In recent years, more and more Americans have been arrested by foreign governments on charges that the US believes to be false or political in nature.

The most recent example is Wall Street Journal reporter Ivan Gershkovich, who was arrested last week by Russian authorities on charges of espionage. The 31-year-old journalist who covered the new era of hostage-states suddenly became its face.

John Bolton, who was former President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, called Gershkowitz’s arrest “an act of state terrorism” to put pressure on President Biden. “This is the most targeted hostage situation you can imagine,” he said.

Hours after his arrest on Wednesday, senior US government officials denied the accusations against Gershkovich, demanded his release directly, and accused Moscow of persecuting the Americans. “Let him go,” Joe Biden told reporters on Friday.

“The Wall Street Journal is demanding the immediate release of our colleague Ivan Gerskovich, a prominent journalist arrested while reporting in Russia,” the paper said in a statement on Saturday. “No journalist should be arrested simply for doing their job.”

On Sunday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to express “grave concern” about the detention. Russia, for its part, said it was acting in accordance with its own laws, and the Foreign Office said it “is unacceptable for officials in Washington and the Western media to stir up trouble with the clear intent of politically painting this case.” .

Current and former US officials and other hostage watchers say Russia’s detention of an American journalist – the first time in nearly four decades – is a bold move, especially when it comes to espionage charges.

“There is a significant, dramatic increase in the number of American hostages and hostages in general who are journalists,” said former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who has a foundation that works with the families of American detainees to secure their release.

The James W. Foley Legacy Foundation has 54 American citizens or permanent residents held hostage in 15 countries, including adversaries like Cuba and allies like Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The foundation is named after an American journalist who was kidnapped by the Islamic State and killed in Syria in 2014.

U.S. Citizen Prison Mechanism

Since the beginning of last year, when Russia invaded Ukraine, the US has openly negotiated with Moscow for the release of three American citizens. Trevor Reed, a former US Marine, was released in a prisoner exchange in April 2022. Women’s basketball star Britney Grainer, who was arrested days before the raid on drug charges, flew home after a December exchange. Another former US Marine, Paul Whelan, stayed on both occasions after a deal failed to be struck.

Such incidents have become so frequent that the US has created a bureaucracy to deal with them.

The 2020 law, named after retired FBI agent Robert Levinson, who disappeared in Iran in 2007 and is now presumed dead, is 11 criteria established about what may constitute the unlawful detention of an American citizen. All Americans are entitled to consular assistance if detained abroad, but being wrongfully detained triggers a different process.

By deed, a special presidential envoy for hostage cases is appointed, and other resources are freed up. The Biden administration routinely states that it has “no higher priority than the recovery and return of Americans taken hostage or illegally detained abroad.”

In a strategy that does not apply to terrorist organizations or hostage-taking gangs, the US usually has diplomatic channels with foreign governments that pave the way for negotiations.

But geopolitical risks lurk at every turn. Cases usually involve legal charges, and countries insist they must maintain the integrity of their judicial systems. And sending in the armed forces to rescue or paying large ransoms is usually out of the question when governments are involved.

The US found itself in a quandary in 2018 when it asked Canadian authorities to arrest a prominent Chinese businesswoman on charges related to US sanctions on Iran. In retaliation, China arrested two Canadians and held them until 2021, when the US agreed to a deal that saw the woman’s release.

Man of special assignments

Roger Carstens, who has served as the president’s special envoy for hostage affairs since 2020, has become the public face of prisoner diplomacy. Former Rthe military’s anger is praised by some families of Americans detained abroad.

The lawyer, who has worked with the Trump and Biden administrations on behalf of prisoners, said Carstens responds quickly to text messages and can translate politics into messages that comfort families. At the same time, he negotiates within a framework that he does not control.

What does Russia want?

“Weaker countries are interested in a much wider range of issues when they hold Americans hostage or hold them as leverage, and this can be a whole range of geopolitical concessions,” said Danielle Gilbert, US Foreign Policy and International Security Fellow. . at Dartmouth College studying hostage-taking by, among other things, government agencies.

This rule may explain how Americans were repatriated from countries such as North Korea, Turkey, Egypt and Myanmar in exchange for concessions that were less obvious or specific than a prisoner exchange.

This shows the Russian problem: in negotiations, at least with the United States, it is mainly interested in a public exchange of prisoners, and not in any other alternative.

When Brittney Greiner was arrested on drug possession charges just days before Russia invaded Ukraine in mid-February 2022, experts warned that any deal for her would be complicated by Russia’s desperate need to believe she was getting the right amount in return. This did not change in the following months, even when considering various combinations and calculations.

That summer, the U.S. took the unusual step of openly pressuring Russia to accept what it called a “substantial offer” to B. Greiner and P. Whelan, which, according to people familiar with the matter, included an offer to release Viktor Bout. , a prominent Russian businessman who was sentenced in 2012 to 25 years in prison for arms trafficking.

The Russians have repeatedly pointed out that a two-for-one exchange will never be enough. Finally, in December, B. Bout was exchanged only for B. Greiner.

A similar picture emerged when Russia released Dr. Reed, who was serving a nine-year prison sentence after being found guilty of assaulting two police officers. The US ruled that he had been detained unlawfully. Dr. Reed was exchanged for Russian citizen Konstantin Yaroshenko, who was sentenced in 2011 to 20 years in prison for conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the United States.

The regularities of these two cases give some idea of ​​how the negotiations between the USA and Russia regarding I. Gershkovich could develop. Mr. Richardson, a former governor who became a hostage in the negotiations, is not currently involved in the Ivan Gerskovich case.

He suggests that the Russians held Gershkovich in part as “punishment” following recent US allegations against Sergei Cherkasov, who is accused by the Justice Department of acting as an illegal agent in the US using a Brazilian name. He also noted the deteriorating US-Russian relationship and Russia’s strong focus on allegations of espionage.

“In order for Ivan to speak up, it takes not only official channels, but also unofficial channels, and a multi-vector media campaign like Britney Greener’s, which has proven to be very effective,” Mr. Richardson said.