Pick a Day to Join the Chain Fast to Free the Canadian Captives June 1 to 19, 2024

“Feed the Hungry. Visit the Sick. Set Free the Captives.” – Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him)

 

(Details on how to join the fast for a day or more are below, as are actions you can take even if you are not fasting!)

INTRODUCTION
Please pick a day to fast in support of immediately freeing and bringing home 19 arbitrarily detained Canadian Muslim men, women, and children, including the longest-held detainee at 7+ years, Jack Letts. All of them are illegally held without charge in northeastern Syrian jails and prison camps under conditions the United Nations describes as meeting the “threshold for torture, cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment under international law.” 

 

Their jailers have called on Canada to come and take these long-suffering detainees home. Yet Canada refuses.

 

Justice Henry Brown of the Federal Court stated in December 2022: “Canadians are dying or at risk of dying every day this matter is adjourned.” Every moment of delay increases the risk for the children, men and women.

 

This 19-day chain fast will represent the 9 men, 3 women, and 7 children who belong in Canada. Due to public and legal pressure, Canada has repatriated 32 people from NE Syria, but refuses to budge on the remaining detainees, despite the April, 2024 report of Amnesty International that finds detainees "are facing systematic violations and dying in large numbers due to inhumane conditions.” 

BACKGROUND

US President Joe Biden, Human Rights Watch, the United Nations, the US State Dept., leading United States generals, the International Committee of the Red Cross, Save the Children, and even a House of Commons committee have called for repatriation of all detainees. But a Canadian government long complicit in the torture of its Muslim citizens held abroad has refused to lift a finger to help, even as far smaller and less resourced countries from Kazakhstan to Bosnia and Herzegovina have had no trouble bringing their nationals home. 

 

Ottawa has rightfully invested $3 million towards the repatriation of Iraqi citizens detained in Syria, but when it comes to its own citizens, Ottawa’s only response has been to create a bureaucratic “framework” marinated with insufferable bafflegab that makes it impossible for anyone to come home.  

 

When it comes to Canadian Muslims detained abroad under conditions of torture, Canada has always assumed guilt and been a complicit partner in criminalizing and torturing them. Two judicial inquiries and numerous Federal and Supreme Court decisions have found Canada complicit in the torture of Canadian Muslims abroad over the past two decades. 

 

In addition, the Canadian government, taking a page from its own history of genocidal violence against Indigenous people, is engaged in an insidious process by which it seeks to separate the imprisoned babies and young kids from their moms and dads. Family separation – especially based on racist lies – is never acceptable.

 

As a result, it’s up to those of us who can speak up to do so with public actions like this chain fast.  The chain fast will run during the final few weeks of this Parliamentary sitting.

WHY A FAST?

Fasting has long been a tool to raise awareness both in our communities and within ourselves. When you fast, and your body asks when nutrition will eventually arrive, it is a reminder of a cruel reality. Unlike those of us who fast for a day – and know that what we need for our health is coming soon – for many who hunger for justice, they simply do not know when the decision that will soothe their souls and provide peace of mind will arrive. That uncertainty, which can be indefinite, produces anxiety and trauma. When you fast in support of the Canadian captives, it provides moral support to the families of the detainees and reminds them that they are not alone. It also sends an important message to the Canadian government that you recognize the humanity and the rights of those detained (the very things Canada wants us to dismiss). It also helps spread the word about an injustice that needs to be remedied as soon as possible.


HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CHAIN FAST
a) Pick a day (or a series of days) to fast during June 1 to 19, 2024 and email your name and town to tasc@web.ca so we can add it to the list.

 

b) A list of open dates and names is available at https://homesnotbombs.blogspot.com/2024/05/pick-day-to-join-chain-fast-to-free.html

c) More than one person can fast on the same date.

d) Fast according to your preferred tradition (a full 24 hours, liquids only, sun up to sun down).

e) The fast is open to anyone (you can join even if you are not living in Canada). Even if you cannot fast, we encourage you to do these actions below!


On the day they fast we encourage you to:

1.  take a selfie with a simple message (ie, #FreeThe19, Free the Canadian Captives, Canada Complicit in Arbitrary Detention, Bring Our Loved Ones Home etc.) and share that image via social media, explaining why you are fasting on that day. Email us the image at tasc@web.ca so we can share it too.

 

b. Write an email (sample below) to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Global Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc to explain why you are fasting. Also, please call Joly at 613-992-0983 and urge her to put an end to this humanitarian nightmare for 19 Canadian men, women and children in NE Syria, and finally bring them home.

