Kayla Mueller

Kayla Mueller
Born Kayla Jean Mueller
August 14, 1988
Prescott, Arizona
Died c. February 6, 2015 (aged 26)
Syria
Nationality American
Education Bachelor Degree in Political Science, Northern Arizona University[1] (2009)
Occupation Human rights activist, humanitarian aid worker

Kayla Jean Mueller (August 14, 1988 – c. February 6, 2015) was an American human rights activist and humanitarian aid worker from Prescott, Arizona. She was taken captive in August 2013 in Aleppo, Syria, after leaving a Doctors Without Borders hospital. Media had long reported that a 26-year-old American aid worker was being held by the Islamic State of Syria (ISIS) without naming her, at her family's request. Her captivity and death were widely reported upon confirmation of her death.

In October 2015, Kayla became the first person to be posthumously inducted into Northern Arizona University's college of Social and Behavioral Sciences Hall of Fame.[1][2]

Early life, activism and humanitarian aid

Mueller was a Christian and a native of Prescott, Arizona. After graduating from Tri-City College Prep High School in 2007, she attended Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Mueller supported causes that supported humanitarian aid, human rights, youth mentorship, and environmental activism. Her involvement in human rights activism and humanitarian aid included working in India with Tibetan refugees.[3] Her work in the Middle East included volunteering for the pro-Palestinian activist group the International Solidarity Movement and helping African refugees in Israel with the African Refugees Development Center.[4][5] Other humanitarian and activist causes Mueller was involved in at home and abroad were Vrindavan Food For Life, which provides free food, education, and medical care for those in need;[6][7] and during college, Food Not Bombs.[4][5][8]

Capture by ISIS

Mueller started working in southern Turkey in December 2012, where she was assisting Syrian refugees. On August 3, 2013, she traveled to the northern Syrian city of Aleppo with her Syrian boyfriend, a contractor hired to install some communications equipment at the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Aleppo.[9][10] Although she worked with the international aid agency Support to Life in Turkey, this was not a work-related trip for Mueller.[11][12] Upon her departure from Aleppo to return to Turkey, she was abducted by militants.[13]

It was reported by Catherine Herridge of Fox News via anonymous sources that the location of Mueller and other American hostages was known by the White House in May 2014, however, a decision regarding a rescue mission was not made for seven weeks. By that time, the hostages had been dispersed.[14]

In August 2015 it was reported that she had been forced into marriage[15] to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who raped her repeatedly.[16][17] She had also been tortured.[17][18]

It had also been reported in May 2015 that Mueller was a "personal captive" of Abu Sayyaf.[19] In August 2015, ABC News reported that Abu Sayyaf's widow, Umm Sayyaf, had confirmed that it was al-Baghdadi who had been Mueller's primary abuser.[20]

Fellow captives who were released or escaped report of Mueller's strength and compassion. She repeatedly showed that she was more concerned for the safety of others, even intentionally passing up an escape attempt to give other women a better chance at freedom. After months of prolonged torture and abuse ISIL members attempted to use her as propaganda by claiming she had abandoned her Christian faith in front of other male prisoners but she said, "No, I didn't." The men in the room, "...were impressed by the strength that she showed in front of us. That was very clear," according to Daniel Rye Ottosen, a Danish freelance photographer and fellow captive.[21]

Death

A media account affiliated with ISIS released a statement on February 6, 2015 claiming that a female American hostage held by the group was killed by one of around a dozen Jordanian airstrikes in Al-Raqqah (Raqqa, Syria). The statement came just days after the release of a video showing the burning alive of a Jordanian fighter pilot, Muath al-Kasasbeh, by ISIS and the subsequent execution of Sajida Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi and other prisoners of Jordan. The statement was later translated by the SITE Intelligence Group, identifying the hostage as Mueller.[22] Other reports claimed Mueller was killed in an American airstrike.[23]

Mueller had been in ISIS custody for 18 months. A U.S. mission to rescue her and several others in northern Syria in July 2014 failed when ISIS moved the prisoners. The U.S. was unaware of her location, though her family was told negotiations were underway to swap her for Aafia Siddiqui, according to Arizona House Representative Paul Gosar.[24]

On February 6, 2015, ISIS published a photo of a damaged building, and alleged Mueller had been killed in a Jordanian airstrike in the building where she was left alone with no guards, but no proof of death was provided.The Pentagon agreed the building was one hit in the bombings, but disputed that Mueller or any other civilian had been inside at the time. The site had been bombed by the coalition twice before, and was targeted again because ISIS soldiers sometimes return to bombed sites, thinking the coalition will not bomb those sites again, according to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby. After this, Mueller's name was released by American and other media with the family's consent.[10]

