North Texan Trevor Reed seeks to hold Russia responsible for mistreating him in prison

WASHINGTON — Trevor Reed, the Marine veteran and Fort Worth native who spent nearly three years in a Russian gulag after his 2019 arrest, filed a petition with the United Nations on Monday in an attempt to hold Russia accountable for the poor treatment he said he received in prison.

According to a press release from Reed family spokesman Jonathan Franks, Reed’s petition asks the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to declare that his detention in Russia violated international law.

It also asks the working group to demand Russia compensate Reed for violating his rights.

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, a panel of five independent experts from across the globe, investigates cases in which individuals potentially have been deprived of their liberties “arbitrarily or inconsistently,” in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Since its invasion of Ukraine in February, Russia’s relationship with the United Nations has been strained at best. While Russia maintains its spot as one of the five permanent members of the body’s Security Council, the UN General Assembly voted to suspend it from its Human Rights Council in April.

In late April, after years of lobbying from his parents, Russia released Reed in exchange for a Russian drug smuggler who spent a dozen years in U.S. prison. Reed had developed what was likely tuberculosis in the gulag, and as concern for his health mounted, President Joe Biden relented and approved the swap.

Reed’s petition, 13,000 words in length, draws on legal documents and first-hand witness accounts to explain how Russia violated his basic human rights, Franks said in Monday’s release.

Whether it was bogus judicial proceedings, denying Reed access to his attorney and U.S. diplomatic assistance or subjecting him to beatings and malnourishment in prison, he argues in his petition that the Russian government violated both national and international laws numerous times.

Reed is far from the only American, or even the only Texan, that U.S. officials contend Russia has wrongfully detained. WNBA star and Houston native Brittney Griner has spent more than 100 days in Russian custody after she was detained at a Moscow airport in February.

Griner is under criminal investigation for “large-scale transportation of drugs,” an offense The New York Times has reported can carry a sentence of up to 10 years. Russian authorities said they found vape cartridges containing the marijuana concentrate hashish oil in Griner’s luggage.

Griner has been able to receive emails and letters from WNBA players during her detainment in Russia, and the State Department has said it is actively working to secure Griner’s release.

Last week, Reed renewed his call on the White House and lawmakers to work faster to bring Griner home.