 

c. Write a letter to a local newspaper about why you are fasting.

 

d. Fast for an hour in front of your MP’s office.

e. Share this petition: You can copy and paste this link on your social media and email it to your friends as well! https://www.change.org/p/canadians-are-dying-free-jack-letts-43-canadian-kids-women-men-in-syria

 
Thanks for your support!

 

Stop Canadian Involvement in Torture 

 

++++++++++++

 SAMPLE EMAIL (be sure to include the CC-ed MPs and add your own MP if they are not already listed below!)

 

(Feel free to personalize with your own statement imagining what it would be like to know your loved ones are condemned to these brutal camps and prisons and the Canadian government is refusing to lift a finger for them. Use a creative subject line as well that does not make your email look like it is computer-generated!)

 

To: Melanie.Joly@parl.gc.ca, Melanie.Joly@international.gc.ca

CC:  pam.damoff@parl.gc.ca, rob.oliphant@parl.gc.ca, michael.chong@parl.gc.ca, yasir.naqvi@parl.gc.ca, sameer.zuberi@parl.gc.ca,  Stephane.Bergeron@parl.gc.ca, Rachel.Bendayan@parl.gc.ca, Hedy.Fry@parl.gc.ca, tasc@web.ca, Heather.McPherson@parl.gc.ca, alistair.macgregor@parl.gc.ca , Randeep.Sarai@parl.gc.ca, Chandra.Arya@parl.gc.ca, Peter.Schiefke@parl.gc.ca,  Kamal.Khera@parl.gc.ca,  Salma.Zahid@parl.gc.ca, Iqra.khalid@parl.gc.ca, Joel.Lightbound@parl.gc.ca, Ruby.Sahota@parl.gc.ca, Majid.Jowhari@parl.gc.ca,  pm@pm.gc.ca,  ps.ministerofpublicsafety-ministredelasecuritepublique.sp@canada.ca , jagmeet.singh@parl.gc.ca, marc.miller@parl.gc.ca, dominic.leblanc@parl.gc.ca

 

Dear Ministers Joly and Leblanc,

 

I am fasting today as part of a 19-day Chain Fast to Free the Canadian Captives who remain illegally detained in NE Syria because you refuse to bring them home. You must make immediate arrangements to bring home these long-suffering children, women and men.

 

Notably, 32 Canadians have been brought home, but almost always because of the threat of court action. For the remaining 19, they continue to suffer appalling conditions of arbitrary detention, with the April 2024 Amnesty International report finding detainees "are facing systematic violations and dying in large numbers due to inhumane conditions."  

Eighteen months ago, Justice Henry Brown of the Federal Court stated in December 2022: “Canadians are dying or at risk of dying every day this matter is adjourned.” Every moment of your delay increases the risk for the children, men and women, not only from the effects of arbitrary detention but also from ongoing bombings of the area by Turkish drones and fighter jets.  

 

Canada has the necessary contacts on the ground in northeast Syria. It has the support of the world’s most powerful military, American Forces who remain on the ground. Most importantly, it has the consent and clear request of Kurdish authorities who hold the Canadians. 

 

In addition, you and your colleague, Immigration Minister Marc Miller, must also grant temporary resident permits to bring to Canada the non-Canadian mothers of Canadian children, since your notorious Policy Framework clearly states you will not separate children from parents. I was horrified to learn that Global Affairs Canada has delivered four separate, traumatizing ultimatums to these mothers to either give up their children and possibly never see them again, or to keep them in these camps where conditions are akin to torture.

 

I am also disappointed that the Canadian government has repeatedly used unsubstantiated “national security” concerns to justify its failure to assist these Muslim Canadians in coming home. Justice Brown clearly wrote, “Notably the [government] Respondents do not allege any of the Applicants [detainees] engaged in or assisted in terrorist activities. The Respondents affirmed this position at the hearing.” He also stated there was no evidence before the court that anyone had committed offences contrary to Canadian law. Last month, we learned from media reports that Canada would not bring home a mother of six simply because there was nothing to charge her with!

 

“The primacy of the right to return to Canada is reinforced in Canadian law,” Justice Brown wrote in his January 2023 decision. “This is also a critical factor in this Judgment. Simply put, there is no known offence in Canada that carries with it exile or banishment as a penal consequence,” yet both by Canadian actions and conscious inaction, exile or banishment were plainly the result for Canadians stuck in northeast Syria. Indeed, Brown carefully cited jurisprudence that Section 6(1) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms – whose 40th anniversary you celebrated 2 years ago – “forbids the executive from frustrating the rights of Canadians to enter and return whether by executive actions taken in Canada or abroad.”

