Canadian who says he was tortured in Syria wants court to force Ottawa’s hand

Syrian government forces inspect the al-Aqtan prison after taking control of it from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, SDF, in Raqqa, northeastern Syria, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

OTTAWA — A Canadian man who says he has been tortured in Syria is asking the Federal Court to order Ottawa to decide whether to help bring him home.

The man, known publicly only as SS, is one of several Canadians held in prison camps and jails in northeastern Syria run by the Kurdish-led forces which wrested territory away from the militant group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

SS has been imprisoned since 2019 but has not been charged with a criminal offence and has not been offered any legal process to challenge his detention, says the notice of application from SS and his mother, identified as MM.

The Canadian government does not allege that “he has ever engaged in or assisted in any criminal or terrorist activities,” the notice adds.

The court action comes as many male prisoners held in Syria are being transferred to detention in Iraq.

Global Affairs Canada said it is aware of the detainee transfers and continues to monitor events closely in co-ordination with allies.

The notice of application filed in Federal Court says SS is housed in an overcrowded, unsanitary prison with insufficient food, water and clothing.

“While detained, SS has been physically and psychologically tortured. He has been beaten, and prison officials have killed other prisoners in front of him and left their corpses in his room for days,” it says.

“SS suffers from several medical conditions for which he has not been provided adequate medical care.”

The notice says MM’s efforts to help her son leave Syria date from December 2019, when she emailed Global Affairs Canada requesting his repatriation. She continued to contact the department over the next few years.

A federal policy enacted in 2021 guides government decisions on whether to help repatriate Canadian detainees in Syria.

In November 2021, Global Affairs said SS did not meet any of the criteria for repatriation.

The court application says that, in the hope of advancing the case, MM contacted Global Affairs over the subsequent three years to say her son’s situation had changed significantly — due in part to deteriorating prison conditions and his health concerns.

On Nov. 18, 2024, Global Affairs informed MM that SS met the threshold because of the overcrowded conditions, limited medical care and inadequate food and water, the notice says. As a result, the department began an assessment under the policy and invited any additional comments and documentation.

A letter, supporting material and a request for a response within 30 days was then sent to Global Affairs, the notice says.

More than a year later, no federal decision has been made, said Nicholas Pope, a lawyer for MM and her son.

No other adequate remedy is available because there is “no other mechanism by which SS can be repatriated to Canada,” the notice says.

“The detaining authorities will not allow him to leave unless Canada provides him with a travel document and requests his repatriation,” it reads.

SS and his mother seek an order compelling the government to make a decision within 14 days on whether, in principle, to extend assistance to SS under the federal policy framework.

Asked about SS’s court action, Global Affairs said it continues to evaluate the provision of extraordinary assistance, including repatriation to Canada, on a case-by-case basis.

“Due to privacy and operational security considerations, we cannot comment on specific cases,” the department said.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces controlled much of northeastern Syria until a recent government offensive.

An initial ceasefire agreement between Damascus and the SDF included the group handing over management of prison camps and detention centres, which hold many foreign nationals, to the Syrian government.

The decision to move prisoners to Iraq came after a request by officials in Baghdad that was welcomed by the Syrian government and the United States.

Pope said he and MM hope Canada will repatriate SS before he can be moved to Iraq.

Amnesty International has warned of serious rights violations and poor conditions in Iraq, including overcrowded and unsanitary prisons, unfair trials and mass executions.

Pope is also pursuing a human rights tribunal case on behalf of SS, four other Canadian men and seven children detained in Syria. Pope argues the federal policy guiding repatriation discriminates based on age, sex and family status.

One of the five men listed in that human rights case is Jack Letts, who became a devout Muslim as a teenager, went on holiday to Jordan, then studied in Kuwait before winding up in Syria.

Letts’s mother, Sally Lane, recently said her son risks going from “one legal black hole into another” as prisoners in Syria are transferred to Iraq.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2026.

With files from The Associated Press

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press