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Obama Ordering Changes in U.S. Hostage Policies Obama Ordering Changes in U.S. Hostage Policies
(about 5 hours later)
WASHINGTON — President Obama on Wednesday will announce that the government will no longer threaten criminal prosecution of the families of American hostages who are held abroad by groups like the Islamic State if they attempt to pay ransom for the release of their loved ones. The change is one of many that are intended to fix what the administration has acknowledged is a broken policy on United States captives, a senior administration official said. WASHINGTON — President Obama will announce Wednesday that the government will no longer threaten criminal prosecution of the families of American hostages who are held abroad by groups like the Islamic State if they try to pay ransom for the release of their loved ones.
In a presidential directive and an executive order, Mr. Obama also plans to make clear that while he is keeping a longstanding federal prohibition against making concessions to those who take hostages, the government can communicate and negotiate with captors holding Americans or help family members seeking to do so in order to ensure their safe return. The change is part of a broad overhaul he is ordering to fix what the administration has acknowledged is a broken policy on United States captives, senior administration officials said.
The changes make official what has long been the United States government’s unspoken practice in some hostage cases, but one that has been inconsistently applied and poorly understood both inside federal agencies and among family members desperate to win the release of their relatives. In a presidential directive and an executive order enshrining the changes, Mr. Obama also plans to make it clear that while he is keeping a longstanding federal prohibition against making concessions to those who take hostages, the government can communicate and negotiate with captors holding Americans or help family members seeking to do so in order to ensure their safe return.
American officials negotiated a swap to win the freedom of Bowe Bergdahl from his captors in Afghanistan, trading five Taliban detainees held at the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. But they have told the families of Islamic State and Al Qaeda hostages that the “no-concessions” policy prevented them even from talking about potential terms of release in those cases, and warned that relatives could face criminal charges for offering ransoms themselves. The policy directive will for the first time make official and public what has long been the United States government’s unspoken practice in some hostage cases, but one that has been inconsistently applied and poorly understood both inside federal agencies and among family members desperate to win the release of their relatives.
At times, families were given conflicting messages, as in the case of Theo Padnos, who was held by the Syrian branch of Al Qaeda for nearly two years before his release last summer. His mother, Nancy Curtis, has said the State Department threatened her with prosecution should she attempt to pay a ransom, while the Federal Bureau of Investigation offered to help her execute the transaction. “There was tremendous confusion” about the policy, previously laid out in classified documents, one senior administration official said, describing the changes on the condition of anonymity in advance of the announcement. “We needed to clarify that even as we have a no-concessions policy, we do not abandon families during a horrific ordeal.”
The Department of Justice “does not intend to add to the families’ pain in such cases by suggesting they could face criminal prosecution,” a report describing the changes will say, according to the official familiar with it, who would detail it only on the condition of anonymity ahead of Mr. Obama’s public statement. The prosecution threats, the official added, “should never have happened.”
The announcement will be the culmination of a wide-ranging review ordered by Mr. Obama in December on how the government treats hostages captured overseas. The phenomenon has emerged as a particularly wrenching one during his presidency with the rise of the Islamic State, whose kidnappings for ransom and videotaped beheadings of captives have focused public attention on the issue. American officials negotiated a swap to win the freedom of Bowe Bergdahl from his captors in Afghanistan, trading five Taliban detainees held at the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. But they have told the families of hostages held by the Islamic State and Al Qaeda that the “no concessions” policy prevented them even from talking about potential terms of release in those cases, and warned that relatives could face criminal charges for offering ransoms themselves.
Family members of American hostages who have been vocal critics of Mr. Obama’s policy, some of whom were interviewed extensively as part of the review, are scheduled to be briefed on the recommendations on Tuesday. At times, families were given conflicting messages, as in the case of Theo Padnos, who was held by the Syrian branch of Al Qaeda for nearly two years before his release last summer. His mother, Nancy Curtis, has said the State Department told her she could be prosecuted should she try to pay a ransom, while the Federal Bureau of Investigation offered to help her execute such a transaction.
The families have complained that the United States policy on their cases was confusing, and they said they felt bullied, neglected and trapped in a bureaucratic vortex of low-level officials with clashing agendas and conflicting information. Some have talked about what they considered the ultimate indignity: being threatened by officials of their own government if they tried to muster ransom in an attempt to free their family member. As part of the overhaul, the Department of Justice will issue a written statement noting that the government has never prosecuted a family for paying a ransom and “does not intend to add to the families’ pain in such cases by suggesting they could face criminal prosecution,” a report describing the changes will say, according to the officials familiar with it, who would detail it only on the condition of anonymity.
Among those facing such warnings was Diane Foley, the mother of the American journalist James Foley, whose videotaped killing by a militant of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, was widely circulated on the Internet. Still, the overhaul will not fulfill one of the most urgent requests of hostages’ families: that the White House name a single, senior-level coordinator — or “hostage czar” — accountable to the president, with primary responsibility across the federal government for freeing American captives. Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill quickly announced plans to try to create such a position.
