# List of Americans wrongfully imprisoned or detained abroad

This list encompasses Americans imprisoned or wrongfully detained abroad by state and non-state actors and includes both citizens of the United States and legal permanent residents. It consists of individuals who have been wrongfully detained through various channels, including criminal conviction, hostage diplomacy, and kidnapping. It does not include prisoners of war, war-time kidnappings.
Since 2015, the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs (SPEHA) leads and coordinates activities across the Executive Branch to bring home Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained in foreign countries. Non-governmental organizations that advocate for the return of Americans wrongfully detained abroad include the Richardson Center for Global Engagement, the James Foley Legacy Foundation, and the Bring Our Families Home Campaign.

## Africa
### Democratic Republic of the Congo

| Name | Detained | Status | Days in detention | Reason for detention |
| Marcel Malanga | 19 May 2024 | Detained | 304 | Involved in the 2024 DRC coup attempt. Sentenced to death in September 2024. |
| Tyler Thompson | 19 May 2024 | Detained | 304 | Involved in the 2024 DRC coup attempt. Sentenced to death in September 2024. |
| Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun | 19 May 2024 | Detained | 304 | Involved in the 2024 DRC coup attempt. Sentenced to death in September 2024. |

### Egypt

| Name | Detained | Status | Days in detention | Reason for detention |
| Mohamed Amashah | April 2019 | Released 5 July 2020 | ~461 | An Egyptian-American dual-citizen and New Jersey medical student who was arrested in Tahrir Square during a protest advocating for the release of falsely imprisoned people in Egypt. |
| Reem Desouky | July 2019 | Released 3 May 2020 | ~301 | An Egyptian-American dual-citizen schoolteacher, she was detained for her Facebook page critical of the Egyptian president. |
| Aya Hijazi | 1 May 2014 | Released 21 April 2017 | 1,086 | An Egyptian-American dual-citizen and humanitarian, who ran an NGO focused on helping homeless children. During a government crackdown on NGOs, she was arrested on charges of child abuse without evidence and later found innocent by an Egyptian court. |
| Mustafa Kassem | August 2013 | Deceased while in detention | ~2,356 | An auto parts dealer and cab driver in New York who travelled to Egypt to visit family in 2013. He was arrested by security forces while shopping the night before he was scheduled to fly back to the U.S., during a crackdown on dissidents during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. in 2020 he died of heart failure caused by myriad medical conditions and inhumane treatment while detained. |

### Libya

| Name | Detained | Status | Days in detention | Reason for detention |
| Clare Morgana Gillis | 5 April 2011 | Released 19 May 2011 | 44 | A journalist who was kidnapped along with James Foley, beaten repeatedly, and released along with Spanish journalists in Tripoli. |
| James Foley | 5 April 2011 | Deceased while in detention | 635 | A journalist during the Syrian Civil War, he was abducted by ISIS and later murdered by decapitation in August 2014. His wrongful detention and death led to his family founding the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, the most prominent advocacy group for American hostages and wrongful detainees. |

### Mozambique

| Name | Detained | Status | Days in detention | Reason for detention |
| Ryan Koher | 4 November 2022 | Released 5 October 2023 | 866 | Ryan was a missionary pilot, arrested trying to fly supplies to an orphanage in northern Mozambique and was held without charges or bail. He was provisionally released but forbidden from leaving country on 15 March 2023. |

### Rwanda

| Name | Detained | Status | Days in detention | Reason for detention |
| Paul Rusesabagina | 31 August 2020 | Released 25 March 2023 | 1661 | Arrested on charges of terrorism, arson, kidnap and "murder perpetrated against unarmed, innocent Rwandan civilians on Rwandan territory." At the time of his detention, Paul was a US Green Card holder. |

### Somalia

| Name | Detained | Status | Days in detention | Reason for detention |
| Michael Scott Moore | 19 January 2012 | Released 22 September 2014 | 977 | Journalist and novelist, he was in Somalia researching a book on Somali pirates Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting when he was abducted by a local gang of pirates and held for ransom. |

