WASHINGTON,
DC —
President
Joe Biden on Tuesday opened the way for sanctions against governments
that unjustly imprison Americans and ordered more detailed travel warnings after
a series of high-profile detentions.
اضافة اعلان
Biden signed an executive order billed as
expanding the set of tools for the US government in what
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said was a “relentless” effort to free citizens overseas.
“When Americans are taken captive abroad, we
must do everything in our power to secure their release,” he added in a
statement.
The move comes after wide media coverage of
the detention in Russia on drug charges of basketball star Brittney Griner,
whose wife initially said Biden was not doing enough.
The executive order authorizes government
agencies to impose financial sanctions or travel bans on foreign officials or
non-state actors involved in unjust detentions of Americans.
“Using sanctions may not always help secure
someone’s release, so we will therefore be judicious and strategic in our use
of this authority,” a
US official told reporters on condition of anonymity.
“But the families of those held know their
loved ones’ case(s) best, and we intend to hear from them, hear their good
ideas and listen to their recommendations,” he said.
The State Department, in its travel
advisories for Americans, will also begin to highlight in which nations there
is an elevated risk of unjust detention.
The initial group of nations that will bear a
“D” mark for detention risk will be China, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Russia,
and Venezuela, another official said.
Successive administrations have made the
plight of prisoners and hostages a top priority.
Despite soaring tensions over the
Ukraine war,
the Biden administration in April arranged with Russia to swap Trevor Reed, an
ex-Marine jailed for allegedly attacking police while drunk, for a Russian
pilot convicted of drug smuggling.
In Iran, the Biden administration has
insisted it cannot revive a languishing nuclear deal without the release of
jailed Americans.
One of them, Siamak Namazi, a businessman
convicted on charges he denies of seeking to topple the clerical state,
recently spoke out from prison and urged Biden to secure his freedom regardless
of nuclear diplomacy.
At least 11 Americans are known to be held in
Venezuela, although two others were freed in March after rare US contact with
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
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