A year and a half ago, the fall of Syrian dictator Bashar
al-Assad raised hopes in the United States that Austin Tice,
an American reporter arrested in Syria in August 2012, might
be found alive. Yet, the search has made very little
progress. Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which
investigated on the ground in Syria three times since the
regime change, has confirmed that Assad’s government held
Tice captive until at least early 2013. What happened to him
afterwards remains uncertain.
Below is an excerpt
of the investigative piece:
The effort
to piece together Austin Tice’s captivity is a long,
arduous ordeal. Anyone attempting to solve the mystery must
enter the opaque maze of the Syrian intelligence apparatus
while remaining wary of liars and fraudsters, who greatly
outnumber those who genuinely crossed the reporter’s
path.As soon as we arrived, the doctor understood
that the appointment would not end with a prescription. We
were not ill. We were looking for information. He eventually
agreed to tell us what he knew.Between late 2012 and
early 2013, he saw Austin Tice three times. The journalist
was being held in secret in a small office at the Republican
Guard base northwest of Damascus. Its commander, General
Bassam al-Hassan, belonged to Bashar al-Assad’s inner
circle. The doctor sitting opposite us was the general’s
personal physician.
To read the full
investigation, go here:
https://rsf.org/en/us-journalist-austin-tice-missing-2012-still-prisoner-damascus-secrets
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