Kuwait releases six Americans from prison as part of goodwill gesture

Amidst the Trump administration's efforts to secure the release of American citizens detained abroad, six previously imprisoned American citizens in Kuwait have been released.

The group of American citizens, including military contractors and veterans, were released and "deported" back to the United States on Wednesday. They had been detained in Kuwait for years on drug-related charges. The release follows a recent visit to Kuwait by U.S. Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs, Adam Boehler.

Jonathan Franks, an advocate for the detainees, told Middle East Eye: "My clients and their families are beyond grateful for this extraordinary act of clemency by the government of Kuwait." He also stated, "We have been working to get the U.S. government to focus on their cases."

Franks, who accompanied the newly released prisoners on a flight from Kuwait to New York, said they did not want to be named, but posted on [X](https://x.com/jonfranks/status/1899940055600267611/photo/1) that their release was a "gesture of goodwill." He said all the detainees "strongly maintained their innocence of the charges," with the longest-serving detainee having spent eight years in Kuwaiti prisons.

Franks added that another nine Americans remain imprisoned in Kuwait, and he hopes for more releases in the coming weeks. Last year, former Army veteran and military contractor Jermaine Rogers [recounted](https://connecticut.news12.com/us-army-veteran-from-bridgeport-says-he-was-wrongfully-convicted-in-kuwait) to News12 Connecticut his experience of being wrongly convicted on drug charges and sentenced to death in Kuwait. He spent eight years in prison before eventually being pardoned and released.

A 2020 [article](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/28/magazine/american-prisoners-kuwait.html) in The New York Times reported on American prisoners held in Kuwait, stating that between 2015 and 2020, 28 Americans were serving time in Kuwait's Central Prison for drug offenses, all of whom were private contractors supporting the U.S. military presence in the Middle East. The article also said they all maintained they were convicted without due process as required by Kuwaiti law.

President Donald Trump [focused](https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/how-trump-has-reversed-decades-of-american-hostage-policy) on securing the release of Americans held in overseas prisons during his first term and has continued to make it a strategic component of his second term.

Kuwait and the United States have maintained a close military partnership since Kuwait was invaded by Iraq in 1990, with a U.S.-led coalition intervening militarily in 1991 and expelling Iraqi forces. Following the Gulf War, the U.S. expanded its military footprint in the region and established a large military base in Kuwait. This also laid the groundwork for the U.S. to lead the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Tens of thousands of U.S. troops were stationed in Kuwait prior to the start of the invasion, with Kuwait becoming a staging ground for the U.S. military occupation of Iraq.

The U.S. State Department and the Kuwaiti Embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.