With just a few months remaining in his term, US President Joe Biden has renewed calls for the immediate release of American journalist Austin Tice, who vanished in Syria in 2012. The US government believes Tice is being held captive by the Syrian government.
This week marks the 12th anniversary of Tice’s disappearance. In a statement marking the occasion, President Biden said, “This week marks 12 long, terrible years since American Austin Tice was abducted in Syria. We have repeatedly pressed the government of Syria to work with us so that we can, at last, bring Austin home. Today, I once again call for his immediate release.”
Tice, a former Marine and award-winning journalist, disappeared while reporting in Daraya, a suburb of Damascus, on August 13, 2012. He was working as a freelance journalist and photographer for several news organizations, including CBS, The Washington Post, and McClatchy Company. In 2012, he was awarded the George Polk Award for war reporting for his work covering the Syrian Civil War, along with journalist David Enders.
The US government has consistently maintained that Tice was kidnapped and is being held by the Syrian authorities. “The freedom of the press is essential, and journalists like Austin play a critical role in informing the public and holding those in power accountable,” President Biden stated. “We stand in solidarity with Austin, his family, and all Americans wrongfully detained and held hostage abroad. I will continue to do everything possible to advocate for and pursue his release and support his loved ones until he is safely returned home.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also issued a statement echoing similar sentiments, stating that the US government “knows the Syrian government has held Austin, and we have repeatedly offered to find a way to bring him home”.
“We call on the Syrian government to work with the United States to end Austin’s captivity and to provide an accounting for the fate of other Americans who went missing in Syria. Austin went to Syria to show the world the truth of what was going on there,” Blinken added. “We’re not going to relent until we find a way to bring Austin’s unjust detention to an end.”
Back in 2022, President Biden stated that the US government knew “with certainty” that Tice was being held by the Syrian government.
However, the Syrian government has consistently denied these accusations. From the beginning of the case, Syria has denied that it “kidnapped or is holding any American citizen on its territories” and has called the accusations made by the US government “baseless”.
Biden’s remarks come just over a week after two US senators, Chris Van Hollen (Democrat, Maryland) and John Cornyn (Republican, Texas), sent a bipartisan letter to the Biden administration requesting that it “use all available means to secure Austin’s release”.
The renewed calls for Tice’s release have intensified following the historic prisoner swap between Russia and the West, which led to the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
