US demands answer from Syrian government about death of American-Syrian psychotherapist

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US said Tuesday it demands an answer about the death of an American-Syrian psychotherapist in Syria.

"Today we honor Majd Kamalmaz, an American who died while being held in Syria," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

Blinken said Kamalmaz traveled to the Arab country to provide medical services to those traumatized by the Syrian civil war and was last seen at a Syrian government checkpoint in 2017.

"The Syrian government must answer for what happened to Majd," said Blinken. "We support Majd’s family and the families of all those who are missing or unjustly detained in Syria in their quest for accountability. Even as we pay tribute to Majd today, we will keep fighting for all Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad.”

Kamalmaz was tortured to death by Bashar al-Assad regime forces, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said in late May.

“In May 2024, the family of doctor Majd Kamalmaz began receiving information of his death in a Syrian regime detention center. This came after many attempts by the family to find out anything about his whereabouts since he was first arrested by regime forces on February 15, 2017, at a checkpoint in the al-Mazza neighborhood of Damascus city,” the SNHR said in a statement.

Kamalmaz's family has not heard from him since his detention, it added.

In March 2011, popular protests erupted in Syria demanding a peaceful transfer of power, but the Assad regime chose to suppress demonstrators militarily, pushing the country into a devastating civil war.

Syria has since witnessed unprecedented devastation and displacement, according to the UN. More than 6 million Syrians have fled the country, with 3 million hosted by Türkiye, and 6.7 million internally displaced.