Dear friend,

Welcome to our Hostage Briefing newsletter. We have a new episode out now on Shahab Dalili, an American lawful permanent resident held hostage in Iran since April 2016. His son, Darian Dalili is worried that his father may be left behind by the US government in any potential prisoner swap deal between the US and Iran.

We also have some great news. Four hostages and wrongful detainees have been released in the last few weeks. We have more information on them in our 'Hostage and Wrongful Detention News' section below.

New Episode Out Now

Shahab Dalili is a United States lawful permanent resident from Virginia. His wife and children are all US citizens. In April 2016, Shahab went to Tehran to attend his father's funeral. He was then arrested and has been wrongfully imprisoned in Iran to this day.

According to recent news reports, there have been discussions of a potential prisoner exchange between the United States and Iran. The US government has stated that no deal has been agreed. Shahab's family are very worried that he may be left behind by the US government if a prisoner exchange deal does go ahead.

On this episode, we have the honour of speaking once again to Shahab's son, Darian Dalili. We discuss the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage Taking Accountability Act which has been signed into US law, the fire in Evin prison last year where Shahab is being held, the release of American citizen Baquer Namazi who was held hostage in Iran since 2016, the potential prisoner exchange between the US and Iran as well as what the US State Department, Congress and President Biden should do.

We then end this episode discussing what journalists and the public can do to help free Shahab Dalili and bring him back home to Virginia.

Listen to episode

Hostage & Wrongful Detention News

French journalist, Olivier Dubois and American aid worker, Jeffery Woodke held hostage in the Sahel both freed

• On 20 March, France 24 reported that French journalist Olivier Dubois who was abducted in Mali's Gao region on 8 April 2021 by the al Qaeda-linked Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM) was released and taken to neighbouring Niger. The same article also reported the release of American aid worker, Jeffery Woodke who was held for more than six years in captivity in Africa. It should be noted that this France 24 article calls Olivier the last French hostage in the world which is not true as the French government has also called French citizens currently wrongfully imprisoned in Iran "state hostages". So Olivier would more accurately be the last French citizen held hostage by a non-state actor.
• France 24 aired the moment Olivier was reunited with his sister and father on the tarmac after being held hostage for almost two years. French President Emmanuel Macron was there too to welcome Olivier back home.
• On the same day, ABC reported on Jeffery Woodke's release. Here is a video of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken celebrating Jeff's release.
• On 27 March, Jeff's family released a press statement with a photo of their family reunited.

Hotel Rwanda hero, Paul Rusesabagina held in Rwanda has been released

• On 24 March, US President Joe Biden released a statement welcoming the release of Belgian citizen, US permanent resident and Hotel Rwanda hero, Paul Rusesabagina who was wrongfully imprisoned in Rwanda since August 2020.
• Paul is a recipient of the US Presidential Medal of Freedom and has been credited with saving 1,200 lives during the Rwandan genocide.
• Here is a tweet from Paul's daughter, Carine Kanimba on 3 April with photos of Paul back home in Texas reunited with his family.
• We had the honour of interviewing Carine and her sister, Anaise Kanimba in late 2021. You can listen to that episode here.

American citizen Saad al Madi held in Saudi Arabia released from prison but still under travel ban

• On 21 March, Ibrahim al Madi released a press statement welcoming the release of his father, Saad al Madi who was wrongfully imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for 485 days. According to the statement, Saad has been cleared of all charges and his son, Ibrahim thanked "the many US government officials who pressured for my dad's release. Your words and actions made a difference.".
• On the same day, Reuters reported on Saad's release with more context. Saad was arrested in Riyadh in November 2021 and was jailed for 19 years for posting criticism of the Saudi government on Twitter. He remains banned from travelling.

American journalist, Evan Gershkovich of the Wall Street Journal detained in Russia

• On 31 March, the Wall Street Journal reported that one of their correspondents, American citizen Evan Gershkovich was detained in Russia. The article also states that the White House has condemned Evan's detention by the Russians.
• Another American detained in Russia is Marine veteran, Paul Whelan. He has been held in Russia since 28 December 2018. The US government has classified Paul as "wrongfully detained". We've interviewed Paul's sister, Elizabeth Whelan five times on our podcast. You can listen to our most recent interview with Elizabeth here.

Gerco Van Deventer, South African paramedic held hostage in the Sahel

• On 25 March, VOA News reported (via AFP) that the family of a South African held hostage by jihadis in Mali for more than five years launched a fresh appeal for his release just days after Olivier Dubois was freed. Gerco van Deventer, 47, was kidnapped in Libya on 3 November 2017 on his way to a power plant construction site about 1,000 km south of the capital, Tripoli. Gerco has since been moved to Mali.

US Navy veteran, James Frisvold released from prison in Mexico after being wrongfully imprisoned for 13 years

• On 30 March, Jonathan Franks, a crisis management consultant for American hostage families released a press statement stating the following:
  • "This afternoon, a Mexican Court in Acapulco released my client, Navy veteran James Frisvold after 13 years behind bars for a 2010 murder the evidence shows he didn't commit. Tonight, he will return to his family in Sacramento in time to see his mother, Mariann, again, who has been fighting a courageous battle with cancer, and has not had a good night's sleep in 13 years. Sadly, Mr. Frisvold's father did not live to see his son's name cleared."
  • Read the rest of this statement here.
• We had the honour of interviewing Jonathan Franks himself in February last year. Listen to that interview here.

Three British men held in custody by Taliban in Afghanistan

• On 1 April, the Evening Standard reported that three British men are being held in custody in Afghanistan by the Taliban. Non-profit organisation, the Presidium Network is assisting two of the men, said to be charity medic Kevin Cornwell and a second unnamed man who manages a hotel in Afghanistan's capital, Kabul according to Sky News.

Several Americans remain detained by the Taliban in Afghanistan

• On 23 March, Fox reported US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed that "several Americans" remain detained by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Pirates hold hostage some crew of oil tanker off West Africa

• On 31 March, ABC News reported that six members of the 16-man crew on a Liberia-flagged tanker are being held hostage by pirates who boarded the ship in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea last week.

American citizen Tomeu Vadell previously wrongfully imprisoned in Venezuela sues CITGO Petroleum, his former employer.

• On 22 March, CNN reported that Tomeu Vadell who was wrongfully imprisoned in Venezuela for almost five years is suing CITGO Petroleum that previously employed him for more than $100 million in damages. The lawsuit accuses CITGO of using Vadell and the other five executives - Gustavo Cardenas, Jose Pereira, Jorge Toledo, Alirio Zambrano and Jose Luis Zambrano - as "political pawns". It also contends that the company "abandoned" the Vadell family.
• We interviewed the families of five of the 'CITGO 6' on our podcast including Tomeu Vadell's family. You can listen to our interview with Tomeu's daughter, Cristina Vadell here. This podcast was recorded in April last year. Tomeu and six other Americans were released in October last year in a prisoner swap between the US and Venezuela.
• If you are an employer that sends your employees abroad on business and they then get arrested and wrongfully imprisoned because they work for you - you are accountable for protecting them.

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Ways To Help

• 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 which is likely, ask for specific information. If you get the same response again and again, ask why there has been no progress and do they have any alternative solutions.

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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 would like to share this Hostage Briefing on the web, click 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.