Secretary of State Marco Rubio formally designated Afghanistan as a state sponsor of wrongful detention on Monday, paving the way for the Trump administration to impose restrictions such as sanctions and export controls as punishment for the Taliban’s arbitrary imprisonment of Americans.
The designation allows for powers created by an executive order in September to be used by the Trump administration. As well as sanctions, there could be travel restrictions implemented for U.S. passport holders who otherwise want to travel to the country.
“The Taliban continues to use terrorist tactics, kidnapping individuals for ransom or to seek policy concessions. These despicable tactics need to end,” Rubio said in a statement announcing the decision.
“It is not safe for Americans to travel to Afghanistan because the Taliban continues to unjustly detain our fellow Americans and other foreign nationals,” the statement continued. “The Taliban needs to release Dennis Coyle, Mahmoud Habibi, and all Americans unjustly detained in Afghanistan now and commit to cease the practice of hostage diplomacy forever.”
Afghanistan is the second country to receive the designation after Iran was labelled on Feb. 27, the day before the U.S. and Israel launched joint attacks on the Islamic Republic.
“They view Americans as a commodity that they can grab onto and then trade in the future,” Rubio said at a Monday ceremony at the State Department. “That cycle has to stop, and that’s why this designation now exists.”
U.S. government officials, former American detainees and their families were hosted by the State Department on Monday to mark National Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day, which happens annually on March 9. The national flag for wrongfully detained Americans and hostages was raised outside the State Department on Monday with the families of detainees looking on from the top floor of the building.
At the event, Special Envoy for Hostage Response Adam Boehler said that the administration has helped to bring home 175 individuals, including 100 Americans, wrongfully detained abroad since the start of President Trump’s second term.
Among the Americans currently detained in Afghanistan is 64-year old Dennis Coyle, an academic originally from Colorado, who was abducted just six days after Ryan Corbett, another American, was released at the start of President Trump’s second term. Coyle is being held by the Taliban General Directorate of Intelligence in near-solitary confinement and, according to his family, has had no charges filed against him.
Coyle’s sisters, Molly Long and Amy Sessions, met with Rubio on Monday in Washington, a family advocate told CBS News.
Photo provided to CBS News
“We deeply appreciate [Secretary Rubio’s] leadership in holding the Taliban accountable for wrongfully detaining my brother, Dennis Coyle,” Long said in a statement shared with CBS News. “We have great confidence in this administration — particularly Secretary Rubio, Dr. Sebastian Gorka, and Adam Boehler — for prioritizing Dennis’s freedom and working tirelessly to bring him home safely. We remain hopeful and grateful.”