Austin Tice: Secret files show missing US journalist was imprisoned by Syria

BBC News

2 days ago

Top secret intelligence files uncovered by the BBC confirm for the first time that missing American journalist Austin Tice was imprisoned by the regime of the now-deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.Former Syrian officials have also confirmed Mr Tice's detention to the BBC.The US government has previously stated that it believed Mr Tice had been held by the Syrian government, but the Assad regime continuously denied this, and nothing was known about the details of his detention.The intelligence files - along with testimony from several former regime officials - now reveal what happened to Mr Tice after his abduction.
Mr Tice vanished near the Syrian capital of Damascus in August 2012, just days after his 31st birthday. He had been working as a freelance journalist. Around seven weeks later, a video posted online showed him blindfolded and with his hands bound being forced to recite an Islamic declaration of faith by a group of armed men. However, the impression given - that Mr Tice had been abducted by a jihadist group - was quickly questioned by analysts and US officials, who said the scene "may have been staged". No group or government has ever claimed responsibility for his disappearance and he has not been heard from since, fuelling widespread speculation as to his whereabouts.
The BBC uncovered the material as part of an ongoing investigation that began over a year ago for a Radio 4 podcast series, while accompanying a Syrian investigator to an intelligence facility.The intelligence files are the first evidence to surface of the Syrian regime's detention of Mr Tice since search efforts began to find him following the fall of Bashar al-Assad in early December 2024. The files labelled "Austin Tice" comprise of communications from different branches of Syrian intelligence. Their authenticity has been verified by the BBC and law enforcement.One communication, marked "top secret" shows Mr Tice was held in a detention facility in the capital of Damascus in 2012. Additional sources confirmed this to be in Tahouneh and a former senior Syrian intelligence officer, also confirmed that Mr Tice had been held in Damascus by a paramilitary group. The fallen regime consistently denied knowing of Mr Tice's whereabouts; the BBC investigation proves this was false.Mr Tice is understood to have been arrested near the Damascus suburb of Darayya, and then held by members of a paramilitary force loyal to President Assad called the National Defence Forces (NDF). A Syrian official confirmed to the BBC that Mr Tice was there until at least February of 2013. At that time, Mr Tice developed stomach issues and was treated by a doctor at least twice. Blood tests are said to have revealed he was suffering from a viral infection at the time.A man who visited the facility where Mr Tice was held and saw him told the BBC that he was treated better than the Syrian detainees, but that "he looked sad, and that the joy had gone from his face".
Separately, a former member of the NDF with intimate knowledge of Austin's detention told the BBC "that Austin's value was understood" and that he was a "card" that could be played in diplomatic negotiations with the US.Mr Tice is reported to have briefly escaped his captivity by squeezing through a window in his cell, but was later recaptured. He was also interrogated at least twice by a Syrian government intelligence officer. The incident is believed to have taken place between late 2012 and early 2013.When Assad was ousted in December 2024, then-US President Joe Biden said he believed Mr Tice was still alive. Two days previously, Mr Tice's mother, Debra Tice, said that a "significant source" had confirmed that Mr Tice was alive and being "treated well".But when prisons were emptied after the fall of the government, there was no sign of Mr Tice and his whereabouts are still unknown.The Tice family are aware of the existence of these intelligence files seen by the BBC, as are the US authorities, and also a Syrian group that is working to gather information on crimes committed by the Assad regime.Mr Tice is believed to be one of the longest-held American hostages. His mother, Debra and father, Marc. have led a tireless campaign to highlight their son's disappearance.Their son is a former US marine captain who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan and was a law student at the prestigious Georgetown University in Washington DC. In 2012 he travelled to Syria to report on the civil war as a freelance journalist. Mr Tice vanished into a vast and complex system of detention. The UK-based monitoring group the Syrian Network for Human Rights estimates that 100,000 people disappeared under the Assad regime.