2026 JAMES W. FOLEY FREEDOM AWARDS SPONSOR
We are deeply grateful to @washingtonpost for their generous sponsorship of the James W. Foley Freedom Awards.
As a globally respected news organization committed to informing and enlightening readers through trusted journalism, The Post plays a vital role in strengthening public understanding.
Thank you for standing with us in support of press freedom and the protection of journalists worldwide.
TICKET AND SPONSOR SALES END TODAY, APRIL 29, 2026 AT 3:00 PM
https://t.co/keWkqfn4Qy
American journalist Shelly Kittleson is FREE.
After a week of being held hostage in Iraq, she has been released, & her family, colleagues & loved ones can breathe again.
Hostage Aid is overjoyed with this news & wishes @shellykittleson all the best after her ordeal. #JournalismIsNotACrime & no journalist should be punished for telling the truth.
Consequences for regimes that take Americans hostage are essential for effective deterrence, accountability for captors, and justice for victims. This first use of the State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention designation is a critical step. Right now, ensuring the safe release of Americans held hostage in Iran must be the top priority. #BringThemHome #SSWD @BOFHcampaign@StateSPEHA@SecRubio
https://t.co/FaxAQUmMrN
On Jan. 27, 2025, 🇺🇸 Dennis Coyle was unlawfully detained without charges by the Taliban. An academic researcher who worked to help others now needs our help to come home.
Dear @POTUS, Dennis’s elderly mother & his three sisters have been fighting tirelessly for 396 days. We are now counting on you to pressure the Taliban to release Dennis & all the Americans wrongfully held in Afghanistan!
@FreeDennisCoyle@SecRubio@aboehler@StateDept@StateSPEHA@SebGorka@WhiteHouse@realZalmayMK
HAW Daily Brief 1/3 Hostage Taking or Hostage Making? The Case for Prioritising Outcomes in Identifying and Modelling Hostage Diplomacy
https://t.co/doBNhvZW0P
UK - Taylor and Francis
State hostage-taking, or ‘hostage diplomacy,’ is a specific form of arbitrary detention that has emerged as a particularly thorny international challenge. Difficulties in identifying cases of hostage diplomacy, considerable inter-case diversity and the preference of most governments to resolve cases behind the scenes has complicated efforts to analyse and quantify the nature, scope and significance. @KMooreGilbert
HAW Daily Brief 1/1 British Couple Jailed in Iran to Go on Hunger Strike
https://t.co/OeeIejRhgH
UK - Iran International
Craig and Lindsay Foreman, a British couple sentenced to 10 years in prison on espionage charges in Iran, said they would begin a hunger strike on March 4, accusing authorities of violating the country’s constitution. In a message from Tehran's Evin prison, the couple said they would reach fourteen months in detention on March 4, 2026, and vowed to continue their hunger strike until they are freed. @freelindscraig
We stand the brave Iranians for freedom against the despotic and oppressive Iranian regime.
We also call for the immediate release of Lindsay and Craig Foreman, the British nationals held in cruel captivity.
4/4 Family of UK Couple Detained in Iran & Supporters Hand Petition to No 10
https://t.co/J5VxTMNFQu
UK - Independent
It is a year since Lindsay & Craig Foreman were taken into custody in January during a world motorcycle tour & were later charged with espionage.
Ms Foreman’s son Joe Bennett was joined by former detainee Anoosheh Ashoori & Richard Ratcliffe, who fought a public campaign that involved two hunger strikes to have his wife Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe freed from Iran, at the steps of Number 10 Downing Street to deliver the 70,000-signature petition.
“We want public acknowledgement that it is completely barbaric they are being held on these charges of espionage, that they are not spies for the British state & they are going to do everything they can to get them home.”
@freelindscraig@FreeNazanin
HAW Daily Brief 1/4 When I Was Behind Bars, Time Stopped. But You Could Never Hide from The New Year
https://t.co/bM959ijaJw
Australia - The Age
When you’re a prisoner time passes differently to life outside.
When I was first arrested in Iran & thrown into a solitary confinement cell in Evin prison I would carve a line for each day into the soft plaster of the wall & try to work backwards to figure out the date. Many months later, letting go of this habit was strangely empowering.
