Foreword

In 2011 and 2012, four young Americans were drawn to the Syrian civil conflict. Two were talented freelance war correspondents, Steven Sotloff and James Foley, who were reporting on the emerging Syrian protests. The other two, Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller, were compassionate aid workers seeking to assist civilians amid the conflict.

None of these young Americans ever returned home.

They were all kidnapped by the radical jihadist group known as the Islamic State (ISIS), beginning in November 2012. They were held captive, starved, and tortured until 2014 and 2015, when they were brutally murdered.

One of them was my son, James Foley. The U.S. government never engaged on his behalf, though it was aware of his kidnapping throughout the time he was held by ISIS. The FBI was not allowed to share any information with our family or interact with his captors when they reached out with proof of life. Jim’s brutal murder was confirmed only on national television.

None of our government’s hostage policies were ever honestly explained to us. Instead, we were deceived by repeatedly being told that Jim’s return was our government’s top priority, when it was not.

In the spring of 2014, our family was threatened three times with legal prosecution by a representative from the White House National Security Council should we dare to raise a ransom. And we were told clearly that the United States would never mount a rescue operation or ask another country to intervene on Jim’s behalf.

Jim, Steven, Peter, and Kayla were abandoned by our government.

The James W. Foley Legacy Foundation was born in 2014 out of a belief that the United States could do better to bring innocent Americans home from unjust detentions abroad.

In response to outcry after the deaths of these American hostages, as well as the deaths of Luke Somers in Yemen and Warren Weinstein in Pakistan, President Obama in 2015 ordered a U.S. Hostage Policy Review, which resulted in the establishment of an interagency Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell, Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs and Hostage Response Group chaired by the National Security Council staff at the White House. However, these changes, for the most part, applied only to U.S. nationals kidnapped by terrorists, pirates, or criminal groups; not to those wrongfully detained by a foreign government.

The foundation published an inaugural report, titled Bringing Americans Home, that revealed experiences of Americans kidnapped by terrorists were similar to those wrongfully detained by foreign governments.

Our second annual report is focused on the experience of all categories of wrongfully held Americans—whether taken captive by criminals, terrorists, pirates, or foreign governments. These results will be shared with both the U.S. government and nongovernmental organizations that work for the return of U.S. hostages and wrongful detainees and support their anxious families.

Our goal is to raise awareness of this issue and to prioritize the return of all Americans held abroad for their families.

Thank you for caring about our fellow Americans who are being denied their freedom. They truly depend on us to bring them home. Our government can certainly do better than it did for Jim, Steven, Peter, and Kayla.

With deep gratitude,

Diane Foley

Founder and President of the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation