Biden EO would sanction hostage-takers

On 19 July, US President Joe Biden signed an executive order (“EO”) which would, inter alia, impose sanctions on groups or political leaders found to have been responsible for taking US citizens hostage.

The preamble to the EO notes that the president finds that:

‘Hostage-taking and the wrongful detention of United States nationals are heinous acts that undermine the rule of law. Terrorist organizations, criminal groups, and other malicious actors who take hostages for financial, political, or other gain — as well as foreign states that engage in the practice of wrongful detention, including for political leverage or to seek concessions from the United States — threaten the integrity of the international political system and the safety of United States nationals and other persons abroad. I therefore determine that hostage-taking and the wrongful detention of United States nationals abroad constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.’

The EO says that the United States government ‘must redouble its efforts at home and with partners abroad to deter these practices and to secure the release of those held as hostages or wrongfully detained,’ and affirms previous authorities for agencies to take action and engage with international partners.

https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/126/hostages_wrongfully_detained_eo.pdf