60 Minutes: Matt Schrier Escape & Extremists Vs Free Syrian Army

60 Minutes: 210 Days of Captivity

Did you know that four American hostages are being held by Syrian terrorists? The civil war there has racked up a death toll of 120,000 and left millions more homeless. Matt Schrier is one of the few to escape this captivity, and he spoke to Scott Pelley for 60 Minutes about his experiences.

Matt Schrier said that he was used to hearing constant sniper fire. As a war photographer, he made his way into the country with the help of the Free Syrian Army, a group of rebels with the backing of the US government. They are fighting dictator Bashar Al Assad for their freedom.

60 Minutes: Free Syrian Army

Many of these people’s friends and family members have been killed under Bashar’s regime. But there are other rebel groups as well, including Islamic extremists. After almost three weeks with the Free Syrian Army, Schrier was intercepted by a cloaked band of these extremists.

Jabhat Al-Nusra wants to turn Syria into an extremist Islamic state and is on the same level as Al Qaeda. Schrier said he was concerned that he might be executed, which was a strong possibility. Other prisoners were being tortured in the former children’s hospital where he was held captive.

60 Minutes: Islamic Extremists in Syria

Kawa was the name of the lead interrogator, who tortured people. Electricity and other tactics were used, such as hanging people from pipes on handcuffs. Schrier told 60 Minutes he was accused of working for the CIA, and he was to be judged in an Islamic court.

To keep himself sane and present, he constantly repeated the date throughout each day, to help him keep track of the passing of time. He also attempted to connect with younger guards, picking up some Arabic and teaching them to fist bump.

After a few weeks in, Matt was moved to a cell by a guard named Mohammed. His new cellmate spoke Arabic, but was actually another American. It was a total surprise. But there were a total of at least four other Americans known to be captive there.

60 Minutes: Austin Tice & James Foley in Syria

Two of the prisoners’ families declined to include their names and photographs in the news reports. But Austin Tice and James Foley are also missing journalists being held there. After Schrier had spent over 30 days in captivity, Jabhat Al-Nusra’s guards forced him to hand over passwords to his accounts.

Then they sent fake emails to his contacts, including his mother, replete with misspellings. The men had no trouble typing credit card numbers correctly, however. These were used to purchase car parts, computers, cologne, and even sunglasses. They even spent his money on iTunes downloads, to the tune of $17,000.

Matt was being held in that children’s hospital in Aleppo, until one jailer noticed gouges in his cell door. He was accused of attempting to escape. As punishment and a warning, they bound him using a car tire and then beat him on the bottom of his feet, 115 times. He had to remember not to curse, which would offend the torturers.

60 Minutes: Matt Schrier Syria Escape

He was repeatedly moved to new prisons, with guards constantly wearing suicide belts in case someone like the FSA attempted to intercept their prisoners. The anarchy had rebel groups fighting one another. Matt recalled hearing constant gunshots, and he was afraid that his captors would detonate those suicide vests.

Shrier eventually landed in a worse prison, where he was starved, tased, and beaten. He finally made it to a sixth prison and a basement cell. But there, he had a window for the first time. The window was covered in thick wire, but Matt could tell the wires had been replaced.

After weeks of staring at the wires and attempting to figure out whether he could escape, he found a solution. He concluded that the wires were only welded on one side, and he hatched a plan to undo the wires and make a daring escape.

He waited until Ramadan, the holy month during which members of Islam fast. Expecting that the guards would be sleeping through the day, he made his attempt on July 29. He went out head first, squirmed out, and had to unbutton his pants to slide all the way out of the window.

60 Minutes: Matt Schrier Rescue from Syria

Within five minutes, he was walking free in the streets. After seven months in captivity, he now had to find a way to make it back home. He had to search for the Free Syrian Army rebels using his broken Arabic.

His first two attempts to get help were rebuffed, and he continued to wander the streets before finding the FSA help he needed. They helped him reach the border with Turkey, where he called the US embassy.

He got to speak to his family for the first time in seven months. Two days later, he was on a plane back to America. “Seven months is a long time to just disappear in the most dangerous country in the world,” he said.