U.S. won’t prosecute families for paying ransom to hostage-takers

WASHINGTON – Softening longstanding policy, the Obama administration will tell families of Americans held by terror groups that they can communicate with captors and even pay ransom without fear of prosecution. The shift comes as part of a broad review of U.S. hostage guidelines that are to be released today.

President Barack Obama ordered the review last fall after the deaths of Americans held hostage by the Islamic State. The families of some of those killed complained about their dealings with the administration, saying they were threatened with criminal prosecution if they pursued paying ransom in exchange for their loved ones’ release.

Two U.S. officials familiar with the review said there will be no formal change to the law that explicitly makes it a crime to provide money or other material support to terror organizations, nor will Obama directly approve of families paying ransom. However, the administration will make clear that the Justice Department has never prosecuted anyone for paying ransom and that that will continue to be the case.

The review is also expected to make clear that the U.S. government can help facilitate communications with terrorists on behalf of families seeking the release of hostages. However, that assistance will still stop short of government ransoms or other concessions.

While the government has long turned a blind eye to family contacts with terrorists, officials acknowledge the unspoken policy has been applied unevenly. The inconsistencies have been magnified in recent months with the kidnappings and killings of Americans by terror groups.

Four Americans have been killed by the Islamic State since last summer: journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and aid workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller. After the release of gruesome videos showing the beheadings of some hostages, Obama approved an airstrike campaign against the Islamic State in both Iraq and Syria.

The families’ anguish has been deepened by the fact that European governments routinely pay ransom for hostages and win their release. The U.S. says its prohibitions against the government and private individuals making any concessions to terrorist demands are aimed both at preventing more kidnappings and preventing more income for terror groups.

However, the Obama administration did negotiate with the Taliban last year to win the release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was captured after walking away from this post in Afghanistan. Five Guantanamo Bay detainees were exchanged as a condition of his release. White House officials say those negotiations were permissible because Obama sees a special responsibility to leave no American service member behind on the battlefield.