On February 10, 2015, Mueller's family announced ISIS had confirmed her death to them in an e-mail, with three photographs of her dead body, bruised on the face and wearing a black hijab.[25][26] National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said this message was authenticated by the intelligence community. President Barack Obama offered his condolences to Mueller's family.[27]

On August 24, 2016, ABCNews reported that Doctors Without Borders had declined to help negotiate her release.[28] MSF then issued their version of the story.[29]

Legal proceedings

On February 8, 2016, Umm Sayyaf was charged by American prosecutors in Virginia with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization that resulted in a person's death. The federal charge carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. She remains in Iraqi custody on terrorism-related charges.[30]

Reactions

Family

Carl Mueller speaking at a rally for Donald Trump in Arizona, October 2016

Mueller's parents reportedly implored ISIS to contact them as they hoped their daughter might still be alive. "We have sent you a private message and ask that you respond to us privately", Carl and Marsha Mueller said in a statement. They said they had not talked to the media as ISIS warned them not to.[31] Later, in an interview on The Today Show, Carl Mueller expressed his frustration with the Obama administration over the way it conducted negotiations with their daughter's captors and their policy of not paying ransom money for hostages. "We understand the policy about not paying ransom, but on the other hand, any parents out there would understand that you would want anything and everything done to bring your child home," Carl Mueller said. "And we tried, and we asked. But they put policy in front of American citizens' lives. And it didn’t get it changed."[32]

Government

An American official cautioned that without proof of Mueller's death, the statement by ISIS could be a ploy to cause the Jordanians and the rest of the American-led coalition to refrain from any heavier airstrikes.[10]

Jordan's Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh called ISIS's claim "an old and sick trick" on Twitter. "So they behead innocent #US #UK & Japan hostages & BURN a brave #Jordan pilot ALIVE & now a hostage is killed by an airstrike? Sure! Sick!", he said.[33][34] He further tweeted: "An old and sick trick used by terrorists and despots for decades: claiming that hostages human shields held captive are killed by air raids."[35] Later upon confirmation of Mueller's death he tweeted: "Saddened & angered to hear news confirming killing of #US hostage #kaylaMueller. Yet another ugly example of these terrorists' brutality."[36]

After many Western news outlets cast doubt on the claim of the hostage death and the extremists' ability to identify Jordanian and U.S. made F-16s flying at high altitudes, Jordan dismissed the claim of a killed hostage as an ISIS publicity stunt and a lie, as the group is known for its propaganda techniques.[37]

After Mueller's family confirmed her death, President Obama said "[Mueller] represents what is best about America, and expressed her deep pride in the freedoms that we Americans enjoy, and that so many others strive for around the world." United States Secretary of State John Kerry issued a statement saying "ISIL, and ISIL alone, is the reason Kayla is gone."[38]

The Pentagon declined to investigate whether Mueller was killed by the coalition airstrike. Policy dictates that the U.S. only investigates reports of civilian casualties when they come from a "credible source", which ISIS is not.[39]

