Feds urged to take action on Canadians being held in detention camps in Syria

Traveling to Northeast Syria our delegation was aware of at least nine Canadian men who are reportedly held in prisons in the region who have been detained for many years without charge or trial without contact or communication with their families without access to lawyers and who are not receiving Consular visits a top

Priority therefore during our visit was to be granted access to these men in many cases there has not even been clear in for confirmation through what is often termed proof of life that they are even still alive for several years in the end we were able to visit with

Two of the men held in different prisons on the last day of our visit and we received considerable assistance from officials with the autonomous Administration in making those arrangements which we deeply appreciate we were and remain very disappointed and concerned that we did not obtain access to the other men

We met with Muhammad Ali and Jack lets both men also shared with us that they face serious health concerns Muhammad Ali did not however feel able to share further details given that our interview by necessity was conducted with prison officials present um they have both been held for over

Five years they have not been charged in Northeast Syria or brought before a judge or tribunal nor have there been any steps taken towards repatriating extraditing or deporting them to face charges at a trial in another country neither men to their knowledge has received a visit from a Canadian

Delegation or representative in that time as Senator Pate indicates they’ve been questioned repeatedly by security officials from other countries most frequently by the FBI Muhammad Ali indicated he believes he’s been questioned 25 times by the FBI but none of that has led to any legal proceedings being taken against them

Either instead they languish warehoused with thousands of other foreign Nationals in detention centers across the region held beyond the reach of law far from outside scrutiny in a detention regime that is devoid of any sense of accountability and in which human rights violations are unsurprisingly rampant today we are unequivocal in calling for

The Canadian government to act immediately on two Justice fronts seek the repatriation of all Canadian men held in detention centers in Northeast Syria with a commitment to pursue Fair proceedings in Canada if there is evidence any of them have committed terrorism-related or other criminal Acts and secondly work with the International

Community and anus to develop and provide the necessary resources to support a comprehensive approach to ensuring Justice and accountability for all Syrian and foreign detainees held in Northeast Syria that is consistent with international human rights obligations I think we have to stay away from this this idea that there’s one narrative

About why any of those men and similarly any of the women ended up in Syria I think it’s easy to paint them as the worst possible and imagine this was a deliberate voluntary journey to to go join daesh and commit terrible atrocities I think we need to realize there’s so if

We’ve got nine Canadian men there’s nine different stories as to what led them there some of which may yes be the basis for criminal charges others absolutely not so so I think that’s the first thing thing to to recognize secondly with when it comes to issues around the cost of doing so yes

Justice and human rights costs money uh and uh and we’re not disinterested parties uh to what’s uh what has happened uh and what continues to happen there including because Canadian citizens are involved but also because the Canadian government in direct and indirect roles Canadian Security forces have

Um uh have played a role in uh in the effort to defeat Isis we didn’t stand back and just leave it in the hands of of others we’re part of that incredibly important effort it’s an it’s a global effort such that you know a a well-established Global Coalition

Against aish has been established Canada as an active participant in that there’s every reason that Canada needs to therefore live up to our responsibilities and our ability to ensure that that certainly the nine men we’re concerned about but more widely that that the response that is so

Urgently needed now to the yes the insecurity uh but also right now the impunity issues associated with those horrific years of Isis control are dealt with in a way that respects and upholds human rights this task is it would be an understatement to say it’s Mammoth

Around 30 judges in that Court four to five thousand uh foreign Nationals who they Envision putting through trials uh just just start to try to do the calculus as to how long that would take in a Canadian context and they’re committed to Fair trial standards they’re they’re committed to ensuring

That those who wish to be represented by defense counsel of their own choice can do so um uh so it’s it’s it’s almost impossible to imagine that this is remotely viable in a way that doesn’t begin to stretch out for decades uh and and thus all sorts of fair trial and

Human rights concerns that will begin to emerge uh immediately along the way the responsible thing therefore for governments like Canada to do is to at least try to ease the load and ease the burden by living up to our part of the responsibility to repatriate the

Canadians who are there it’s not a huge contribution nine Canadians in in four to five thousand but perhaps if we did so that would serve as an example for other states to do similarly doing so with a commitment to ensure that if there is evidence that bears it

Out we will follow up on Justice and accountability and that perhaps begins to make the case loads left in Syria more manageable you know our visit does make it clear that access is possible uh that there there is and can be uh cooperation with local officials and and

So we certainly hope that following up on that the Canadian government will pull out all the stops to get Consular officers in immediately

During a five-day mission to Northeast Syria, a Canadian civil society delegation met with officials and visited Canadian men, as well as non-Canadian mothers of Canadian children, who remain held in camps and detention centres in the region.

They asked the Canadian Government to take immediate action to help secure the release of these men, some of whom have been held for over five years.

The delegation presented a report in Ottawa on Thursday after returning from a visit to the region that is home to camps filled with accused members and family members of Islamic State (ISIS) members.

Civil society delegation member Alex Neve said the delegation was only able to speak to two of the Canadians being detained, both of which occurred under guard supervision. He also added that the court in Syria responsible for determining their fate has about 30 judges and plans to try 4,000-5,000 foreign nationals.

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