Austin Tice is an American journalist and former Marine who has been held captive in Syria since August 2012. He is one of the few Americans captured by the Bashar al-Assad regime and is currently the longest-held American hostage, with over 4,500 days in captivity.
Austin Tice was captured near Damascus on August 14, 2012, while covering the early days of the Syrian civil war. He was working as a freelance journalist for outlets like the Washington Post and AFP. Despite being taken at a government checkpoint, the regime initially denied holding him.
Austin's sister, Abigail Edderburn, believes he is still alive based on trusted sources, including the U.S. president. Additionally, a Syrian undercover journalist, Saher Al-Ahmad, claimed to have seen Tice alive in July 2022 while they were both held in the same prison.
Prisoners in Syrian prisons, including those in Sednaya, often suffer severe mental and physical abuse. Some are held for decades and barely recognize their families upon release. While foreigners like Tice may be treated slightly better, they still face years of solitary confinement, torture, and frequent transfers.
The U.S. government has sent a special envoy, Roger Carstens, to Beirut to coordinate efforts. There is also a point person, Moaz Mustafa, who liaises between the government and the family. Numerous unofficial efforts by journalists and media organizations are ongoing to locate Tice.
Detainees like Tice are often charged with vague and sweeping allegations, such as spying for the U.S. government or Israel. These charges are rarely specific and often result in indefinite detention without trial.
Saher Al-Ahmad, a Syrian undercover journalist, claims to have been held in the same prison as Tice in 2022. He provided details about the prison's layout and mentioned hearing a jailer refer to Tice as 'Ossie,' suggesting he was still alive at that time.
The US journalist Austin Tice is America's longest-held hostage, having been held captive in Syria since 2012. The Times' US Correspondent Josie Ensor, who covered the Middle East and Syria for years, discusses the ongoing efforts to find him - including her conversation with a Syrian undercover journalist who believes he was in the same prison at the same time as Austin.
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