Nine years of diplomatic deadlock must end for Austin Tice to return home.
Nine years have passed since journalist Austin Tice was kidnapped while reporting from Syria in August 2012. Some weeks later, a video was released showing Tice as a captive. Since then, no one has heard from him.
After nine years of being held captive, his family, friends, and colleagues still hope to see him return home one day. Advocates for press freedom and journalists' rights are now intensifying their pressure on the Biden administration to make the release of Tice the top priority in diplomatic negotiations with the Syrian regime. Those who stand with the pessimistic approach don't carry much hope on how the current US government will revert the diplomatic deadlock due to the failure of the Obama and Trump administrations in the last nine years to bring home the hostage journalist.
In an Op-ed titled "Austin Tice is turning 40. Can this president finally bring him home?", Fred Ryan, publisher of the Washington Post, emphasized the United States' duty to bring Austin Tice safely home: "Our country should not — cannot — leave Austin Tice behind. Unfortunately, his plight has now extended into a third presidential administration. Obama was not able to free him. Trump was reportedly determined to bring Austin and other hostages home but was thwarted by obstacles including his own bureaucracy. Today, President Biden has an opening to succeed where his predecessors failed".
Tice's abduction and detainment in Syria for almost a decade illustrate well the dangers faced by journalists working in the Middle East, along with the ineptitude of international diplomacy to guarantee protection for representatives of the press. Despite recent statements by White House press secretary Jen Psaki that the US administration will "follow all paths and get in touch with anyone who can help," it refused to elaborate on the next steps in the longstanding diplomatic effort to achieve Austin's release.
We know that in 2020 an official from the White House visited Damascus, a sign that a move was taking place behind the scenes in negotiations. Syrian government officials blew away any hope for a resolution, asserting that they have no knowledge of the fate of an American journalist. The words of Tice's mother and father, both of whom have lived for years with the hope of hugging their son again, are a bold plea to President Biden to provide "authorization for significant and relevant diplomatic engagement with the Syrian government (...) on Austin's secure release and free return".
The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement expressed his personal commitment "to bringing home all Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad. We believe that it is within Bashar al-Assad’s power to free Austin. We will continue to pursue all avenues to bring Austin home." The United States Government is offering a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to Austin's safe location, recovery, and return.
(Photo Credits: AP)
