The IPI global network today calls on the U.S. government and international community to demand urgent answers and full transparency from Syrian authorities regarding the case of American journalist Austin Tice.
Tice has been missing since August 2012. He is believed to have been detained abroad longer than any other U.S. journalist to date. We are alarmed by recent reports that Tice was executed in 2013 and call for accountability and clarity surrounding his prolonged disappearance.
Tice, a freelance journalist and former U.S. Marine captain, vanished in August 2012 in a Damascus suburb. Recent reporting shows he was held and interrogated by Bassam al-Hassan, a top adviser to former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Seven weeks following his capture, a video emerged in which he was blindfolded and surrounded by armed men. U.S. officials believed the video was framed to mislead the public to believe he was captured by jihadists, not the Syrian government.
Intelligence files recently uncovered confirm for the first time that Tice was imprisoned by the regime with Assad’s full consent, rather than by rebel groups in Syria. A former member of the National Defence Forces (NDF), a paramilitary force loyal to Assad, said that Tice’s value was well understood as a “card” to be used in diplomatic negotiations with the U.S.
Bassam Hassan, chief of staff of the NDF, who initially held Tice, met with the FBI and CIA in Beirut in April, marking the first time a senior official of the Assad regime spoke to U.S. officials about the journalist. Hassan had fled to Iran when Assad’s dictatorship collapsed in December 2024. He claimed that Assad had given orders for Tice’s execution in 2013, despite Hassan’s attempts to persuade him otherwise. He also gave possible locations of the journalist’s body. These claims are still unverified, and Tice’s parents believe Hassan’s statements merit no credibility.
As Hassan’s statements have yet to be confirmed, U.S. intelligence officials have stated that no compelling evidence exists which suggests that Tice is either alive or dead. The new Syrian government has so far cooperated with efforts to locate Tice. His mother met with the new leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, in Damascus and attempted to meet with Hassan herself, but was unsuccessful.
“We are deeply shocked and disturbed by recent claims that American journalist Austin Tice was executed,” said IPI Director of Advocacy Amy Brouillette. “For nearly 13 years, his family has endured unimaginable anguish. As the anniversary of his capture approaches, we urgently call for clear answers and full accountability for his disappearance.”