## Asia
### Afghanistan

| Name | Detained | Status | Days in detention | Reason for detention |
| Ryan Corbett | 10 August 2022 | Released 20 January 2025 | 894 | Worked for an education-focused NGO and was detained by the Taliban in Kabul. |
| Mark Frerichs | 31 January 2020 | Released 19 September 2022 | 962 | Kidnapped by the Haqqani network while working as an engineering contractor. |
| George Glezmann | 5 December 2022 | Detained | 835 | Detained by the Taliban while on a cultural and archeological visit to Afghanistan, he has been kept in solitary confinement and periodically tortured ever since. |
| Kevin King | 11 August 2016 | Released 20 November 2019 | 101 | A professor at the American University of Afghanistan who was abducted by the Haqqani network, along with an Australian professor, in retaliation for the detention of Anas Haqqani. |
| Paul Overby | May 2014 | Detained | ~3975 | An author, last seen in Khost when he was on his way to Waziristan in Pakistan to interview Sirajuddin Haqqani. He is believed to have been taken by the Taliban, the Haqqani Network or an affiliated group. Journalist and former U.S. hostage David Rodhe noted that Overby still in captivity. |
| David Rohde | 10 November 2008 | Released 27 July 2009 | 259 | A New York Times journalist who was kidnapped by the Taliban while doing research for a book. He was moved to a Taliban compound near the border with Pakistan and later escaped. |
| Ivor Shearer | 17 August 2022 | Released 20 December 2022 | 125 | Independent filmmaker and journalist held by the Taliban. |

### Cambodia

| Name | Detained | Status | Days in detention | Reason for detention |
| Theary Seng | 19 March 2022 | Detained | ~1096 | Cambodian-American human rights lawyer arrested for supporting democratic reforms and sentenced to six years in prison for treason in a mass-trial. |

### China

| Name | Detained | Status | Days in detention | Reason for detention |
| Kai Li | September 2016 | Released 27 November 2024 | ~3,009 | Detained for espionage after flying into Shanghai in relation to a U.S.-based export business he had started. |
| David Lin | 2006 | Released 16 September 2024 | 5,844 | Detained while establishing a missionary training school in Beijing, later charged with fraud and sentenced to life in prison. |
| Mark Swidan | 13 November 2012 | 27 November 2024 | 4,397 | Detained on a drug charge during a photography trip to China and sentenced to death in 2018. |

### Iran

| Name | Detained | Status | Days in detention | Reason for detention |
| Shahab Dalili | 2016 | Detained | ~3,287 | A U.S. Green Card holder, who moved to the U.S. in 2016 after retiring as a commercial shipping captain, was arrested in 2016 after returning to Iran for his father's funeral and charged with espionage. |
| Robert Levinson | 9 March 2007 | Deceased while in detention | 6585 | Former DEA and FBI agent who disappeared in Iran and was presumed wrongfully detained by the Iranian government or other state-sponsored actors. He was declared dead in absentia in 2020, and his disappearance resulted in a shift in U.S. policy around hostage-taking. |
| Baquer Namazi | 22 February 2016 | Released 5 October 2022 | 2,417 | A former diplomat working for UNICEF, he was detained on charges of espionage after he travelled to Iran to visit his son, Siamak Namazi, who was also wrongfully detained in Iran at the time. |
| Siamak Namazi | 13 October 2015 | Released 18 September 2023 | 2,895 | Detained on charges of espionage and sentenced to 10 years in prison. |
| Emad Shargi | 30 November 2020 | Released 18 September 2023 | 1,022 | Detained on charges of espionage and sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2021 after having been previously cleared of all charges in 2019. |
| Morad Tahbaz | January 2018 | Released 18 September 2023 | ~2,086 | An environmentalist and co-founder of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation (PWHF), Tahbaz was arrested in Iran along with other PWHF members who were accused of being Israeli spies. |
| Michael White | 22 July 2018 | Released 4 June 2020 | 683 | A U.S. Navy veteran who travelled to the Iranian city of Mashhad to meet his girlfriend, and was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison for "sharing a private photograph" and "insulting the supreme leader." He has later released to the Swiss embassy and returned to the U.S. shortly thereafter. He has filed a $1 Billion lawsuit against Iran in relation to his wrongful detention. |

