By: Chenee Tracey
When U.S. citizens travel abroad, few anticipate a misdemeanor or felony charge from a foreign country. Every year about 6,000 Americans are imprisoned abroad. Reasons range from spitting in public in Singapore, sleeping in a hotel room with the opposite gender in the United Arab Emirates, to being suspected of overthrowing the government in Cuba. Criminal prosecutions are meant to preserve social order and dispense justice, however, when Americans are imprisoned abroad they are frequently converted into international pawns between the United States and its enemies.
Alan Gross, a former USAID subcontractor was sentenced to 15 years in prison in Cuba for bringing work required satellite communications equipment into the country. Gross wanted to give internet access to Cubans, unbeknownst to the Cuban government, his actions were classified as an attempt to destabilize the communist regime and create a “Cuban Spring.” During Gross’ trial there were mixed accounts as to whether he was fully aware that his acts would be considered illegal because Cuba considers all USAid programs illegal due to the development program’s focus on democracy promotion.
Meanwhile, three more Americans are currently imprisoned in North Korea. Jeffrey Fowle was imprisoned because he left a Bible in a night club and was subsequently accused of Christian proselytizing; imprisoned in mid-May, he is still awaiting trial. Korean-American Kenneth Bae was arrested in November 2012. Bae ran a Chinese tour company that specialized in running tours of North Korea. Bae had completed 15 tours before North Korean officials detained him stating that they had evidence Bae was attempting to overthrow the North Korean government through his Chinese tour company. Bae is currently serving a 15 year sentence of hard labor. The third prisoner, Matthew Miller, was granted a North Korean Tourist Visa, but upon entering the country ripped up that visa and asked to be given asylum within North Korea. He was promptly arrested for his violation of legal order and was recently sentenced to six years of hard labor in a North Korean prison.
Recently, Miller, Bae, and Fowler were granted an opportunity to interview with the Associated Press in which they pleaded for Washington to send a high ranking officer to negotiate their freedom. The United States has offered to send representatives, but these attempts have been refused by North Korea. During the Associated Press interview, Fowle stated that perhaps a visit from former presidents Bill Clinton or George W. Bush would help free the prisoners. North Korea wants these high ranking officials to acknowledge North Korea on the international stage and give it legitimacy. Referred to as the “Hermit Kingdom,” North Korea has a long history of using American prisoners as leverage to gain attention. In the past, visits from Clinton and Carter were a success in freeing jailed journalists and mission. However, these two presidential visits were not recognized by the U.S. as official trips, but rather as private humanitarian efforts made by the former presidents.
In regards to Alan Gross in Cuba, Obama has refused direct involvement in Gross’ case. Gross was imprisoned promoting democratic ideals in a communist country, but negotiating with Cuba for Gross’ release would mean U.S. officials acknowledge that his promotion of democratic ideals in Cuba was wrong. This situation places Obama in a precarious situation and he refuses to further diplomatic talks with Cuba due to Gross’ imprisonment. Approaching the fifth year of his sentence, Gross has appealed to President Obama multiple times pleading for the president’s direct involvement in his case, but to no avail.
Cuba has expressed that it would release Gross in exchange for the Cuban Five—five Cuban intelligence agents who were captured and imprisoned in the United States since 1998. The U.S. government has already released two of the five prisoners after they served their jail time. Cubans using the Bergdahl swap as a precedent have argued that the United States can release the remaining three Cubans imprisoned in America in exchange for Gross’ release. U.S. officials have stated the circumstances are different and that Bergdahl was a military officer, while Gross was just a USAID worker. Moreover, the trade would not be politically correct for the U.S. because the Cuban Five were committing acts of espionage whereas Gross was working with a development agency.
Despite Obama’s lack of direct advocacy in these cases, attention needs to be placed on members of Congress as well. The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the appropriations bill in 2015 which includes a provision addressing “Assistance for United States Citizens and Nationals Wrongly Detained Abroad.” The bill restricts the efforts of families to lobby for the release of their family member by prohibiting petitioning the government or organizing marches or protests. The Secretary of State would also be given the power to determine which prisoner deserves U.S. diplomatic support. The reasoning for this new legal change? The State Department has recognized that detained Americans are often used as bargaining chips with the U.S. government. This new addition to the appropriations bills only serves to detach Americans from the U.S. government while limiting the opportunities for government intervention to help detained Americans obtain their freedom. .
While it is understandable that the U.S. cannot afford to negotiate and compromise American values even when American prisoners are involved, the U.S. still has an obligation to aid these prisoners. Even in cases where Americans were imprisoned for their own irresponsible acts such as ripping up a visa in North Korea or engaging in illegal activities in foreign countries, they still need advocacy from U.S. officials.
Even though the U.S. has to maintain its resolve when dealing with unfriendly nations, it is even more important for the United States to do all within its power to get imprisoned Americans back to the United States. United States government officials risk low public opinion and approval ratings because the public will view the American government as apathetic when officials fail to negotiate for imprisoned Americans. In addition, if the U.S. doesn’t intervene directly on the behalf of imprisoned Americans, then other non-state actors such as family members and non-state actors could attempt to reach out to the governments where Americans are imprisoned. This outreach can do more harm than good and result in confusion on the diplomatic stage as non-state and state actors interact.
A few family members of detained prisoners have suggested that the U.S. remove economic sanctions and embargoes on Cuba and North Korea in exchange for the prisoners, but U.S. government officials oppose this method because they view it as wavering on their foreign policy toward North Korea and Cuba.United States foreign policy toward Cuba and North Korea is outdated in the sense that U.S. policies of embargoes and sanctions towards these countries were created in post war environments and no progress in diplomatic relations has occurred. The United States and Cuba have an obligation to convene to discuss and re-evaluate their coexistence as Democratic and Communist nations. Similarly, the United States and North Korea should re-evaluate their hostile history and nuclear weapons foreign policy in North Korea.
Americans need to be wary when travelling, especially to states that are hostile to the U.S. because they are placing themselves in the midst of precarious state relationships. The U.S. will continue to negotiate the release of these imprisoned Americans, but on its own terms, which could mean that the imprisoned Americans will be stuck abroad for a while.
