He told the world about his brutal torture in Syria — then, mysteriously, he went back

No one has heard from Mazen al-Hamada since his shocking return to his Motherland. Hamada, a journalist during the war, managed to flee to the Netherlands in 2014, where he went on to become a figurehead for exposing the suffering of Syrian torture victims. But his mental health never recovered, and for reasons that remain unclear, he went back to Syria in 2020. In this thoughtful investigation, Liz Sly aims this thoughtful investigation, Liz Sly aims to understand why.