New York – United States Mission to the United Nations, Sept. 19, 2025
Morgan Ortagus
Deputy Special Presidential Envoy to the Middle East
Counselor to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations
New York, New York
AS DELIVERED
Hello. Shana Tova to everyone celebrating, Shabbat Shalom. I bring you greetings from President Trump and Secretary Marco Rubio. Thank you to Hostage Aid Worldwide for hosting today’s important event and for your continued advocacy and pushing this issue to the forefront. And thank you to the Under-Secretary-General for those beautiful remarks.
I want to convey my sincere appreciation for the returnee statements that will be shared today. It’s brave of you to be here. Your words serve as a clear reminder of the personal toll involved. In every instance an individual is seized by an armed terrorist group, imprisoned on fabricated charges, or exploited as a bargaining chip between states – a life is ruptured, families are broken, and the moral fabric of the international order is frayed. Tragically, examples are all too common – whether the countless detentions by the Assad regime in Syria or hostages who have suffered in Hamas’ captivity in Gaza for now 714 days.
We call once again for their immediate release. The physical and psychological torment of those unjustly detained is matched only by the constant, raw grief of those waiting at home.
This issue has long been with us. In the Founding period, pirates from the Barbary coast demanded ransom to stop raiding American ships. Thomas Jefferson, convinced that it was unacceptable for the United States to be held hostage by foreign entities, fought and won the Barbary Wars to protect American shipping and sailors. Like President Jefferson, President Trump is taking decisive action to protect Americans abroad.
On March 9, President Trump issued a proclamation commemorating the U.S. Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day. He committed to those in captivity, to their families, and to their loved ones that we will never forget you, we will never abandon you, and we commit to returning you safely and bringing your captors to justice.
This is why, earlier this month, President Trump signed an Executive Order creating a mechanism to more forcefully respond to rogue regimes that engage in unjust or wrongful detention – a new tool to deter hostage diplomacy and to hold accountable those who weaponize detention for political leverage.
Under the Executive Order, a designation as a State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention mandates a review of all available tools to secure the release of wrongfully detained Americans and to hold perpetrators to account. This Administration’s decisive and unprecedented action ensures deterrence is not just a concept, but a concrete policy. President Trump has put our adversaries on notice. Such injustice will not stand.
The safety and security of our citizenry is a solemn obligation we must all pursue. Hostage-taking and unjust or wrongful detentions is a global problem, impacting citizens from countries around the world. The international community has often favored resolving these cases quietly, and largely without consequences.
This approach has failed to deter these abhorrent practices. Perpetrators have come to believe that the international community will protest politely but ultimately pay the price. If we allow hostage-taking and wrongful detentions to endure without cost, then we allow the very foundations of the international order to erode.
Now is the time for change. We must not allow this cycle of injustice to continue. The path to a better future is clear. We can achieve peace through strength.
At its best, the international community, including the United Nations, functions to maintain international peace and security and to protect human life. The United Nations and its Member States must strengthen efforts to protect our citizens and to uphold international law.
As we approach High-Level Week for the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, let us reflect on the founding principles of the United Nations to chart a course for its future. We have shared our clear vision, rooted in three enduring priorities: peace, sovereignty, and liberty. Peace and security, sovereign equality of States, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms are not only purposes and principles of the UN Charter – they serve as the foundation of a stable, secure, and prosperous world.
We welcome a renewed focus on this core mission and commit to strengthening the international legal and diplomatic architecture to counter hostage-taking and wrongful detentions, by State and non-State actors alike. Let us renew this shared duty.
In doing so, we call on the United Nations and its Member States to deepen cooperation aimed at countering hostage-taking and wrongful detentions, resolving cases of captivity, and improving mechanisms for justice and accountability. When we act together – with clarity and resolve – we restore not only the freedom of those taken but the credibility of the international order itself.
So, we urge our partners at the United Nations to match words with action. Let us elevate this issue across the UN system and through our respective institutions at home to send an unmistakable message: hostage-taking and wrongful detention will not be tolerated.
I want to conclude by echoing my gratitude to the many NGOs, returnees, and to their loved ones – today and over the years – who have helped sustain public attention on these issues and provided officials like me with the vital insights and candid recommendations. Your advocacy remains critical to ending hostage diplomacy and achieving justice for all victims. We hear you. We stand with you. Your displays of courage help us all move forward.
Thank you. And God bless you.
