State Department’s Hostage Efforts

“Hostages Languish as Public Interest Wanes” (June 6) misses the mark in depicting the U.S. government as unresponsive to the families of kidnap victims. The safety of Americans abroad is the Department of State’s paramount concern, and while current kidnapping cases may receive less media coverage than in the past, we have never stopped doing everything possible to resolve them. But we must deal with the realities of international law and rely on local law enforcement officials, who also face constraints on their action.

The State Department maintains an extensive system advising Americans of travel difficulties overseas, including security threats. For example, we have long warned that travel to Colombia and Kashmir is dangerous. We work with travel agents, other government agencies, the media and through our Internet Web site (https://travel.state.gov) to convey updated consular information.

When an American is kidnapped, the State Department actively assists the victim’s family by serving as their liaison with foreign law enforcement and diplomatic officials. We raise the cases of kidnap victims at the highest level to ensure full resources are brought to bear on the case. U.S. Ambassador to India Frank Wisner’s trip to Kashmir June 9 to highlight our concern for hostage Donald Hutchings’ fate is one recent example. The U.S. government does not pay ransom because that encourages further hostage-taking.

The nature of hostage-taking has changed dramatically. Rarely are kidnappings undertaken now with the goal of influencing U.S. government policy. The great majority of hostage incidents today involve demands for monetary ransom. This may explain the change in the public attention given these deplorable incidents.

MARY A. RYAN, Assistant

Secretary for Consular Affairs

Department of State, Washington