He risked his life and that of his family to inform the French of the situation in Syria. Hussam Hammoud, a Syrian journalist, is now a refugee in Turkey. A country where he is not safe, threatened with death by networks close to the Islamic State, and without any protection from Ankara. He also risks being deported to his country of origin, like other Syrians who have found refuge on the other side of the border. He has worked for years for French and English media, including Radio France, Mediapart, The worldFrance 24, BFMTV, The Guardian or the BBC. However, his request for a humanitarian visa, in order to be able to apply for asylum, was refused by the French authorities on September 5th.
Under media pressure, including a Tribune signed in various newspapers, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and of the Interior agreed to study his request again. The case of Hussam Hammoud is the subject of a summary hearing this Wednesday, October 5 at the administrative court of Nantes. Day also of the release of his investigation co-signed with the French journalist Céline Martelet Asphyxiation, Raqqa, chronicle of an apocalypse, published by Denoel. This journalist agreed to answer questions from 20 Minutes.
Why did you choose France for this humanitarian visa application?
I chose France because I have been working in French media agencies since 2018 and know many journalist colleagues and friends in France. I think I even started my career in France before coming here. It would be difficult for me to work in another country and in another language, I would have to start all over again.
The other reason is the nature of the subjects on which I work. Most of them consist of exposing the plans of the terrorist organization Islamic State, which enabled me to find a really interested audience in France, a country that has suffered attacks by this terrorist group. In my opinion, the French understand the danger of ISIS as a common enemy, more than other nations that have not directly suffered from terrorism.
What was your reaction when the French authorities refused your visa application on September 5?
I couldn’t believe it for several days, it was the last thing I expected. This visa is the culmination of a life that I have already begun in France.
Why is it impossible for you to stay in Turkey?
Turkey is a crucial country to work on the subjects of the Middle East. Especially when you want to work in depth. But Turkey is not a safe country for journalists, there are many assassinations, many attacks, which target journalists and activists, especially those who have worked against Daesh between 2015 and 2016. We have lost many friends here.
What threats are you targeting today?
Today, the main threats aimed at me come from people who still have links with ISIS, especially in circles close to the organization’s financial system. These threats started appearing when I did some interviews for a project I’m working on right now, which will be online soon. This publication and the impact that this work will have increases the threat hanging over me.
What do you expect from tomorrow’s hearing?
I have confidence in the people who will represent me in court, I have confidence in the fact that all these efforts, these supports will not be in vain. It would be unfortunate if all this was done for nothing.
Your work in Syria on the Islamic State has been invaluable in the fight against the terrorist group… Was the game worth the effort?
It is worth fighting this terrorist group and especially with the weapon most likely to harm it, namely information. We are fully aware that they are delighted if we speak of the terror he sows, of their horrific abuses, but what disturbs them the most is the revelation of their hidden plans. So shedding light and destroying their plans by warning the world of how they’re going to go about it has great value to me.
You even helped French justice by giving it documents found in the rubble of Raqqa….
Indeed, we have found, with Céline Martelet and Edith Bouvier [journaliste française indépendante] sensitive documents, thanks to our networks of trusted people, civilians, who lived on the same streets as the terrorist group and watched everything. These documents offer valuable explanations of how IS used the money, why and how much. The moment we found them, we took the decision to send them to the French justice, fearing that such important pieces of evidence would be lost or destroyed later by the Islamic State if they remained in Syria.
This Wednesday is also a big day for you because your investigative book co-written with Céline Martelet will be released in bookstores in France…
Céline Martelet and I have shared the same tragedy, the violence of Daesh, of Raqqa to France. It is also considered that the media has focused too much on the crimes committed and the tracking of criminals. So we decided to write Asphyxiation: Raqqa, chronicle of an apocalypse to give the first victims of ISIS a chance to tell the story from the beginning through their words and voices. I strongly believe that the people of Raqqa who tell these stories in cafes all day must have an audible voice in French, because IS is no longer just a Syrian affair, it is a global danger.
Why is it important for you to continue working on the Islamic State and the consequences of its domination of Raqqa until 2017?
The Islamic State is not yet completely defeated, my people still suffer from this terrorism on a daily basis. And as long as the Syrians suffer, I will tell, I will expose his schemes to the international community, until my death or the death of IS.
The threat is still there, we are dealing with the same monsters everywhere. The Syrians live and know perfectly well that Daesh is still present and more dangerous than it was, contrary to the “mythical story” of its defeat. We are still suffering because of this ideological organization which will not disappear with airstrikes or firearms.
The only way to resist this is to actually work on solving the problem and start with return all foreign fighters to their country from Syrian prisons and camps, whose security is not optimal. I believe that as Syrians we will not be able to solve the problem internally. We have tried before, since 2014, but ignoring countries at that time was the reason for our defeat and the takeover of ISIS. We don’t want to repeat the same scenario.
If a Russian defeat in Ukraine led to the downfall of Vladimir Putin, do you think peace could ever return to Syria?
The fall of Russia’s criminal regime would go a long way towards solving the Syrian problem, but that is not the only problem in Syria. We now have Turkish, Iranian, American and French influence. In addition to all the armed militias, the first being the army of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.