On March 17, 2016, Ms. Nazanin Ratcliffe, a U.K. national, traveled to Iran with her newborn baby girl, Gabriella, to visit her family and celebrate Nowruz, the Iranian new year. Close to four years later, she remains a hostage in Iran. On this podcast, Jason talks with Richard Ratcliffe, Nazanin's husband (and Gabriella's dad), who has tirelessly waged a four-year campaign to secure Nazanin's release from Iranian captivity. Iran arbitrarily detains foreign visitors to exact political and economic concessions.
For decades, visitors to Iran from close to twenty nations have been unlawfully imprisoned or held hostage by the Iranian regime. Nazanin is one of the scores of foreign nationals unlawfully imprisoned or held hostage by Iran. The exact number of current hostages held by is unknown. While hostage-taking is a centuries-old practice, the Iranian regime has perfected it as a foreign policy weapon. Some Iranian leaders even openly brag about its effectiveness.
In January 2020, the former Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp. (IRGC) commander, and leader of the Yaghin think-tank, Hassan Abbasi, explained in a speech how the IRGC derives benefit from hostage-taking. Abbasi said Iran should “generate income" by capturing Americans and demanding a ransom for their return (video). Iran is not the only country that uses innocent people in this manner. In addition to Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Russia, Venezuela, China, and other nations use hostage-taking as a foreign policy tool. In this podcast, Richard discusses his family's experience these past few years, and the lessons he has learned along the way, which he hopes will be of value to similarly-situated families.
For example, governments usually advise family members to stay quiet when a loved one is taken hostage and, in some cases, that is a good idea. It depends on many factors; however, in some cases, silence empowers hostage-takers and endangers the life of this hostage. The use of laws and legal systems to unlawfully imprison innocent people is a gross violation of fundamental rights. While a lot has been done to cope with this problem, a lot more needs to be done to secure and prevent hostage-taking by foreign nations. Political will is needed to help secure the release of hostages in Iran, and in other nations too. Richard and Jason also discuss the importance of deterrence measures such as holding the hostage-takers to account for what they done in courts of law, sanctions, or combination of these and other measures.
Further Reading
Free Nazanin, Richard's Facebook campaign page.
"Richard Ratcliffe: What Fighting For Nazanin’s Freedom Has Taught Me." Article in Each Other, April 23, 2020.
International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages, G.A. Res. 146 (XXXIV), U.N. GAOR, 34th Sess., Supp. No. 46, at 245, U.N. Doc. A/34/46 (1979), entered into force June 3, 1983.
"Bringing Americans Home 2020: A Non-Governmental Assessment of U.S. Hostage Policy and Family Engagement," by The James Foley Legacy Foundation (2020).
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Hostages in Iran: A Conversation with Richard Ratcliffe (U.K.) about his efforts to reunite his family