### Japan

| Name | Detained | Status | Days in detention | Reason for detention |
| Ridge Alkonis | 21 May 2021 | Released 12 January 2024 | 966 | A United States Navy lieutenant involved in a car crash resulting in the deaths of two Japanese citizens, he was found guilty of negligent driving and sentenced to three years imprisonment. His case caused tension between the U.S. and Japan, particularly surrounding the exclusion of crtical defnese evidence and lack of basic due process. He was later transferred to U.S. custody and released. |

### Lebanon

| Name | Detained | Status | Days in detention | Reason for detention |
| Terry A. Anderson | 16 March 1985 | Released 4 December 1991 | 2454 | A former U.S. Marine and journalist for the Associated Press, he was kidnapped by the Islamic Jihad Organization after a game of tennis with a friend on his day off. |
| Amer Fakhoury | 12 September 2019 | Deceased as a result of detention | 189 | Lebanese-American restaurateur who was kidnapped by Hezbolah while visiting Beirut, later charged with a decades-old murder and finally released in March 2020. He developed late-stage Epstein Barr Virus related lymphoma while detained and passed away in August 2020. |

### Pakistan

| Name | Detained | Status | Days in detention | Reason for detention |
| Warren Weinstein | 13 August 2011 | Deceased while in detention | ~1237 | USAID consultant working for an NGO, he was kidnapped by Al-Qaeda and was accidentally killed in a drone strike on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. |

### Syria

| Name | Detained | Status | Days in detention | Reason for detention |
| Majd Kamalmaz | 15 February 2017 | Deceased while in detention | 4601 | A psychotherapist, he was running a nonprofit in Lebanon helping refugees deal with trauma when he drove to Syria in mid-February 2017 to visit a relative who had cancer. Once in Damascus, he called his wife to tell her that he had arrived safely. After that, the family never heard from him again. It was widely reported that he died while wrongfully detained in May 2024 |
| Kayla Mueller | 13 August 2012 | Deceased while in detention | 1085 | A humanitarian aid worker with Doctors Without Borders who was kidnapped in Aleppo and later killed in an airstrike. |
| Austin Tice | 13 August 2012 | Detained | 4601 | An American freelance journalist and a veteran U.S. Marine Corps officer who was kidnapped while reporting in Syria on August 13, 2012. He is the longest-held American journalist. |
| Travis Pete Timmerman | 5 June 2024 | Released 8 December 2024 | 186 | Last seen in Budapest, he travelled to Syria via Lebanon on a Christian pilgrimage and was detained at the border. He was discovered by locals in a suburb of Damascus wandering barefoot during the Fall of the Assad regime. |

### United Arab Emirates

| Name | Detained | Status | Days in detention | Reason for detention |
| Zack Shahin | March 2008 | Detained | ~6227 | A former Pepsi executive, he was hired as a CEO of a real estate company in Dubai. During a business meeting he was kidnapped, tortured, and forced to sign confessions for myriad crimes including, bribery, embezzlement, and fraud. He was sentenced to 47 years in prison and designated 'arbitrarily detained' by the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in 2022. |

## Europe
### Italy

| Name | Detained | Status | Days in detention | Reason for detention |
| Amanda Knox | 6 November 2007 | Released 3 October 2011 | 1427 | Arrested in Italy and wrongfully convicted for the murder of Meredith Kercher, she was acquitted by the Supreme Court of Italy. |

