By — Nick Schifrin Nick Schifrin By — Teresa Cebrián Aranda Teresa Cebrián Aranda Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/family-of-american-held-by-syria-demands-accountability-after-learning-he-died-in-custody Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Audio The family of an American psychotherapist detained in Syria says the U.S. government has informed them he has died in custody. Majd Kamalmaz was one of a half dozen Americans believed held by Bashar al-Assad’s regime, some of whom have allegedly suffered torture, or have even been murdered. Nick Schifrin spoke with two of Kamalmaz’s daughters, Ulaa and Maryam. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. Amna Nawaz: The family of an American psychotherapist detained in Syria says the U.S. government has informed them that he died in custody.Majd Kamalmaz was one of half-a-dozen Americans believed held by Bashar al-Assad's regime.And, as Nick Schifrin reports, some of them were allegedly tortured, some even murdered — Nick. Nick Schifrin: Amna, Majd Kamalmaz wasn't hiking up a mountain or fishing in the ocean, he was with his brood of grandchildren. When he wasn't with them, he was helping other people's children who had suffered trauma in conflict or natural disasters. He led an NGO that treated young victims of the war in Bosnia, the tsunami in Indonesia, and Hurricane Katrina.In 2017, he traveled to Damascus to pay respects after his father-in-law's death. He never came home. Last week, the U.S. government told the Kamalmaz family that he was likely killed, a prisoner of Syria.I'm now joined by two of Majd Kamalmaz's daughters, Ula and Maryam.Ula, can you tell me about your father?Ula Kamalmaz, Daughter of Majd Kamalmaz: He was a kind-hearted, loving, empathetic individual who lived his attributes through his various roles as a family man and a psychotherapist who was devoted to his work and his family. Nick Schifrin: Maryam, what did the U.S. government tell you about what happened?Maryam Kamalmaz, Daughter of Majd Kamalmaz: So there was around eight U.S. government officials that had gathered for our meeting to discuss my father's fate.And they very, very clearly stated that they believe they have highly classified information that indicates that he has passed. This piece of information was highly credible, and they truly believed that he was deceased within the Syrian government's hands within the prisons of the Syrian government.There was no way for us to continue having any form of hope, basically, that he would be alive. It was very clear he was gone and very tragic for us as well, because we had been praying and hoping for the past seven years and working very — as much as we could to do the best that we can to bring him home alive.And to know that he was gone was devastating. Nick Schifrin: Ula, how has your family endured this? And, in any way or in some ways, does this provide a kind of closure? Ula Kamalmaz: I'm truly appreciative to have the opportunity to tell his story.And, as a family, it's been an experience of lots of emotions. We haven't heard from him for like seven years, nothing, not a phone call, no picture, no communication. So it has been hard on the family.My mom, which is his wife, and my grandmother, and his sisters, we kids, grandkids, it's been difficult. Unfortunately, the worst has come true, that we will never be able to see him. And this helps us a lot to know that his legacy can live on, and just very appreciative to be able to tell his story. Nick Schifrin: Maryam, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller was asked about your father earlier this week. And this is what he said. Matthew Miller, State Department Spokesman: We saw the statement the Kamalmaz family put out over the weekend, and our hearts go out to them at this difficult time. I would just say that we have engaged extensively to try to bring Majd Kamalmaz home, and we remain committed to seeking a full accountability — seeking a full accounting of his fate. Nick Schifrin: What's your response to that statement? Maryam Kamalmaz: They have told us what his fate is. And I do appreciate all the work they have put into finding and being able to inform us about our father.But I'm kind of confused by his statement, because they did very clearly indicate that he had passed. And I don't hear him saying that in his statement. Nick Schifrin: And, further, what do you want the U.S. government to do now? Or what will you and the family do now? Maryam Kamalmaz: Usually, when a situation as this happens, that an American citizen that has never been charged with a crime, no case, no trial is murdered within the prison, you would expect the president of the United States possibly to call our family, as well as a statement put out, some form of accountability to be put on the Syrian government, as well as looking into persecuting them in a criminal lawsuit.How could we be silent about an innocent person's death within the hands of another government? This is an American's life. Is it not valuable to the U.S. government? They're completely mute right now. Nick Schifrin: The official U.S. policy on Syria is against normalization with the Assad regime until there's a political solution and that U.S. sanctions will remain on Assad until then.Is that what you see this administration doing? Are they doing enough? Maryam Kamalmaz: I believe that the administration is not doing enough. They need to push harder for accountability.As you know, seven years — my father was gone for more than seven years, and not once did the Syrian government acknowledge his detainment, even though we know for 100 percent that they had him. And I believe the administration is not doing enough to learn our family members' fates and to bring them home, whether alive or not.Though I am grateful that they were able to bring us this piece of information, it's still disappointing that they are not publicly acknowledging what they have told us. Nick Schifrin: Maryam and Ula Kamalmaz, we are so sorry for your loss. Thank you very much for taking the time to speak to us tonight. Maryam Kamalmaz: Thank you. Ula Kamalmaz: Thank you. Listen to this Segment Watch Watch the Full Episode PBS NewsHour from May 22, 2024 By — Nick Schifrin Nick Schifrin Nick Schifrin is PBS NewsHour’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Correspondent. He leads NewsHour’s daily foreign coverage, including multiple trips to Ukraine since the full-scale invasion, and has created weeklong series for the NewsHour from nearly a dozen countries. The PBS NewsHour series “Inside Putin’s Russia” won a 2017 Peabody Award and the National Press Club’s Edwin M. Hood Award for Diplomatic Correspondence. In 2020 Schifrin received the American Academy of Diplomacy’s Arthur Ross Media Award for Distinguished Reporting and Analysis of Foreign Affairs. He was a member of the NewsHour teams awarded a 2021 Peabody for coverage of COVID-19, and a 2023 duPont Columbia Award for coverage of Afghanistan and Ukraine. Prior to PBS NewsHour, Schifrin was Al Jazeera America's Middle East correspondent. He led the channel’s coverage of the 2014 war in Gaza; reported on the Syrian war from Syria's Turkish, Lebanese and Jordanian borders; and covered the annexation of Crimea. He won an Overseas Press Club award for his Gaza coverage and a National Headliners Award for his Ukraine coverage. From 2008-2012, Schifrin served as the ABC News correspondent in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 2011 he was one of the first journalists to arrive in Abbottabad, Pakistan, after Osama bin Laden’s death and delivered one of the year’s biggest exclusives: the first video from inside bin Laden’s compound. His reporting helped ABC News win an Edward R. Murrow award for its bin Laden coverage. Schifrin is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a board member of the Overseas Press Club Foundation. He has a Bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and a Master of International Public Policy degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). @nickschifrin By — Teresa Cebrián Aranda Teresa Cebrián Aranda Teresa is a Producer on the Foreign Affairs & Defense Unit at PBS NewsHour. She writes and produces daily segments for the millions of viewers in the U.S. and beyond who depend on PBS NewsHour for timely, relevant information on the world’s biggest issues. She’s reported on authoritarianism in Latin America, rising violence in Haiti, Egypt’s crackdown on human rights, Israel’s judicial reforms and China’s zero-covid policy, among other topics. Teresa also contributed to the PBS NewsHour’s coverage of the war in Ukraine, which was named recipient of a duPont-Columbia Award in 2023, and was part of a team awarded with a Peabody Award for the NewsHour’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.