Rep. Rich McCormick said he has not received an answer regarding why the case of Tigran Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen imprisoned in Nigeria, has not been elevated to the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs. McCormick shared his statement during a Sept. 19 hearing.
"My question is this: based on the establishment of the Levinson Act, he meets at least seven of eleven points to determine ‘wrongful detainment," said McCormick. "Why is the State Department leadership not elevating Tigran's case to the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs? Now I've asked this several times to several people. Nobody can give me an answer when he meets the criteria."
In July, McCormick introduced a resolution calling for Gambaryan's release. According to the resolution, Gambaryan, an employee of the crypto exchange Binance and former federal agent, was invited by the Nigerian government to travel to Nigeria in February for compliance discussions. When the meetings became "hostile," Gambaryan was detained. After a court order authorizing Gambaryan's detention expired, he was still held without "Nigerian legal basis" for multiple weeks before he was charged with a crime. The "Government of Nigeria is wrongfully detaining Tigran Gambaryan, in accordance with the criteria described in section 302(a) of the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 1741(a)), in order to extort Binance," according to the resolution.
According to the Levinson Act, the criteria to establish that an individual is a wrongfully detained U.S. citizen include that "United States officials receive or possess credible information indicating innocence of the detained individual"; "the individual is being detained solely or substantially because he or she is a United States national"; "the individual is being detained solely or substantially to influence United States Government policy or to secure economic or political concessions from the United States Government"; "the detention appears to be because the individual sought to obtain, exercise, defend, or promote freedom of the press, freedom of religion, or the right to peacefully assemble"; and "the individual is being detained in violation of the laws of the detaining country."
Other criteria include that "independent nongovernmental organizations or journalists have raised legitimate questions about the innocence of the detained individual"; that the U.S. "mission in the country where the individual is being detained has received credible reports that the detention is a pretext for an illegitimate purpose"; that "the individual is detained in a country where the Department of State has determined in its annual human rights reports that the judicial system is not independent or impartial"; that "the individual is being detained in inhumane conditions"; that "due process of law has been sufficiently impaired so as to render the detention arbitrary"; and that U.S. "diplomatic engagement is likely necessary to secure release of the detained individual."
If it establishes that a U.S. citizen is being wrongfully detained, various offices throughout both State Department and other U.S. government agencies will work collaboratively with colleagues inside and outside government to develop a strategy to secure their release," according to its website. Actions can include providing consular assistance, raising issue at every possible opportunity exerting pressure on media applying international pressure using diplomatic coalitions.
McCormick represents Georgia's 6th Congressional District according his website Prior elected Congress worked Emergency Room physician Northside Hospital member House Armed Services Foreign Affairs Science Space Technology Committees