### Russia

| Name | Detained | Status | Days in detention | Reason for detention |
| David Barnes | 13 January 2022 | Detained | 1161 | He was detained in Russia on accusations of child abuse he allegedly committed while living in Texas, but which were unfounded according to Texas law enforcement. He was sentenced to 21 years in a labor camp. |
| Gordon Black | 2 May 2024 | Detained | 321 | A U.S. soldier who was arrested after an argument with his girlfriend over $113 and sentenced to four years in prison. |
| Marc Fogel | 15 August 2021 | Released 11 February 2025 | 1276 | A teacher working at an English language school, he was arrested entering Russia with medical marijuana for which he had a valid prescription and entry clearance. |
| Evan Gershkovich | 29 March 2023 | Released 1 August 2024 | 491 | A journalist for the Wall Street Journal, he was arrested on his way to meet a fellow reporter for dinner and charged with espionage. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison during a secret trial, but was later released as part of the 2024 Russian prisoner exchange. |
| Robert Gilman | 17 January 2022 | Detained | 1157 | A former U.S. Marine, who taught English in Poland, was transiting Russia on his way to Moldova when he became ill and was arrested for assault of a police officer and was later tortured in prison and charged with additional crimes. |
| Brittney Griner | 17 February 2022 | Released 8 December 2022 | 294 | A WNBA player and Olympic gold medalist, she was detained for possession of <1g of hashish oil for which she had a medical prescription. She was released as part of the Viktor Bout–Brittney Griner prisoner exchange. |
| Steven Hubbard | 2 April 2022 | Detained | 1082 | A 73-year-old retiree and English teacher living in Ukraine with his wife, was arrested and accused of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine and sentenced to 6.5 years in prison where he has been tortured and beaten. |
| Ksenia Karelina | 27 January 2024 | Detained | 417 | A Russian-American ballet dancer who was arrested for treason after donating $51.80 to a charity supporting Ukraine. |
| Andre Khachatoorian | 27 December 2021 | Detained | 1178 | He was arrested during a layover in Moscow for illegal possession of a firearm, which was properly stowed in his luggage. |
| Sarah Krivanek | 15 December 2021 | Released 8 December 2022 | 358 | An English language teacher since 2017, she was attacked by her roommate and arrested for using a knife to defend herself. She was released in the Viktor Bout–Brittney Griner prisoner exchange |
| Alsu Kurmasheva | 18 October 2023 | Released 1 August 2024 | 288 | A journalist working for Radio Free Europe was arrested for failing to register as a foreign agent, and later released as part of the 2024 Russian prisoner exchange. |
| Michael Travis Leake | 6 June 2023 | Detained | 652 | A former paratrooper who spent 10 years in Russia teaching English and fronting for two Russia rock bands before he was arrested on charges of drug trafficking and sentenced to 13 years in prison. |
| Yuri Malev | 8 December 2023 | Detained | 467 | A U.S./Russian dual citizen, he was arrested while visiting Russia for social media posts he had made previously which were critical of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He was charged with "rehabilitation of Nazism" and sentenced to 3.5 years in prison. |
| Trevor Reed | 16 August 2019 | Released 27 April 2022 | 985 | A former U.S. Marine who was detained at the request of friends while intoxicated, and later charged with assaulting police officers and espionage. After his release he traveled to fight against Russia in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. |
| Eugene Spector | 19 February 2020 | Detained | 1855 | A businessman whose company manufactured medical supplies, he was arrested for bribery and later charged with espionage. |
| Thomas Stwalley | 6 July 2018 | Detained | 2448 | Arrested for intent to distribute marijuana, sentenced to 11 years to a labor camp. |
| Paul Whelan | 28 December 2018 | Released 1 August 2024 | 2043 | A former U.S. Marine who was framed by a longtime friend for espionage during a trip to Moscow while visiting for a wedding. He was released as part of the 2024 Russian prisoner exchange. |
| James Vincent Wilgus | 7 November 2016 | Detained | 3054 | A musician working on a motion picture soundtrack on location in Russia, he was kidnapped and forced to sign a confession for indecent exposure. |
| Robert Woodland | 5 January 2024 | Detained | 439 | Adopted by U.S. parents as a child, he returned to Russia to find his birth mother and taught English while living in Russia. He was arrested on charges of drug trafficking and manufacture. |

## North America
### Cuba

| Name | Detained | Status | Days in detention | Reason for detention |
| Alina Lopez | January 2017 | Detained | ~2999 | A schoolteacher arrested for espionage, because her husband worked for the U.N., sentenced to 13 years in prison. |

