WASHINGTON — Kuwait has released an additional 10 American detainees, bringing to nearly two dozen the total number freed by the country in the past two months, U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Taken together, Kuwait’s pardons of 23 Americans since March — done as a goodwill gesture by the U.S. ally — amounted to the largest release of U.S. citizens by a single foreign country in years.
The prisoners include military contractors and veterans held on drug charges and other offenses by the small, oil-rich nation. One detainee was said by supporters to have been coerced into signing a false confession and endured physical violence and threats against his wife and daughter.
Ten others were released on March 12, weeks after a visit to Kuwait by Adam Boehler, who is serving as the Trump administration’s envoy for hostage affairs.
“We flew out, we sat down with the Kuwaitis, and they said, listen, no one’s ever asked before at this level” for the release of the Americans, Boehler told the AP.
The releases were not done as part of a swap and the U.S. was not asked to give up anything in return.
“They’ve been extremely responsive, and their view is the United States is a huge ally. They know it’s a priority for (President Donald Trump) to bring Americans home,” Boehler said. “I credit it to the Kuwaiti understanding that we’ve stood up for them historically and they know that these things are important for the president.”
The Americans “maintain their innocence, and it’s important to note none of these cases had an identified victim, and all of them were built on supposed confessions taken in Arabic without translation,” according to a statement from Jonathan Franks, a private consultant working on cases involving American hostages and detainees who represented nine of the 10 people released Wednesday. He spent weeks in the country trying to negotiate the releases.
Kuwait is considered a major non-NATO ally of the U.S. The U.S. and Kuwait have had a close military partnership since America launched the 1991 Gulf War to expel Iraqi troops after Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, with some 13,500 American troops stationed in Kuwait at Camp Arifjan and Ali al-Salem Air Base.
But Kuwait also has detained many American military contractors on drug charges, in some cases for years. Their families have alleged that their loved ones faced abuse while imprisoned in a country that bans alcohol and has strict laws regarding drugs.
Others have criticized Kuwaiti police for bringing trumped-up charges and manufacturing evidence used against them — allegations never acknowledged by the autocratic nation ruled by a hereditary emir.
Among those freed Wednesday was Tony Holden, an HVAC technician. He was working as a defense contractor in support of Camp Arifjan at the time of his November 2022 arrest, when his family and supporters allege he was “set up by corrupt Kuwaiti police looking to earn bonuses.”
His supporters say his wife and daughter were physically threatened, that he was coerced into signing a written confession in Arabic and was charged with drug possession despite testing negative in a drug test and abstaining for religious reasons from drug and alcohol use.
“Tony was an innocent man when he was arrested, and he remains an innocent man today,” says a website that was established to support him and advocate for his release.
Added Secretary of State Marco Rubio: “We celebrate his release and return to the United States.”
A minor is also being released in the coming days but is expected to remain in Kuwait.