 The special envoy leads and coordinates activities across the Executive Branch to bring home Americans held hostage in other countries.Roger D. Carstens was selected by the Secretary of State and appointed by the President to serve as the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs (SPEHA).Ambassador Carstens is the former Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at the U.S. Department of State, where he oversaw the Bureau’s work in Near Eastern Affairs, Western Hemisphere Affairs, and the Office of Security and Human Rights.