### Turks and Caicos

| Name | Detained | Status | Days in detention | Reason for detention |
| Michael Lee Evans | 12 December 2023 | Released 24 April 2024 | 134 | A 72-year-old tourist wtih terminal cancer visited the country to renew his vows with his wife, and was arrested while trying to return to the U.S. for possessing seven loose rounds of ammunition in his luggage. He was detained in the country and allowed to return to the U.S. due to his medical condition and after paying a $20,000 bond. |
| Sharitta Grier | 13 May 2024 | Released 20 July 2024 | 68 | A grandmother on a surprise vacation who was arrested trying to leave the country with two rounds of ammunition found in her luggage. She was chained to a chair in a cold, damp jail cell for a number of days and was released after a coordinated effort of U.S. media publicity and the intervention of members of the U.S. Congress. |
| Bryan Hagerich | 14 February 2024 | Released 25 May 2024 | 101 | A tourist arrested for possessing twenty rounds of ammunition is his luggage. He was detained in the country, along with other Americans in similar circumstances, and faced a 12-year prison setence under the country's strict firearms laws. He was released after a coordinated effort of U.S. media publicity and the intervention of members of the U.S. Congress. |
| Ryan Watson | 12 April 2024 | Released 23 June 2024 | 72 | A tourist arrested while trying to return to the U.S. for possessing four loose rounds of ammunition in the lining of his luggage. He was detained in the country, along with other Americans in similar circumstances, and faced a 12-year prison setence under the country's strict firearms laws. He was released after a coordinated effort of U.S. media publicity and the intervention of members of the U.S. Congress. |
| Tyler Wenrich | 28 April 2024 | Released 28 May 2024 | 30 | A 911 operator who was vacationing on a cruise ship which stoped in Turks and Caicos. We was arrested for posession of 2 rounds of 9mm ammunition and spent three weeks in jail and fined $9,000 before being released after a coordinated effort of U.S. media publicity and the intervention of members of the U.S. Congress. |

## South America
### Venezuela

| Name | Detained | Status | Days in detention | Reason for detention |
| Airan Berry | May 2020 | Released 21 December 2023 | ~1,329 | Former Green Beret arrested for involvement in a beach landing to overthrow the government. |
| Gustavo Cárdenas | 21 November 2017 | Released March 9, 2022 | 1,569 | Arrested for corruption charges and detained among the Citgo Six. |
| Luke Denman | May 2020 | Released 21 December 2023 | ~1,329 | Former Green Beret arrested for involvement in a beach landing to overthrow the government. |
| Matthew John Heath | September 2020 | Released 1 October 2022 | ~760 | A decorated US Marine veteran, he was arrested in Columbia for arms trafficking after authorities discovered two handgun magazines. He was released but was arrested in Venezuela for arms trafficking and espionage while traveling back to the U.S. |
| Eyvin Hernandez | 29 March 2022 | Released December 21, 2023 | 632 | A Salvadoran-American lawyer working as an L.A. Public Defender, he was arrested by Venezuelan military agents near the border during a trip with a friend who was travelling to Venezuela. |
| Lucas Hunter | 7 January 2025 | Detained | 71 | A tourist on a windsurfing trip to Colombia who was taken across the border into Venezuela after reportedly approaching an unmarked border crossing. |
| Jose Angel Pereira | 21 November 2017 | Released March 9, 2022 | 1,569 | Arrested for corruption charges and detained among the Citgo Six. |
| Jorge Toledo | 21 November 2017 | Released March 9, 2022 | 1,569 | Arrested for corruption charges and detained among the Citgo Six. |
| Tomeu Vadell | 21 November 2017 | Released March 9, 2022 | 1,569 | Arrested for corruption charges and detained among the Citgo Six. |
| Alirio Zambrano | 21 November 2017 | Released March 9, 2022 | 1,569 | Arrested for corruption charges and detained among the Citgo Six. |
| Jose Luis Zambrano | 21 November 2017 | Released March 9, 2022 | 1,569 | Arrested for corruption charges and detained among the Citgo Six. |