Lawyers for four Canadian men detained in squalid conditions in Syria are telling the Supreme Court that Ottawa is picking and choosing which citizens "to help out of a hellish situation," in violation of their constitutional rights. The four imprisoned Canadian men include Jack Letts, whose parents John Letts and Sally Lane have pressured Ottawa for years to come to his aid. Lane, middle, stands on the steps of the Prime Minister’s office in Ottawa on Thursday May 19, 2022, with supporters. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
OTTAWA – A civil society delegation that visited Syrian prison camps is calling on Ottawa to give immediate consular assistance to Canadian detainees and to swiftly repatriate all citizens wishing to return to Canada.
The four-person delegation says it held meetings with officials and saw several Canadian men, women and children, as well as non-Canadian mothers of Canadian children.
The detained Canadians are among the many foreign nationals in ramshackle centres run by Kurdish forces that reclaimed the war-ravaged region from militant group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Delegation members, including Sen. Kim Pate, also want Canada to issue temporary residence permits to ensure that non-Canadian mothers and siblings of Canadian children can travel to Canada.
The delegation met with two Canadian men held in Syria, including Jack Letts, saying both want consular assistance and to be able to return to Canada.
Letts’s mother Sally Lane says she is “overjoyed” to hear news of her son after years of silence, even though she says he is “barely holding on” in a Syrian prison.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 31, 2023.