 

For too long, you have frustrated and denied the rights of these Muslim Canadians.  

 

Minister Joly, in other instances of citizens in trouble abroad, you have spoken of your responsibility to assist them. 

On April 25, 2023 you declared regarding Sudan: "What's really important is that Canadians know that they can count on their government and Global Affairs Canada to help them …. We are on this and we will make sure that every Canadian is coming back and is safe.” On April 27, 2023, you declared: “My job is to get Canadians out of Sudan.” On October 12, 2023, you declared: “We are committed to supporting Canadians abroad.” On October 30, 2023, you stated regarding citizens trapped in Gaza: “As a government, we have a duty to bring them to safety.” 

 

Please do your job. End your complicity in arbitrary detention, bring everyone home. 
 
Name
Town/City

+++++++++++++++++++

SAMPLE Call (feel free to use your own wording)
Mélanie Joly
613-992-0983 (Ottawa office)
514-383-3709 (Montreal office)

You may or may not get an answering machine (if you do, please leave a message).

Hi, my name is XXXXXXXX and I'm calling from XXXXXXX. I am fasting today as part of a chain fast to call for you to repatriate 19 men, women and children from arbitrary detention in Northeast Syria. Your government has already brought back 32 Canadians from these deplorable camps and prisons. There is no reason for you to prevent the return of everyone else, especially since their lives are at risk every day you delay. I am calling on Ms. Joly to immediately bring everyone home – all Canadians and the non-Canadian mothers of Canadian children. Thank you.

 

Those Fasting

Saturday, June 1: Noor Akram, Edmonton, AB

Sunday, June 2: Debora Skelton, Halifax, NS    

Monday, June 3: Dan Ebbs, London, ON 

Tuesday, June 4: Ron Sallars, Toronto, ON

Wednesday, June 5: Dawn Best, Perth, ON  

Thursday, June 6: Matthew Behrens, Ottawa, ON

Friday, June 7: Larry Davids, Chicago, IL

Saturday, June 8: Mary Cowper-Smith, PEI

Sunday, June 9: Ben Loring, NY

Monday, June 10: Matthew Behrens, Ottawa, ON

Tuesday, June 11: Mary Cowper-Smith, PEI

Wednesday, June 12: Eleanor Cowan, Edmonton, AB

Thursday, June 13: Brian Burch, Toronto, ON

Friday, June 14: Jerry Bergman, Vancouver, BC

Saturday, June 15: Christine Thomas, Seattle, WA

Sunday, June 16: Marcia Perryman, Hastings, ON

Monday, June 17:

Tuesday, June 18:

Wednesday, June 19: 

 

Lawyer seeks Immediate Repatriation for Canadian Detainee on Imminent Flight out of Northeast Syria; Canada Issues Fourth Forcible Child Separation Ultimatum to Mothers Detained in NE Syria Prison Camps

 

 MAY 1, 2024, OTTAWA

In an urgent letter to Global Affairs Minister Melanie Joly and Public Safety Minister Dominic Leblanc, renowned Canadian lawyer Barbara Jackman called for the repatriation of her client, Jack Letts, who is set to mark 7 years of unlawful, arbitrary detention on May 3 in a northeast Syrian prison. The letter was delivered during the same week that a number of non-Canadian mothers of Canadian children also illegally detained in northeast Syria for over 5 years were once again told the price of their children’s freedom was giving them up permanently to Canadian officials.

 

“I have learned that a flight to repatriate a number of Canadian children from Northeast Syria is imminent,” Jackman wrote. “I urgently request that my client be placed on that same aircraft and brought back to his family in Canada.”

 

Jackman continued, “There is clearly no reason for you to deny this urgent request for repatriation, one which would finally put an end to the arbitrary detention of Jack Letts. This would be the 8^th such repatriation flight since they began in 2020, which shows Canada can engage seriously and constructively with this issue…. Clearly, it is unreasonable to not place Mr. Letts on the next Canada-bound flight and, upon his arrival, place him under terms and conditions (such as a peace bond) if borne out by credible evidence and a competent judicial authority believes it is necessary to do so. Jack has indicated time and again his willingness to cooperate with any such judicial process.”

