wrongful detention cases account for the majority of cases. Of the 17 Americans released in 2024, the majority came as a result of prisoner exchanges with other countries. The findings from 2024 also note that “significantly more Americans were wrongfully detained from 2015-2024 compared to the 10 years previous,” specifically calling for more efforts in prevention and deterrence of wrongful detentions. Of the Americans still held captive at the end of 2024, their length of detention averaged just under 6 years.

The U.S. is among a number of countries impacted by hostage-taking—and working with allies and partners remains an important component of an effective hostage-recovery strategy and deterrence. Multilateralism was at the core of the complex prisoner exchange deal between Russia and the West in August 2024. The historic deal required intense diplomacy and cooperation from the U.S. and its close allies in Germany, Slovenia, Norway, Poland, and Türkiye. It resulted in the release of U.S. citizens Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, and Alsu Kurmasheva, as well as U.S. permanent resident Vladimir Kara-Murza. For the U.S., the hostage recovery agenda has historically been bipartisan and one that has seen the U.S. work closely with allies and counterparts globally. The importance of multilateralism is reflected in the Canada-led Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations, which to date has attracted 80 endorsements and serves to build global solidarity against state hostage-taking.

This week also saw the release of a report by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. Presented to the UN Human Rights Council, the report considers the links between hostage-taking and torture, documenting how both state and non-state actors inflict immense suffering on individual hostages, as well as their families and communities: “In the report, the Special Rapporteur highlights the severe psychological and physical torture and other ill-treatment suffered by hostages, which have lasting impacts on hostages’ families, communities and countries.” The report offers a number of recommendations and notes how states are generally unprepared to assist hostages and their families in navigating the complex process of returning loved ones home from captivity. Former hostages and their families remain at the heart of global efforts to end the internationally unlawful act of hostage-taking. This day of reflection marks an important moment to remember those impacted by this crime and to strengthen efforts to bring all hostages home.