Pedro Pizano, assistant director of the John McCain Freedom for Political Prisoners Initiative and Global Democracy Programs at the McCain Institute, speaks at the Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day event at the U.S. State Department.
Watch the full event HERE(Open Link in new window).
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 11, 2025) – The McCain Institute at Arizona State University (ASU) co-hosted an event honoring the second annual U.S. Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day in partnership with the office of the Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs (SPEHA) at the U.S. State Department, the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Hostage U.S., and New America. The annual event marks the day that former FBI agent Robert “Bob” Levinson, the longest-held American hostage, was taken in 2007 and never returned.
During the flag raising ceremony Senior Advisor and SPEHA Nominee Adam Boehler, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Acting SPEHA Dustin Stewart spoke to the attendees.
“We’re saying that it is not acceptable in any case to hold American citizens abroad wrongfully. I think there’s nothing more important for this country than for everyone to know that if they’re abroad and they’re taken that the country has their back,” said Special Advisor Adam Boehler. “Taking U.S. citizens—or any citizens—wrongfully is not appropriate, and it will be answered in the toughest way possible.”
“Ten years ago, none of the [hostage deterrence enterprise] existed, and we were not postured to bring people home the way we should, to support families the way we should,” said Acting Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Dustin Stewart. “Ten years later the leaps and bounds we have made are incredible.”
“We are honored to be part of this coalition and partner with the U.S. State Department for the second time on U.S. National Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day. It’s a testament to the enduring apolitical importance of bringing all Americans – and all hostages, wrongful detainees, and political prisoners around the world – home when they’re unjustly detained and held hostage,” said Pedro Pizano, assistant director of the John McCain Freedom for Political Prisoners Initiative and Global Democracy Programs at the McCain Institute. “On this day, we mourn all unjustly detained Americans who were murdered abroad. We celebrate those who have returned and those who brought them home and support them and their families. We also reenergize ourselves to keep fighting for the freedom of all individuals still wrongfully held hostage and deter this practice of taking people and using them as pawns in the first place.”
The ceremony also included remarks from the co-chairs of the U.S House of Representatives Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Task Force Congresswoman Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) and Congressman French Hill (R-Ark.). Congressman Hill sent a letter, read by Pizano during the event(Open Link in new window). Other speakers included the President and Founder of the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation Diane Foley, Sarah Levinson Moriarty, daughter of Robert Levinson, and Liz Cathcart, executive director of Hostage U.S., who all sit on the McCain Institute’s John McCain Freedom for Political Prisoners (FPPI) Advisory Board(Open Link in new window); along with Adi and Yael Alexander, parents of American Israeli hostage Edan Alexander and Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist who was previously detained in Russia.
As part of U.S. Hostage Day, the U.S. Congress created the official U.S. Hostage and Wrongful Detainee flag(Open Link in new window), the second only ever created after the POW/MIA flag. It flies over the U.S. Capitol, the White House, the Department of Defense, and the State Department on March 9 to remember the day Robert Levinson was taken, every time an American hostage or wrongful detainee perishes or is murdered in captivity, on Flag Day, Independence Day, and when an American Hostage or Wrongful Detainee comes home. NGOs also fly the flag in commemoration of this day, including Arizona State University in Washington, D.C.(Open Link in new window)
The event comes just weeks after the McCain Institute launched the John McCain Freedom for Political Prisoners Initiative(Open Link in new window) (FPPI) to support individual detainees and their families through outreach to U.S. government officials, assistance from expert practitioners, strategic communications to galvanize support for the release of prisoners, and seek avenues for justice, accountability, and deterrence.
Watch the recorded livestream HERE(Open Link in new window). Learn more about the McCain Institute’s Freedom for Political Prisoners Initiative HERE(Open Link in new window).
About the McCain Institute at Arizona State University
The McCain Institute is a nonpartisan organization inspired by Senator John McCain and his family’s dedication to public service. We are part of Arizona State University and based in Washington, D.C. Our programs defend democracy, advance human rights and freedom, and empower character-driven leaders. Our unique power to convene leaders across the global political spectrum enables us to make a real impact on the world’s most pressing challenges. Our goal is action, not talk, and like Senator McCain, we are fighting to create a free, safe, and just world for all.
About Arizona State University
Arizona State University has developed a new model for the American research university, creating an institution that is committed to access, excellence and impact. ASU measures itself by those it includes, not by those it excludes. As the prototype for a New American University, ASU pursues research that contributes to the public good, and ASU assumes major responsibility for the economic, social and cultural vitality of the communities that surround it.
