Washington D.C. – PBS, June 10, 2025
Majd Kamalmaz was one of half a dozen Americans detained and killed in Syria by Bashar al-Assad’s regime. In 2017, he traveled to Damascus to pay respects after his father-in-law’s death but was detained and died in prison. Maryam Kamalmaz met with Syria’s new leader to discuss not only her father, but other Americans who have disappeared there. She joined Amna Nawaz to discuss more.
Amna Nawaz:
American psychotherapist Majd Kamalmaz was one of half-a-dozen Americans detained and killed in Syria by Bashar al-Assad’s regime. 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. Only last year, his family learned that he died in prison, but his body has not been found.
His daughter, Maryam Kamalmaz, recently met with the newly installed Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, to discuss not only her father, but other Americans who’ve disappeared in Syria.
And Maryam Kamalmaz joins me here.
Welcome. Thanks for being here.
