US Journalist Austin Tice’s Family Throw Doubt on Syrian Claim He Was Executed

The man accused of being responsible for holding Austin Tice – the American journalist who was abducted in Syria 2012 – has claimed that ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad ordered his execution and that he is dead, the BBC reported.

The broadcaster, citing security sources, made the discovery as part of an upcoming BBC Radio 4 podcast about Tice’s disappearance. However, authorities, along with Tice’s family, are sceptical of the claims.

In a statement to the New York Times, a representative for the family said they were disappointed it had been published and doubted it was true: “Based on firsthand information, the Tice family believes this version of events is false and it is unhelpful to their efforts to locate and safely return Austin.”

The reporter and former US Marine captain vanished near the Syrian capital, Damascus, just days before his 31st birthday.

The fallen regime consistently denied knowing where he was, but intelligence documents uncovered by the BBC earlier this month, along with testimonies from former Syrian officials, confirmed what the US Government long suspected: Tice had been imprisoned by the Assad regime.

Major General Bassam Al Hassan, a former commander in the Republican Guards and part of Assad’s inner circle, was also the Chief of Staff of the National Defence Forces (NDF), the paramilitary group the broadcaster reported was responsible for holding Tice.

Al Hassan is said to have met with US law enforcement at least three times in Lebanon earlier this year and during these conversations told investigators that Assad had ordered Tice’s execution, which was later carried out.

Al Hassan is understood to have provided possible locations for the journalist’s body, but the BBC reported that investigators are yet to confirm his claims. Searches of the sites are said to be planned.

Hassan was sanctioned by the US in 2014 for arms procurement and is wanted by French judges for allegedly helping coordinate sarin gas attacks in 2013. He reportedly maintained close ties with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in Syria, the Guardian reported.

In December 2024, after rebel forces seized Damascus, Hassan fled to Iran before travelling, voluntarily, to Lebanon where US investigators have been interviewing him since April.

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Who is Austin Tice

Austin Bennett Tice, born on 11 August 1981, in Houston, Texas, is the eldest of seven siblings. A lifelong writer at heart, he graduated from Georgetown University’s prestigious Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service in 2002. The former US Marine captain, who completed two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, also enrolled at Georgetown University Law Center in 2010.

In 2012, he chose to cover the Syrian civil war as a freelance journalist, becoming one of the few foreigners reporting from inside the country as it slipped into chaos. His work, published in outlets like The Washington Post, McClatchy News, and CBS, earned him the George Polk Award for War Reporting.

Tice was last seen near a checkpoint on the outskirts of Damascus, in the suburb of Darayya in August 2012. Seven weeks later a 47- second video appeared online titled, ‘Austin Tice Still Alive’.

The footage showed him blindfolded in torn clothing, being forced by armed men to recite an Islamic declaration of faith in Arabic. Tice appeared visibly shaken, first uttering in English, “Oh Jesus, oh Jesus,” then switching to Arabic with, “God, oh God”.

Even though the footage appeared to indicate a jihadist group’s involvement, US intelligence questioned its authenticity and suggested the recording may have been “staged”.

Several factors contributed to these doubts. There was no logo, which is typical of jihadist propaganda videos; the armed men’s clothing appeared freshly laundered and resembled traditional Pashtun or Afghan attire – not typical of the Syrian rebel groups operating in the region – and the captors repeatedly yelled, “Allahu Akbar” yet they neither spoke nor showed their faces, behaviour that is uncommon for extremist groups who often use videos to claim responsibility and spread their message.

The breakthrough in the Tice case comes from an abandoned Syrian intelligence archive. During an investigation begun over a year ago, a local investigator working with the BBC discovered a folder bearing the missing journalist’s name.

The documents contained communications between various Syrian intelligence branches and have been confirmed as authentic.

One document marked “top secret” provides the first official record showing Tice was held in Damascus in 2012.

A former senior intelligence officer and other investigative sources say he passed through Tahouneh – a facility controlled by the National Defense Forces (NDF), a pro-government paramilitary group.

The NDF, formally established in November 2012, was created to organise pro-Assad militias often called Shabiha for their notorious brutality. These forces operated as the regular army’s enforcement wing, specialising in coercive military operations.

According to collected testimonies, Tice was arrested near Darayya, a suburb of the capital, and remained in prison at least until February 2013. Early that year, Reuters reported that an American man, dressed in ragged clothes, was seen attempting to escape through the streets of Damascus’s Mazzeh district before being recaptured.

The recent investigation draws a possible connection to this incident, establishing that Tice briefly escaped captivity by slipping through a window of his cell, only to be apprehended again.

In the months between late 2012 and early 2013, Tice was interrogated at least twice by a Syrian intelligence agent. During that period, he developed gastrointestinal issues, was seen by a doctor at least twice, and blood test results showed the presence of a viral infection.

A witness with access to the facility who saw him personally, reported that compared to other detainees, Tice received somewhat better treatment – though his face appeared hollow. “He looked sad, all joy gone from his face,” the witness said.

Among the demands made by Damascus over the years, either directly or implicitly, are the withdrawal of US armed forces from Syria, the lifting of the toughest economic sanctions, and the resumption of diplomatic relations.

After years of dead ends and international negotiations, Tice’s story regained momentum in December 2024 following the collapse of the Syrian regime.

At the time, US President Joe Biden stated he believed the journalist was still alive, echoing claims made days earlier by Tice’s mother, Debra. A reliable source had confirmed her son was alive and being held in acceptable conditions.

As rebel forces advanced, thousands of detainees were freed from prisons under their control—yet Tice was not among those released when the facilities were cleared. Rumours surged when another American, Travis Timmerman, was freed and initially misidentified as Tice.

Despite the mix-up regarding Timmerman’s identity and the subsequent disappointment, Debra and Marc’s perseverance remains undimmed and they have found new allies in the post-Assad government.

Just weeks ago, the newly appointed US Special Envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack, announced that the post-Assad Syrian leadership has agreed to assist in locating missing Americans, including Tice.

Donald Trump also recently addressed the case during a visit to Saudi Arabia. When questioned by journalists about whether he had discussed the matter with the new Syrian president, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, the White House incumbent replied, “I always talk about Austin Tice. He’s a guy who hasn’t been seen in many, many years.” Trump then added: “He has an amazing mother who doesn’t stop looking for him.”

The comment came just days after Sky News Arabia falsely reported that Tice’s body had been discovered in a cemetery in northern Syria, a claim the family condemned as “deeply disrespectful”.

Those investigating the case are well aware that the Assad regime often employed forced disappearances as a primary tool of persecution during the Syrian civil war.

This mechanism was designed to terrorise the civilian population, eliminate political and social opposition, and suppress all forms of dissent. It made use of hundreds of clandestine detention facilities, where, according to independent organisations’ estimates, approximately 100,000 civilians vanished.

The detention centres, often called “human slaughterhouses” by former detainees and human rights organisations, were places of widespread torture and mass death.

The former Syrian government’s unwillingness to provide concrete answers about Tice’s whereabouts or condition, despite recent evidence directly linking it to his imprisonment, exemplifies the total lack of transparency and respect for human rights that defined the carceral system under Assad.