The federal government argues before the United Nations that international law does not oblige Canada to actively facilitate the return of its nationals detained in northern Syria.
Ottawa says the duty to abide by international conventions falls largely on the foreign state that detains these people.
Canada sets out its views in a response, dated Aug. 24, to United Nations officials who lobbied Ottawa on the Jack Letts case.
Letts, now 26, is just one of many foreign nationals currently being held in camps in Syria run by Kurdish forces. These fighters recaptured the war-torn region of northern Syria from Daesh forces.
Mr. Letts, a Canadian citizen, was born in Oxford, England, but the British government stripped him of his citizenship three years ago.
Having become a devout Muslim, he went on vacation to Jordan at the age of 18, then studied in Kuwait before ending up in Syria. According to his family, he was captured by Kurdish forces as he fled the country with a group of refugees in 2017.
According to John Letts and his wife, Sally, there is no evidence that their son became an ISIS terrorist fighter. They claim that Jack opposed the Islamic State armed group and was even tried for publicly condemning this organization.
“I don’t think he was one of those people who did horrible things,” John Letts told The Canadian Press last December. I’m convinced. »
Canada has stated on several occasions that its ability to provide consular support in particular throughout Syria remains very limited due to the lack of physical presence on the ground in this country. Members of civil society believe that this is a lame pretext.
Lawyers from a London firm have filed a complaint against the British and Canadian governments with the UN, on behalf of the parents of Jack Letts. The complaint alleges that the UK and Canada breached their obligations by failing to take necessary and reasonable steps to assist the young man, and breached international law by denying him consular assistance.
It is also argued that both countries have a duty to protect vulnerable people outside their territory when they are at risk of serious human rights violations or abuses, and when actions — or failure to intervene — may affect these rights.
Dire conditions in the camps
In a June 8 message to Canada, UN human rights and arbitrary detention officials said that while they did not wish to prejudge the accuracy of the allegations, they had “serious concerns about the continued detention of Mr. Letts “and his rights to life, security, physical and mental health”, due to the dire conditions in these camps.
UN officials have requested information from Canada on what it has done so far to ensure Mr. Letts’ well-being and preserve his rights.
In its response last month, Canada explains that while it cannot discuss individual cases, for reasons of confidentiality, the safety and well-being of Canadians abroad is a priority. The government, it is said, aims to provide consular services in a consistent, fair and non-discriminatory manner.
But Ottawa adds that international human rights law “does not create a positive obligation for states to protect the rights of persons detained by foreign entities in the territory of another state.”
“These people are entirely outside the territory and jurisdiction of Canada. Rather, the obligations apply to the State on whose territory the detentions take place. »
“While this does not exclude the possibility that a state could be held responsible for having aided or abetted human rights abuses in another state, it would require that the aid or assistance be given in to facilitate such unlawful acts. This is clearly not the case here. »
Canada adds that while it has received updates on the situation of Canadian women and children in these camps, information on the men is scarce. The federal government says it has been able to provide some assistance, such as checking where Canadians are and how they are doing, asking for available medical care, and demanding that those Canadians be treated humanely.
“The Government of Canada has also repeatedly made general requests to Syrian Kurdish officials that relate to all Canadian detainees, such as an update on their current status, and to have phone/messaging access to Canadian detainees. »