April 6, 2022

On November 13, 2012, Mark Swidan was in a hotel in China packing his bags and getting ready to go home. His mother, Katherine Swidan, was on the phone with him as he packed when all of a sudden she heard a commotion. There was banging, yelling in Chinese, and then the phone hung up. For 2 weeks she did not know what had happened to her son on that day. She finally received a call from the US State Department informing her that her son had been detained.

Police took Mark’s passport and told him that he needs to come in for questioning in regards to a drug case. The interrogation took days and they tried forcing him to sign documents that admitted he played a role in manufacturing and distributing drugs. Mark denied the charges then, and continues to deny the charges to this day, even though admitting guilt would result in a lesser sentence. Mark had no drugs on him or in his hotel room, his system was completely clean, and no emails, calls, or letters were found that linked Mark to the case. His translator and driver however did have drugs on them and were a part of this crime. Regardless of the lack of evidence that pinned Mark to the crime, he was still arrested. Seven years later in April 2019, during the first trade meeting in Beijing with the US and China, Mark was sentenced to death. The U.N. body of World Group on Arbitrary Detention has demanded Marks release but China continues to ignore this.

Mark is an artist, designer, and photographer. He enjoyed traveling a lot and when his dad passed away when he was 19, he left Mark some money so that he could travel and explore the world. During one of his travels, Mark fell in love with a girl he met who was from the Philippines. They got engaged in 2011 and had set their wedding for December 2012. Mark had his own business, Radiance Associates, prior to meeting his fiancé. His passion was art, especially interior and exterior design and so he devoted his business to just that. He had several clients who wanted top of the line flooring and fixtures. These were much cheaper in China and so he decided to travel there for the purpose of obtaining building materials for his own house renovation and for his business. Once he arrived in China, he hired a driver along with a translator to help him get around. Mark called his mom every single day and gave her updates of all the places he visited and what he had purchased. 

Mark has no history of drug abuse or any association with drugs. He is a man that went for a business trip like so many others and wanted to return in time for his wedding. It has been almost 10 years since his arrest and the US government has not done anything to get this man back home. Recently, SPEHA has taken an interest in the case. They have assured Katherine that they are working on the case. The US Embassy in Beijing has changed hands but has yet to contact Katherine about the case, despite the numerous attempts she has made to speak with them. Before SPEHA had gotten involved, the US consulate used to be her only point of communication with Mark. When Mark was first arrested, the US consulate visited Mark and even advised him to plead guilty since he would receive better treatment. Mark refused to do this and so he spent hours in interrogation where he would get beaten and threatened.

Katherine was allowed a phone call with Mark every month and she was allowed to send letters to him and him to her. What is said on the phone and written in letters is monitored by the Chinese government. Because of this, Mark has turned to drawing images for his mother so she is aware of what is going on. In these pictures he depicts his situation and his thoughts. Katherine now has three boxes of letters and drawings that she has collected from Mark over the years and has spent time decoding each one (below are a few of his drawings).

As of today the U.S consulate has not visited Mark in over 5 months, Katherine has not heard from her son since. All letters have stopped along with phone calls. She is not receiving any information about his well being from anyone. She knows his health is deteriorating considering the bad conditions he is in. For a period of time in his illegal detention he was exposed to and temporarily forced into labor in a silk flowers factory that sends products to US companies. There, thousands of detainees worked 12 hour long days. He was forced to witness others being beaten. He would hear the blood curdling screams of people getting tortured at night if they had not done their job fast enough. He was forced to watch stray dogs screaming while slaughtered alive for detainee food. His ears have bled since they have forced him to sit by the speaker that plays loud obnoxious music and propaganda messages. For almost 10 years Mark has been in these conditions. He is very sick and has not been given any medical care or court appeal hearing. His “Lawyer” is paid for by the Chinese government and is not allowed to go against the Chinese rule of law. He is not allowed an American lawyer. He has attempted suicide 3 times. The U.S consulate knows all of this. Yet, Mark Swidan remains held hostage in China with very little coverage on his story. 

We hope to share this story so that more light can be shed on Mark Swidan. He must not be forgotten. We need to do more to get this innocent man back home. To learn more about the story, listen to the latest podcast by the Global Liberty Alliance where they feature Katherine Swidan. Listen here.