III
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 638
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 11 (legislative day, April 10), 2024
Mr. Schumer (for himself and Mr. McConnell) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to
RESOLUTION
Calling for the immediate release of Ryan Corbett, a United States citizen who was wrongfully detained by the Taliban on August 10, 2022, and condemning the wrongful detention of Americans by the Taliban.
Whereas United States citizen Ryan Corbett has lived a life of service by supporting humanitarian projects in Afghanistan that help the Afghan people start and operate small businesses;
Whereas Ryan Corbett moved his family to Afghanistan in 2010 to help the local population and lived there for more than a decade aiding the Afghan people;
Whereas, in 2017, Ryan Corbett founded Bloom Afghanistan
to provide consulting and microloans to Afghan small businesses to help build a self-sustaining local economy;
Whereas Ryan Corbett is known to his family, friends, colleagues, and associates as a loving father and husband as well as a kind, service-oriented man;
Whereas, in August 2021, Ryan Corbett was forced to leave his life, community, and Afghan partners behind when the Taliban seized Kabul and United States citizens were evacuated;
Whereas, in August 2022, Ryan Corbett traveled to Afghanistan for a 10-day trip to check on his business and employees and was detained by the Taliban;
Whereas the Taliban detained Ryan Corbett without charging him with a crime or granting him due process in any judicial proceedings;
Whereas, on September 29, 2023, Ryan Corbett was designated as wrongfully detained by United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken;
Whereas Ryan Corbett is being held in a 9-foot by 9-foot underground cell with two other Taliban detainees and has been held in solitary confinement on multiple occasions;
Whereas Ryan Corbett has not been granted access to any physical consular visits by United States Department of State personnel but has had limited consular access via phone to a United States consular representative;
Whereas, during his detention, Ryan Corbett seldom has had phone calls with his family and has only had limited in-person visits with personnel from Qatar, the United States’ protecting power in Afghanistan;
Whereas at least five third-country nationals previously detained with Ryan Corbett have been released and have reported on Ryan’s horrific and deteriorating conditions;
Whereas Ryan Corbett’s former cellmates who have been subsequently released stated that prisoners at the detention facility must survive on scraps of fatty meat, seldom have access to sunlight, and cannot use the bathroom without permission;
Whereas Ryan Corbett’s former cellmates who have been subsequently released stated that, during their captivity, Ryan Corbett was suffering from seizures, fainting, and discolored extremities;
Whereas Ryan Corbett turned 40 years old during his wrongful detention, and his physical and mental health is rapidly declining due to the stress and harsh conditions, such that his family fears he will not survive his wrongful detention; and
Whereas the Taliban’s pursuit of international legitimacy and recognition is without merit due to the Taliban’s continued use of hostages as a political tool, the Taliban’s support for terrorism, and the elimination of freedoms for women and girls in Afghanistan: Now, therefore, be it
That the Senate—
calls on the Taliban to immediately and unconditionally release Ryan Corbett;
condemns the wrongful detention of Ryan Corbett by the Taliban;
urges the Taliban to respect Ryan Corbett’s fundamental human rights and to provide full, unfettered, and consistent health and welfare visits to Ryan Corbett while he remains in detention;
urges all United States executive branch officials, including President Joseph Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Special Representative for Afghanistan Tom West, and Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens, to continue to raise the case of Ryan Corbett and to press for his immediate release in all interactions with the Taliban;
condemns the Taliban’s continued use of the wrongful detention of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents for political purposes and demands that the Taliban stop unjustifiably detaining United States nationals for political gain;
calls for the immediate release of other United States citizens and lawful permanent residents who are wrongfully detained in Afghanistan;
expresses sympathy for and solidarity with the families of all other United States citizens and lawful permanent residents wrongfully detained abroad; and
expresses support for the family of Ryan Corbett and the family's commitment to bringing Ryan Corbett home.