It’s a somber anniversary spurring a renewed determination for answers to the whereabouts of Austin Tice.
The U.S. Marine veteran-turned-journalist was kidnapped in Syria 12 years ago while freelancing for The Washington Post, McClatchy, and CBS News.
“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,” President Joe Biden said in a statement on the anniversary of Tice’s kidnapping, adding, “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.”
The recent prisoner swap that freed two American journalists, Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva, means that Tice is now the lone American journalist being held overseas.
Despite the heartbreak that he was not part of that deal, Tice’s family and those advocating for him still remain hopeful for his eventual return after a dozen years.
“Austin is the last remaining American journalist, and he’s been held longer than any other American journalist,” said Bill McCarren, the current press freedom consultant and former executive director of the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
McCarren has been actively involved in Tice’s case. On Wednesday, the Press Club is hosting a concert in Washington, D.C., to bring more attention to Tice.
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“We wanted people to know about Austin — that he’s a journalist, he’s a Marine and he’s an Eagle Scout, and he’s a lawyer and he’s all these things, and this is not what people’s image of a journalist necessarily is,” McCarren said.
Inside the Press Club, Tice’s face is everywhere — on screens, T-shirts, and signs.
Also on display there: the Polk Award he won for his reporting in Syria, his reporter’s notebook, and a pair of sneakers that he wore while pursuing a story.
In the lobby, a “Freedom Clock” dedicated to Tice counts the seconds, days, months, and years of his captivity.
“He’s been in there a long time and we’re worried about the toll that’s taken on him,” McCarren said.
Yet, McCarren and family members and other supporters of Tice believe that he is still alive, despite how many years have passed since his kidnapping.
“We have ways of knowing this, but it’s hard to reveal that,” McCarren said, adding, “and so last year when President Biden came out and said, ‘We know with certainty’ that Austin is being held by the Syrians, this is what he’s referring to.”
While President Biden said in 2022 that the U.S. knows that Syria is holding Tice, the Syrian government has denied holding any Americans.
The U.S. State Department has told Scripps News it considers Tice’s case to be an “unacknowledged detention.” A spokesperson recently addressed the case during a briefing.
“I never want to speak to the details of underlying cases from the podium, just because they’re all incredibly sensitive, and we work to bring detainees home,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Aug. 8. “We have been working for years, of course, to try to bring Austin Tice home.”
In the meantime, a bipartisan group of several dozen members of Congress signed on to a letter sent to President Biden ahead of the 12th anniversary of Tice’s kidnapping.
The letter reads in part, “Austin represents the best our nation has to offer, and we are committed to working with you to return him to his loving family. As an American and a veteran, Austin deserves the full and active support of our government to secure his release.”
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It’s a release that his mother, Debra Tice, recently told Scripps News that she’s never lost hope will happen.
“One thing that means a lot to me — having learned, having met, other hostage families is in all of this time never, never have I ever had a moment of doubt, not ever,” she said. “And so, I don’t have any reason not to believe that we’re going to see Austin walk free one way or another.”
What complicates matters is that the U.S. has no direct relations with Syria.
Back in 2020, though, U.S. officials met in secret with Syrian officials in the capital of Damascus to discuss Tice’s case. Syria is looking for, among other things, an end to U.S. sanctions and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, where about 900 are currently stationed.
