On December 9, 2022, Brittney Griner was released by Russian officials. She had been detained on February 17, 2022 – two weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine – and sentenced to 9 years in prison on drug charges. Her release was part of a prisoner swap between the United States and Russia.
In exchange for Griner’s, the US released Viktor Bout, a notorious arms dealer. Bout, now back in Russia, is on a state sponsored media tour praising Putin and defending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Griner is in a miliary hospital in Texas, receiving medical treatment and psychological support.
A Homecoming Controversy
News of Griner’s release sparked controversy. Some say it’s because “Ms. Griner is a Black woman, a celebrity, a married lesbian and, …. an assertive liberal”. In 2020, Griner called for the WNBA to stop playing the national anthem for the season in an effort to focus attention on the problems with America’s criminal justice system that led to the wrongful killing of Breonna Taylor.
Republicans criticized Biden’s willingness to negotiate with Russia. Sources say the Trump Administration refused to trade Bout for Whelan. Marjorie Taylor Greene said Biden should be impeached for trading an arms dealer for a basketball star. Others criticized the Biden Administration for not including US Marine Paul Whelan in the swap. And some say negotiating the release of hostages only leads to more hostage-taking.
Hostage, Prisoner, or Political Pawn?
Governments around the world have long engaged in hostage taking and imprisoning individuals to exercise political influence. The Iranian government held more than 50 Americans hostage for 444 days in 1979. Even today, human beings often become the collateral damage of geo-political conflicts.
While United States does not release official numbers, it is believed that there are thousands of Americans incarcerated abroad. Examples include Siamak Namazi detained in 2015 by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Mathew Heath detained in 2020 by Venezuela, and Austin Tyce who disappeared in Syria in 2012. A new study by the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation found that at least 65 innocent Americans are unjustly detained around the world.
Russian imprisoned Griner and Whelan for alleged violations of Russian law. Once imprisoned, they became political pawns. Their detention became a lever to influence the political decision making of the American government.
International conflicts are only one explanation for hostage taking and wrongful imprisonment. Some countries imprison their own citizens when their actions or beliefs are contrary to those of the ruling regime. Individuals like Nelson Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison for opposing South Africa’s apartheid system, is one of the most famous political prisoners. One-party-states are the most frequent perpetrators of political imprisonment and human rights abuses.
It Happens Here Too
According to Amnesty International unlawful and unjust detention occurs when someone is imprisoned solely because of who they are or what they believe. This kind of detention is less common in America, but it’s not unheard of. Some argue that Oscar Lopez Rivera was a prisoner of conscience. He was convicted on seditious conspiracy charges despite the fact that the FBI had no physical evidence to prove that López Rivera set any bombs himself. In January 2017, President Obama freed Lopez Rivera, who is sometimes called the Puerto Rican Nelson Mandela.
Another interesting example is the case of Leonard Peltier, convicted for the deaths of two FBI agents in 1975 on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Mr. Peltier has been in prison for over 29 years despite the fact thatPope Francis, Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, and Bishop Desmond Tutu have called for his release.
Amnesty International’s examples of unlawful and unjust detention also include detention without legitimate reason, denial of due process and access to legal counsel, and being held in inhumane conditions. Examples of this kind of detention are commonplace in the criminal legal system America uses with its own citizens.
Unfortunately, human rights abuses are also prevalent in America’s criminal carceral system. As Yara Asi of the Arab Center in Washington, DC explains: “Human rights abuses of all kinds, including unjust incarceration and poor prison conditions, are generally broader indicators of unchecked power or impunity that result from authoritarian and undemocratic regimes”.
Reentering Society
Griner, like other Americans who have been held captive by foreign governments and are subsequently released, face many challenges as they work to reintegrate themselves back into society. Part of this process is called “surviving survival” – a complex, psychological journey of processing the trauma of being held captive, living in fear, and feeling abandoned by your country. Clearly, those kinds of experiences will change a person. Surviving survival often involves creating a new definition of one’s self.
The formerly incarcerated experience something similar. Prolonged exposure to dehumanizing treatment, overcrowding, solitary confinement, and routine violence lead to the onset of PTSD during incarceration and Post-Incarceration Syndrome upon release.
Unfortunately, we live in a world where unjust detention of citizens and inhumane conditions of incarceration are commonplace. I’m not sure there’s one “right way” to secure the release of someone who is being unjustly held. But doing nothing should not be an option.