Media

Time Magazine named Kayla Mueller as an ideal role model for Millennials, citing her selfless desire to end suffering, her activism, and her humanitarian aid work, praising her desire not to be seen, but to genuinely help people, and lauding her possession of Millennials' positive good qualities of idealism, optimism, and love of families, without the troublesome qualities which have also been associated with the Millennial generation.[40]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Kayla Mueller to be inducted into NAU college's hall of fame". 16 Oct 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  2. ↑ "Kayla Mueller to be Inducted in NAU SBS Hall of Fame". 20 October 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  3. ↑ Phuntsok Yangchen, US women killed by IS militants a Tibet supporter, Tibetans remember her, Phayul.com February 13, 2015
  4. 1 2 "U.S. idealist Kayla Mueller's road to ISIS captivity went through West Bank". Haaretz. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  5. 1 2 "About Kayla". For Kayla. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  6. ↑ "A tribute to Kayla Mueller". Food For Life Vrindavan. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  7. ↑ "ISIS Hostage and Food For Life Volunteer Kayla Mueller Is Killed". ISKCON News. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Aid Worker Held By ISIS Put Beliefs Into Action, Friends Say", ripr.org; accessed August 15, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Doctors Without Borders Refused to Help American ISIS Hostage Kayla Mueller" by James Gordon Meek, Megan Christie, Brian Epstein, and Brian Ross. ABC News, Aug 24, 2016
  10. 1 2 3 "ISIS Claims American Hostage Killed by Jordanian Retaliation Bombings". nytimes.com. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  11. ↑ "About Us". hayatadestek.org. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  12. ↑ "MSF Statement on the ABC News 20/20 Documentary on Kayla Mueller".
  13. ↑ "The Story Of American Hostage (Kayla Jean Mueller) That ISIL Claims Was Killed In The Latest Jordanian Air Raids On ISIS". Walid Shoebat. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  14. ↑ Staff (2015-02-10). "Herridge: WH Knew Location of ISIS Hostages, Delayed Rescue Attempt". Fox News. Retrieved 2015-02-11.
  15. ↑ "Islamic State Leader Raped American Hostage, US Finds", nytimes.com, August 14, 2015.
  16. ↑ Associated Press, "Islamic State leader reportedly raped American hostage", Fox News Online, August 14, 2015.
  17. 1 2 Goldman, Adam; Miller, Greg (August 14, 2015). "Leader of Islamic State took American hostage as sexual slave". The Washington Post.
  18. ↑ Campanile, Carl (10 September 2015). "Escaped captive says ISIS murdered, raped Kayla Mueller". nypost.com.
  19. ↑ Naylor, Sean (May 22, 2015). "Exclusive: American Hostage Passed on Chance to Escape". Foreign Policy. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  20. ↑ James Gordon Meek (2015-08-14). "ISIS Leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi Sexually Abused American Hostage Kayla Mueller, Officials Say". Washington DC: ABC News. Retrieved 2015-08-14. The information about al-Baghdadi's extraordinary direct role in the captivity and physical abuse of Kayla Mueller was drawn from, among many sources, the U.S. debriefings of at least least two Yezedi teenage girls, ages 16 and 18, held as sex slaves in the Sayyaf compound as well as from the interrogation of Abu Sayyaf's wife Umm Sayyaf, who was captured in the U.S. raid, the officials told ABC News.
  21. ↑ "Kayla Mueller Defended Christian Faith to ISIS Executioner 'Jihadi John'". ABC News. 27 August 2016.
  22. ↑ "ISIS Claims Female American Hostage Kayla Jean Mueller Was Killed In Jordanian Airstrike". The Huffington Post. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  23. ↑ "Statement attributed to ISIS claims U.S. airstrike killed American female hostage". dallasnews.com.
  24. ↑ "No plans to save Kayla Mueller, Pentagon says", Politico.com; accessed August 14, 2015.
  25. ↑ "Proof of Death in Hand, Family Honors Hostage", nytimes.com, February 11, 2015.
  26. ↑ "Kayla Jean Mueller, American ISIS hostage, is dead, family confirms". cbsnews.com. February 10, 2015. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  27. ↑ Ashley Fantz, Pamela Brown and Jason Hanna, CNN (February 10, 2015). "American ISIS hostage Kayla Mueller dead, family says". CNN. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  28. ↑ "Doctors Without Borders Refused to Help American ISIS Hostage Kayla Mueller". ABC News. 27 August 2016.
  29. ↑ "MSF Statement on the ABC News 20/20 Documentary on Kayla Mueller". doctorswithoutborders.org. 24 August 2016.
  30. ↑ "ISIS leader's wife charged in death of Kayla Mueller, U.S. aid worker". cbc.ca.
  31. ↑ CNN News. "Kayla Mueller's parents appeal to ISIS: 'We are still hopeful'". CNN News. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  32. ↑ Kyung Kim, Eun (February 23, 2015). "Kayla Mueller's parents: Why we feel ISIS wanted to release our daughter". Today.com. Today News. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  33. ↑ ABC News. "ISIS Claims Female American Hostage Killed in Airstrike". ABC News. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  34. ↑ Nasser S. Judeh. "So they behead innocent #US #UK & #Japan hostages & BURN a brave #jordan pilot ALIVE & now a hostage is killed by an airstrike? Sure! Sick!". Twitter. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  35. ↑ Nasser S. Judeh. "An old and sick trick used by terrorists and despots for decades: claiming that hostages human shields held captive are killed by air raids.". Twitter. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  36. ↑ Nasser S. Judeh. "Saddened & angered to hear news confirming killing of #US hostage #kaylaMueller. Yet another ugly example of these terrorists' brutality.". Twitter. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  37. ↑ Staff. "Jordan dismisses claim of killed US hostage as an ISIS 'PR stunt'". Business Insider. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  38. ↑ Calamur, Krishnadev. "Family Confirms U.S. Hostage Kayla Mueller Dead". NPR. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  39. ↑ U.S. Won't Investigate ISIS Hostage's Death, thedailybeast.com; accessed February 15, 2015.
  40. ↑ Charlotte Alter. "What Kayla Mueller's Life Reveals About Her Generation". Time. Retrieved February 12, 2015.

External links

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