As the review has drawn to a close, Mr. Obama has increasingly met in person with those most familiar with the issues it is seeking to address. He met briefly with Ms. Foley in April, when she visited Washington to talk with the review team, led by the National Counterterrorism Center. And during a visit to Miami in May, he met with the parents of Steven J. Sotloff, another American journalist held with Mr. Foley, who was also killed. “We want one person who’s responsible for implementing the U.S. policies and who can keep the families informed and be available to them,” said Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, Democrat of Maryland, who introduced legislation Tuesday with Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, to create the post.
Those deaths dramatized the dilemma inherent in the American “no-concessions” policy toward hostage-takers, which stands in stark contrast to many European countries that routinely pay ransoms for captives. American officials have said doing so would reward and enrich kidnappers, both emboldening them and enabling them to capture more United States citizens. Failing to name a single point person is “a mistake,” said Representative John Delaney, Democrat of Maryland, who like Mr. Cardin represents the family of Warren Weinstein, the American aid worker accidentally killed in January by an American drone strike Mr. Obama ordered to take out his Qaeda captors.
By taking the executive action, the president is acknowledging that the prohibition has created confusion inside and outside the government, sometimes handcuffing officials charged with recovering captives or their families. As part of the military bill passed last month, the House approved a provision by Mr. Delaney and Representative Duncan Hunter, Republican of California, creating a hostage czar.
The overhaul notably does not include a move urged by family members and some lawmakers to create a high-level hostage czar who would report directly to the White House and have primary responsibility, across the federal government, for freeing American captives. Instead, it creates an interagency hostage recovery “fusion cell” to be headquartered at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which would include a senior-level “family engagement coordinator” to support relatives and keep them informed. “We’re going to basically drive this into law,” Mr. Delaney said in an interview. “There’s a lot of momentum.”
In addition, Mr. Obama will create a new White House team to oversee hostage policy, and appoint a special envoy at the State Department to lead the government’s contacts with foreign nations on hostage issues. A new “issue manager” in the intelligence community will coordinate hostage-related intelligence, including working “systematically and proactively” to declassify information that could be shared with captives’ family members. The president’s announcement will be the culmination of a wide-ranging review ordered by Mr. Obama last fall on how the government treats hostages captured overseas. The phenomenon has emerged as a particularly wrenching one during his presidency with the rise of the Islamic State, whose kidnappings for ransom and videotaped beheadings of captives have focused public attention on the issue.
The report will say that “whenever possible, families will receive more information, faster, on their loved ones and the efforts to recover them,” an official said. Family members of American hostages who have been vocal critics of Mr. Obama’s policy, some of whom were interviewed extensively as part of the review, are to meet with him at the White House on Wednesday.
That was one of the principal requests by the relatives of hostages and former hostages, who said they had come to detest the phrase “We’re doing everything we can,” doled out, they said, as government officials kept them in the dark about crucial details of their family members’ situations. The families have complained that the United States policy on their cases was confusing, and said they felt bullied, neglected and trapped in a bureaucratic vortex of low-level officials with clashing agendas and conflicting information.
Mr. Obama will acknowledge many of those problems and seek to confront them in part by creating a small family engagement team with a coordinator who would serve as a point of contact for relatives to the fusion cell and be a part of the White House hostage policy team. The report will say that officials should “clearly and accurately articulate to families what efforts the United States government is undertaking to locate and recover their loved ones.” Mr. Obama has grappled in recent months with the dilemma inherent in the American “no-concessions” policy toward hostage-takers, which stands in stark contrast to many European countries that routinely pay ransoms for captives. American officials have said doing so would reward and enrich kidnappers, both emboldening them and enabling them to capture more United States citizens.
Under the new policy, all government officials who interact with hostages’ families must also receive specialized training on the dynamics of hostage-taking, its impact on victims’ relatives and how to support both current and recovered hostages and their families. Instead of creating a hostage czar, Mr. Obama will form an interagency hostage recovery “fusion cell” in charge of coordinating efforts to free American captives, to be headquartered at the F.B.I. The task force is to be headed by the F.B.I.’s Michael McGarrity, whose job senior officials said would essentially be the same as the czar envisioned by the families.
One official dismissed the calls for a czar as a “Beltway phenomenon,” arguing that the interdepartmental team would serve the same function but have the operational expertise to handle time-sensitive hostage matters.
The fusion cell would report to the White House through the National Security Council and include a “family engagement coordinator” to support relatives and keep them informed.
In addition, Mr. Obama will create a White House team to oversee hostage policy, and appoint a special envoy at the State Department to lead the government’s contacts with foreign nations on hostage matters.
A new “issue manager” in the intelligence community will coordinate hostage-related intelligence, including working “systematically and proactively” to declassify information that could be shared with family members.