The “Bring our Families Home” campaign traveled to Washington D.C. to bring awareness to the plight of the many Americans being held hostage in other countries. Among them was Elizabeth Whelan (standing in back row, third from right), sister of Paul Whelan of Michigan, who has been held in Russia since Dec. 28, 2018. Facebook photo from “Free Paul Whelan” site.

Since the release of Trevor Reed from Russia in a prisoner exchange on April 27, anticipation has been crushed again for the family of Paul Whelan, who has not yet been released from prison in Mordovia. But there is still optimism as efforts and activism continue on his behalf.

“What a week it was in DC for Paul N. Whelan and other American hostages and wrongful detainees held around the world!,” wrote Elizabeth Whelan, sister of Paul, and daughter of Rosemary and Edward Whelan of Manchester, on May 8. “I joined the Bring Our Families Home campaign for a rally in front of the White House, and wow, did we get good press coverage for Paul and the other 55+ Americans now held in 18 different countries.”

On April 27, the House of Representatives had unanimously approved House Resolution 336, calling for the Russian government to immediately release Paul. The Free Paul Whelan Facebook site commended the Michigan Congressional delegation for the leadership it has brought to repeated resolutions, including one in July 2021 and a previous resolution in October 2019.

“This unfailing advocacy for Paul shows how slow it can take to build support for an American hostage,” the post cautioned. “While every American citizen deserves to be freed, the more singular the challenge, the longer it may take to build the support necessary. So we can’t thank Michigan’s Rep. Haley Stevens and Senator Peters enough for their continued attempts at building that support, as well as the many co-sponsors from both parties and many states who helped to bring these resolutions into being.

“Congress has sent a signal, again, to the Executive Branch as well as to the Kremlin, that Paul continues to suffer an injustice. This advocacy and support continues to give us hope that Paul’s release will some day be effected.”

Elizabeth continued in her post, “No administration has been able to stop hostile foreign nations from using citizens as pawns — in fact, this sort of action has been going on since the dawn of time. But the fact that families are getting together to demand action is amplifying our individual small voices.

“All the major media outlets covered the rally and I even did a few TV appearances on CNN, Fox, MSNBC, and CBS. And I spoke to both Secretary Blinken and went by the West Wing to see National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan about Paul.”

Although Elizabeth and Paul’s (twin) brother, David, normally handles these trips, this time Elizabeth decided to take on the “tough gig” of being the family’s spokesperson. She acknowledged the Trevor Reed family, as well, for helping to advocate for Paul and the other 55+ detainees around the world. Of all people, that family recognizes the pain of the separation these families are feeling.

“Efforts have never stopped to bring Paul home, although details are not for sharing on Facebook as you can imagine,” she says. “We’ve got great people working on this. Keep the faith, everyone.”