We Are BG

Background

ON FEBRUARY 17, 2022, WNBA SUPERSTAR BRITTNEY GRINER WAS DETAINED UPON HER ARRIVAL IN MOSCOW. AS OF APRIL 29, 2022, GRINER WAS OFFICIALLY CLASSIFIED AS A WRONGFUL DETENTION BY THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT, WHICH SIGNALS THAT REGARDLESS OF THE STATUS OF HER LEGAL CASE, THE U.S. GOVERNMENT WILL SEEK TO NEGOTIATE HER RELEASE.

Like many athletes competing in the WNBA, Griner – a two-time Olympic gold medalist – plays abroad during the WNBA offseason for the love of the sport, but also in exchange for substantially bigger contracts, which are not available to women’s basketball players in the U.S. Since her wrongful detention, though, we have learned that she is not the only American being wrongfully detained. True to Brittney’s commitment to helping others, the We Are BG movement is committed to the idea that we must bring all wrongfully detained Americans home. We Are BG also means, "Bring Our Families Home."

Brittney and all wrongfully detained hostages are facing extreme injustice, and we see all examples of injustice as antithetical to our core American value of freedom. No American should serve years for crimes they did not commit or serve sentences that are out of proportion with their crimes.

JOIN THE OVER 300K PETITION SIGNEES AND SUPPORT THE U.S. GOVERNMENT IN DOING WHAT IS NECESSARY TO GET A DEAL DONE THAT BRINGS BRITTNEY AND OTHER AMERICANS HOME. #WEAREBG #BRINGTHEMHOME

HEAR FROM CHERELLE GRINER

GET INVOLVED

1. WRITE TO BG

Let Brittney know you are thinking about her. You can send her an email (WeAreBG@teamwass.com) or send a handwritten note to:

WE ARE BG C/O
WASSERMAN
PO BOX 251949
LOS ANGELES, CA 90025

2. SET UP A LETTER WRITING TABLE

We are on a mission to collect 10,000 handwritten notes for BG! Upon providing the below information, you will be able to download print ready assets to set up a letter writing table at your event.

3. SHARE WITH YOUR COMMUNITY

Whether you have 1 follower or 10 million, we want you to share your words of encouragement in support of Brittney using the hashtags #WEAREBG and #BringThemHome.

Self record a video sharing words of support
Post your note or a photo of your handwritten note and share on social media
Have a media platform? Read your letter to your audience

4. FOLLOW

Follow WeAreBG, WNBPA and Athletes for Impact on social media for the latest content, update, and info

@TheWNBPA

@Athletes4Impact

RESOURCES

#WeAreBG Assets

Download Assets

#WeAreBG wallpapers

Download Wallpapers

buy shirts and hoodies

WeAreBG and Playa Society collab to benefit the ‘Bring Our Families Home’ Campaign and the James. W. Foley Legacy.

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Visit Uninterrupted.com

buy face masks

Visit Henrymask.com

DEFINITIONS

WRONGFUL DETENTION

In 2020, Congress passed the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act, which codified how the U.S. government handles international kidnapping and detention cases. Two elements of this law are relevant for understanding Griner’s case.

First, the law calls for the U.S. secretary of state to review ongoing international detention cases to determine whether Americans “are being detained unlawfully or wrongfully.” It’s not unusual for a U.S. citizen to face arrest after breaking laws abroad. But when the State Department deems an arrest “unlawful or wrongful,” it signals that the U.S. government has credible information that the arrest is invalid or that the American will be treated unfairly.

The U.S. law offers several criteria to define an arrest as “wrongful or unlawful.” A detention might be unlawful if an American is being detained “solely or substantially because he or she is a United States national” or if the American was arrested for the purpose of extracting concessions from the U.S. government. Alternately, the secretary of state may label an international detention “unlawful” simply because the State Department’s own annual human rights reports question the credibility and fairness of the detaining country’s judicial system, or if the U.S. government believes the prisoner is not receiving humane treatment.

Source: Brittney Griner was ‘wrongfully detained.’ What happens now? ; Dr. Danielle Gilbert

https://twitter.com/_danigilbert

LEVINSON ACT & SPEHA

The Levinson Act codified the office and responsibilities of the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs (SPEHA). This office is headed by a chief U.S. diplomat charged with raising the profile of Americans kidnapped or detained abroad. The Levinson Act provides a mechanism to refer unlawful detention cases into SPEHA’s purview, rather than the State Department’s Consular Affairs Bureau, whose oversight is limited to welfare and protection of Americans overseas.

This marks a crucial change. By moving Griner’s case to the SPEHA, the State Department has signaled that the U.S. government will now actively work to bring Griner home. Special envoys have played a key role in the safe release of Americans like Trevor Reed, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran released from Russia last week and the 2019 release of rapper A$AP Rocky, who was held in Sweden on assault charges.

Source: Brittney Griner was ‘wrongfully detained.’ What happens now?; Dr. Danielle Gilbert

https://twitter.com/_danigilbert

VIENNA CONVENTIONS

The 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR)is a multilateral treaty to which the United States and more than 170 other countries are party. It is a legally binding agreements between the United States and one other country. These instructions focus primarily on providing consular notification and access with respect to foreign nationals arrested or detained in the United States, so that their governments can assist them. The obligations of consular notification and access apply to U.S. citizens in foreign countries just as they apply to foreign nationals in the United States. When U.S. citizens are arrested or detained abroad, the U.S. Department of State seeks to ensure that they are treated in a manner consistent with these instructions, and that U.S. consular officers can similarly assist them.

Source: United States Department of State: Consular Notification and Access