Dear friend,

Welcome to our Hostage Briefing newsletter. We have a new episode out now on Cécile Kohler, a French teacher and unionist who has been wrongfully imprisoned in Iran since 7 May 2022. The French government has called her a state hostage. We speak to Cécile's sister, Noémie Kohler to find out how we can help bring her home.

We also have updates for you on hostage and wrongful detention cases from around the world.

New Episode Out Now

Cécile Kohler is a French teacher and a unionist. She has always dreamed of visiting Iran. Last year, both Cécile and her partner, Jacques Paris visited Iran as tourists during the French school holidays and were arrested on their way to the airport by Iranian authorities. They have both been wrongfully imprisoned in Iran since 7 May 2022. The French government has referred to them as state hostages.

In October 2022, both Cécile and Jacques were coerced into delivering forced and false "confessions" which were aired on Iranian state media. The French government was outraged by this and strongly condemned it. On this episode, we have the honour of speaking to Cécile's sister, Noémie Kohler.

Noémie walks us through what happened to her sister, how they found out she was arrested and what they did next. Noémie tells us how heartbreaking it was for her and her family to see her sister being forced to confess to something she didn't do. She also talks about how her sister is doing physically and mentally as Cécile has been held for many months in solitary confinement, how the Kohler family have been coping with this trauma, the fact that Cécile has not been given access to a lawyer and the Free Cécile public campaign. Noémie and her family have been working with the families and supporters of other French citizens held hostage in Iran. They held a solidarity rally in Paris earlier this year.

We end this episode discussing what the Iranian authorities, French government and European Union should do to free Cécile and other innocent foreign nationals held hostage in Iran. We also discuss how journalists and members of the public can help.

Hostage & Wrongful Detention News

Olivier Dubois, French journalist held hostage in the Sahel by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)

• On 6 March, France 24 reported that terrorist group, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) acknowledged that they have been holding hostage French journalist, Olivier Dubois who was abducted in Mali on 8 April 2021.
• Olivier's family started a petition to urge the governments of France and Mali to make the release of Olivier Dubois a priority for them and to mobilise members of the public to raise awareness and put pressure on these governments to act. No hashtag campaign or petition is going to persuade AQIM to free Olivier which is why the family is petitioning the governments of France and Mali.

French-Irish citizen, Bernard Phelan held hostage in Iran needs urgent medical care

• French-Irish citizen, Bernard Phelan has been held hostage in Iran's Vakilabad prison in Mashhad since 3 October 2022. He was on a hunger strike recently and is suffering from serious health issues that require urgent medical care. His eyesight has started to fail. For more information on Bernard, please check out the Release Bernard Phelan website and sign the petition calling for his release (Note: the petition is at the bottom of the website home page).

Four Americans were caught in a drug cartel shootout in Mexico leaving two dead and two held captive for days.

• On 8 March, the AP reported that four Americans were caught in a drug cartel shootout in Mexico leaving two dead and two held captive for days in a remote region of the Gulf coast before they were rescued from a wood shack. These four Americans were on a road trip to Mexico for cosmetic surgery.

Swedish citizen Habib Chaab held in Iran has death sentence upheld by Iran's Supreme Court

• On 12 March, France 24 reported that Iran's Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for Swedish-Iranian citizen, Habib Chaab who has been held in Iran since October 2020 after he vanished during a visit to Turkey.
• On 14 March, Amnesty International Iran tweeted saying Iran's authorities must immediately stop any plans to execute Habib Chaab and quash his unjust conviction and death sentence.

Phillip Mehrtens, New Zealand pilot held hostage by separatists in Indonesia's Papua region

• On 10 March, Reuters reported that a New Zealand pilot held hostage by separatists in Indonesia's Papua region has appeared in videos calling for the United Nations to mediate in the conflict in the resource-rich region. Pilot, Phillip Mehrtens who works for the domestic Susi Air service, was abducted by the armed wing of Free Papua Movement (OPM) last month after landing at an airstrip in Nduga district. "OPM requests the United Nations to mediate between Papua and Indonesia to work towards Papuan independence", Mehrtens said in one of three videos echoing an earlier statement in which he said he would only be released if Papua became independent.

Canadian woman and her partner disappeared in Iran nearly a year and a half ago. Her family believes she's been detained.

• On 7 March, Canada's Global News reported that Amir Bahraminia, a father from British Columbia claims that his 35-year-old daughter, Behnoush disappeared in Tehran along with her partner, Mathew Safari nearly a year and a half ago. The couple left British Columbia for Tehran in November 2021. Behnoush's parents say the pair planned to travel to the Persian Gulf Island of Kish. The family was in constant contact with Behnoush and had a close relationship, but since landing in Tehran on 6 November 2021, the family in Canada has heard nothing from them.

​

Ways To Help

• If you haven't already, please sign the petition for Olivier Dubois, and Bernard Phelan.
• Please help us spread the word about hostage diplomacy by subscribing to our YouTube channel here. The more subscribers we have, the more people YouTube's algorithm will recommend our videos to.
• Persistence is key. If you live in a country with a fellow citizen wrongfully detained or held hostage abroad, please keep calling or writing to your politicians asking what they're doing to free this person and what are they doing to make sure this doesn't happen again to other citizens like you. If you get a generic response, ask for specific information. If you get the same response again and again, ask why there has been no progress.

​

This newsletter is the best way to keep up to date with our work including the cases we're working on. If you haven't already, please do subscribe to this newsletter here. If you have any questions, you can get in touch with us here.

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about hostage diplomacy and for showing the hostages and their families that they're not forgotten, that they're not alone, that there are good caring people out there who want to help.

Best Wishes,

Daren Nair

Creator & Host of Pod Hostage Diplomacy.