Mark Swidan is an American designer, artist, photographer and businessman from Houston, Texas. He was detained in China from 2012 to 2024. In 2019, Swidan was charged with drug trafficking in China and sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve by a court in Guangdong.[1] The sentence was upheld on April 14, 2023 by the Guangdong court. The U.S. government and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention considered Swidan to be wrongfully detained. He was released on November 27, 2024 as part of a prisoner swap with China.[2]
In 2012 Swidan traveled to China to buy supplies such as furniture, flooring, fixtures and helium.[3] On November 14, he was arrested in a Dongguan, Guangzhou hotel room while speaking with his family on the phone. Eleven other individuals from Canada, China, Mexico, and the United States were arrested during the same operation.
Swidan was accused of narcotics-related charges and trafficking drugs in China. A year later, he was tried in a Jiangmen intermediate people's court in Guangdong.[4] [5]
The verdict in the case was delayed for years.[6] He was visited regularly by U.S. consulate personnel but was not allowed to discuss matters related to his case.
After five and a half years, Swidan was sentenced to death.[7] [8] At the time of his sentencing, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was in China to discuss the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China.
Swidan was held at the Jiangmen Prison. Dui Hua Foundation has called the prison a "black box". Swidan had reportedly gone on multiple hunger strikes while detained. He had repeatedly threatened suicide and attempted it multiple times.[9]
In a July 2022 interview, Swidan's mother, Katherine Swidan, said she had not spoken to him since a five-minute phone call in 2018. As of November 2022, Chinese officials had denied U.S. consular officers visits for more than a year.[10]
Attorney Jason Poblete said of Swidan's detention: "This man has not slept in a dark room in almost 10 years. They have not turned the lights off. He has been kept in a very small cell. He has been forced and subjected to extreme psychological pressure and pains."
Katherine Swidan reported that her son's health had been deteriorating.[11] [12] She told CBS that guards broke her son's hand five to seven times, he had dislocated his knee, and he suffered from periodontal disease.[13] It was also reported that Swidan has lost 100 pounds while confined.[14] His mother reported that he was forced to beg for food and to produce silk flowers while exposed to toxic chemicals. Katherine Swidan told The Guardian: "Mark is in a center that is caged with probably 25 other people. There's a hole in the ground for a toilet. They ration toilet paper. There's no hot water, even in the winter. He told me: 'Mama, I've never been so cold in my life'". In the summer, temperatures at the prison can reach 110 degrees Fahrenheit with no air conditioning.
During the Obama administration, little was done to secure Swidan's release. There were no statements from the White House or remarks from the State Department. Administration officials told Newsweek that little could be done.
The U.S. government considered Swidan wrongfully detained.[15] [16] Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger D. Carstens made it a priority to secure Swidan's release. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan raised Swidan's wrongful detention with top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi as a personal priority for President Joe Biden.
U.S. Ambassador to China R. Nicholas Burns wrote to Katherine Swidan to tell her that securing her son's release was an urgent priority for the White House, the State Department and the U.S. Embassy in China, but she said that the U.S. government was not doing enough to secure her son's release.
Senator Ted Cruz and Representative Michael Cloud introduced a resolution to support Swidan's release. Vicente Gonzalez also advocated for his release.[17]
In 2022, the U.S. State Department issued a travel advisory for China, noting "arbitrary enforcement of local laws for purposes other than maintaining law and order, including the use of exit bans". The U.S. government signed an executive order aimed at sanctioning government and individuals who wrongfully detain Americans abroad.
Swidan's detention and death sentence had been condemned by U.S. organizations.[18]
The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention determined that Swidan's detention was wrongful and called for his immediate release with reparations.[19] [20]
In response the Chinese government said Swidan was in contact with two groups of narcotics producers, facilitated their arrival in China, and transfered money for them. It seized large amounts of meth and dimethylamphetamine at locations visited by Swidan.
Katherine Swidan advocated for her son's release for years. She joined the Bring Our Families Home Campaign,[21] which advocated for the return of wrongful detainees and hostages. Swidan's image was featured in a 15-foot mural in Washington, D.C., along with other Americans wrongfully detained abroad.[22] [23]
Professor Donald C. Clarke, an expert in Chinese law, said that a long delay in verdict could be because of an internal controversy within the judicial system, with actors questioning the case's merits. Clarke said, "In such cases, the court doesn't want to embarrass police and prosecutors by acquitting, but it is also reluctant to convict, so it just sits on the case."[24]
Peter William Humphrey, who was arrested in China for allegedly illegally acquiring personal data, called Swidan's detention a case of hostage diplomacy.[25]
In 2014, Swidan shared a cell with Terry Lee, an Australian-educated Chinese businessman jailed for refusing to pay a bribe. Lee became convinced of Swidan's innocence despite pleas from the warden to spy on Swidan.
The Dui Hua Foundation advocated for Swidan's release.[26] [27] John Kamm, its chairman, wrote to the Chinese government about Swidan's detention 40 times and received three or four responses. He told the Washington Examiner, "The situation is so bad that Chinese officials have admitted to me how embarrassed they are by what has happened." "I have never seen such a violation of an individual's due process rights," he added.
Kamm said that no forensic evidence linked Swidan to a drug transaction or conspiracy. He told Newsweek that "the only 'evidence' against him is that Swidan once visited a factory where Chinese authorities allege the meth was manufactured, and that he had been in a room rented by another person where drugs were found." Kamm added that there was "no fingerprints, no DNA, no drugs in his system. Nor has evidence been presented of his 'coordinating' role—no emails, no logs of calls, etc. I am convinced that Mr. Swidan is innocent."[28]
In November 2024, Mark Swidan was released from his detention along with two other American citizens as part of a prisoner swap with China.[29]