The holidays were the greatest challenge to this cultivated indifference.
There is nothing like being able to celebrate the holidays & other family milestones as a free person, having had this taken away from you.
This year, I hope that time speeds up just a little bit more for those Australians wrongfully imprisoned overseas. And that the new year will bring with it much longed-for freedom for them all.
@KMooreGilbert
3/4 Family Of Famous Musician's Son Who Vanished in Venezuela Say They Hope He'll Soon Be Home After Maduro Fell
https://t.co/mNQlrks76J
UK - Daily Mail
James Luckey-Lange, 28, a Staten Island native, is the son of late cult musician Q Lazzarus, whose music appeared in The Silence of the Lambs.
He is among several Americans recently detained by Venezuelan security forces.
His aunt, Abbie Luckey, told Daily Mail the family has been clinging to hope amid months of uncertainty.
'After Maduro's capture, I remain hopeful & confident that the citizens being held will return safe & unharmed,' she said.
Luckey-Lange was last in contact with his family the week before his disappearance.
The Foley Foundation remains concerned about the safety and prompt return of at least five Americans reportedly detained in Venezuela, including dual nationals and U.S. citizens, some of whom may be designated as wrongfully detained.
As part of our commitment to individuals held hostage or wrongfully detained, we conduct research reports focusing on countries using the wrongful detention of Americans as a diplomatic weapon.
In 2025, Elizabeth Richards, Foley Foundation Director of Hostage Advocacy and Research authored “Venezuela: A Clear Pattern of Abuse”. You may read the report in full here:
https://t.co/fk4jS330vX
HAW Daily Brief 1/9 Norway Confirms Detention of Its citizen in Iran
https://t.co/ro0SLt3XfP
UK - Iran International
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is aware that a Norwegian citizen has been arrested in Iran, but due to our obligation to respect confidentiality we cannot provide further details," the spokesperson said. On Sunday, HRANA identified the woman as Shahin Mahmoudi, whose name the rights group said appears as Shine Mahmoudi in Norwegian identity documents. Mahmoudi was summoned by phone to the Intelligence Ministry office in Saqqez last Sunday and was detained around noon after reporting to the security body, HRANA said.
She was later transferred to the Intelligence Ministry’s detention center in the nearby city of Sanandaj.
Day 3,517 of injustice for Ahmadreza Djalali & his family. He has been wrongfully detained since April 2016 & sentenced to death on bogus charges following a forced confession. His detention continues in violation of international law #BringDjalaliHome@SwedishPM@MariaStenergard
On this Armistice Day, we pause to remember and honor the brave men and women who stood in the face of unimaginable hardship, who sacrificed their tomorrows so that we might live in peace and freedom. The world we cherish today was built on their courage, their unity, and their strong belief in what was right.
But remembrance alone is not enough. The freedoms they fought for can only endure if we continue their fight for justice, compassion and the values we hold dear. We must not allow hatred or extremist ideologies to erode the values they died to protect. It is our duty, as citizens of this nation, to defend what they built and to carry their torch forward with pride and determination.
Let us honor their memory not just in silence, but in action by standing together around our values, by choosing decency over division, and by striving to create a future worthy of their sacrifice.
#ArmisticeDay #Remembrance #IRGCterrorists
Day 3,380 of injustice for Ahmadreza Djalali and his family. They have been deprived of any contact for over a month. Grave concerns about Ahmadreza's whereabouts and conditions continue. What action is being taken to #SaveAhmadreza? @MariaStenergard@SwedishPM@kajakallas
Today marks 12 years since 🇮🇹 Father Paolo Dall’Oglio went to negotiate the release of hostages in Syria & became a hostage himself.
He stood for justice, compassion, & the power of human connection. He walked into danger out of love for the Syrian people … and never walked out.
A man of courage, truth, & unwavering hope.
We will not forget him. We will not stop asking: Where is Father Paolo?
@GiorgiaMeloni@Antonio_Tajani@ItalyMFA@ItalyMFA_int@Palazzo_Chigi