During a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Sept. 18, Congressman Rich McCormick (R-GA) argued that the case of U.S. citizen Tigran Gambaryan meets the criteria for 'wrongful detention' and questioned why his case has not been elevated to the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs.
Gambaryan is McCormick's constituent, a former federal government agent, and a current employee of the global cryptocurrency exchange Binance. In his capacity as Binance's head of financial crime compliance, Gambaryan was invited to Nigeria in February, but he was detained amid allegations that Binance contributed to the devaluation of the naira. Gambaryan remains imprisoned in Nigeria, where his health has deteriorated significantly.
During the hearing, McCormick questioned Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell about the State Department not elevating Gambaryan's case.
"I’m going to call him a hostage, because he was arrested after being lured there," McCormick said. "He hasn’t been given the rights that they guarantee him by their own constitution, by their own laws. He has problems getting access to a lawyer, problems getting access to his healthcare. My question is this: based on the establishment of the Levinson Act, he meets at least seven of eleven points to determine ‘wrongful detainment.’ 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 response, Campbell said, "Let me say, it’s a subject of real concern. I personally on my trip to Nigeria raised it with the leadership, and we very much want to get it resolved, and I think it is a subject of real concern, so I agree with you."
After McCormick asked again why the case hasn't been elevated, Campbell said, "Well, it’s been elevated in attention in the U.S. government and I think we’ve tried to address it and we’re going to continue until we get a resolution.”
The Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act lists eleven criteria to determine whether an individual is being wrongfully detained abroad:
"(1) United States officials receive or possess credible information indicating innocence of the detained individual.
(2) the individual is being detained solely or substantially because he or she is a United States national;
(3) 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;
(4) 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;
(5) the individual is being detained in violation of the laws of the detaining country;
(6) independent nongovernmental organizations or journalists have raised legitimate questions about the innocence of the detained individual;
(7) the United States mission in the country where the individual is being detained has received credible reports that the detention is a pretext for an illegitimate purpose;
(8) 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, is susceptible to corruption, or is incapable of rendering just verdicts;
(9) the individual is being detained in inhumane conditions;
(10) due process of law has been sufficiently impaired so as to render the detention arbitrary; and
(11) United States diplomatic engagement is likely necessary to secure the release of the detained individual."