 

Jackman’s extensive letter pointed out that the Federal Court of Canada criticized the current repatriation framework employed by Global Affairs Canada that allegedly determines whether or not Canadian citizens can return to Canada. She also referenced the publication of a blockbuster Amnesty International report 10 days ago that condemned the system of camps and prisons that hold Letts and 56,000 other men, women and children, dozens of whom are Canadian. All of them, Amnesty points out, “are facing systematic violations and dying in large numbers due to inhumane conditions.”

 

Although the Federal Court of Appeal denied the request to repatriate Letts and three other men in May, 2023, Justice Stratas pointed out: “In a number of other cases the Government of Canada has surmounted the practical and legal obstacles and has successfully repatriated Canadian citizens from camps in northeastern Syria… these reasons should not be taken to discourage the Government of Canada from making efforts on its own to bring about that result.”

 

Following up on that point, Jackman reminded the Ministers: “Unfortunately, the record clearly shows that almost a full year on from that decision, no steps have been taken by your government to advance Jack’s repatriation. If that glaring human rights failure is due to application of the Policy Framework, it simply underscores how flawed that framework is. It should be abandoned and the government should instead proceed with life-saving repatriation for Jack, all other Canadian citizens held in Northeast Syria, and the non-Canadian mothers of Canadian children who remain detained there.”

 

Those mothers and their children, represented by lawyer Asiya Hirji, were re-traumatized both by the early April decision denying them temporary resident permits to accompany their children, as well as by the ultimatum to give up their children, one to which they were required to respond in less than 30 hours. Both released statements through their Ms Hirji.

 

“I reiterate my confirmation back in March and in June [2023], that I'm not declining any travel assistance for my children whatsoever,” said one of the moms. “I’m rather earnestly requesting that I, as their mother, accompany them. I'm only confirming that I'm a mother. Requesting to forcibly separate my underaged and already-distressed children from their mother is primitive and uncivil in my opinion. Raising the issue with my children has not been an easy one. It was a harrowing experience and often left them overwrought for weeks.  A country that cares about its citizens shouldn't repeatedly and unnecessarily put them through this torment.”

 

The other mother shared with her lawyer this statement: "My kids cried when I told them the news for two reasons: first, when they pictured themselves away from me in a foster care or whatever. Second, that Canada will do it for the third time, that they come to the camp and intentionally rescue more people but not them. İt hurts them the most that they see there is an opportunity, but it’s not for them for some reason, and they don't understand. We have seen so many countries (i.e Spain, France, Ireland) did rescue their own citizen children including their mothers, as it's their right to not be separated from their mothers, but this is what Canada is denying for these small kids unmercifully. They are so disappointed and feel their life doesn't count at all. My kids are dying slowly. What is the Canadian government plan for these kids? To just die in the desert? There should be a solution based on human  rights.”

 

Sally Lane, Jack Letts’ Canadian mother, hand delivered a copy of the letter to Global Affairs Canada on April 29. “This letter also reminds Ms. Joly that the Federal Court concluded there is absolutely no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of my son or any of the other detainees whose cases were before the Federal Court. Last week we were astounded to learn that Canada had refused return for a disabled, traumatized Canadian mother of 6 children simply because they didn’t have anything to charge her with. I am concerned that this is the same Orwellian nonsense being used to prevent Jack’s return.”

 

Lane, who authored a book about her struggle to free her son, recently returned from a 9-city speaking tour. “Everywhere I spoke, Canadians were horrified to learn about the atrocious misbehaviour of their government officials, their so-called intelligence agencies, and some of their courts, all of whom have given a seal of approval to the arbitrary detention and torture of their citizens even as they spout their alleged respect for rule of law and human rights. I honestly feel like we’ve been dropped into a Kafkaesque rabbit hole.”

 

Currently, the Supreme Court of Canada, which refused to even hear an appeal from Letts and three other men last November, is deciding whether it will accept a rare reconsideration appeal given the grave human rights abuses faced by the male detainees as well as the important unresolved legal issues about the obligations Canada has to its endangered citizens abroad. 

 

In addition, a judicial review is planned for the refusal of Temporary Resident Permits for the mothers of Canadian children.

 

“We are extremely disappointed that Canada refuses to honour the integrity of these family units, and continues to insist on a policy of forced child separation, which in practice means the children could come here, go into foster care, become separated from their siblings, and likely never again see the only adult who has cared for them since birth,” says one of the lawyers for the mothers, Asiya Hirji. “Telling mothers arbitrarily detained for five years that the price of freedom for your children is for you to remain forever jailed 9,000 kilometres away from them is cruel, inhumane, and not at all in keeping with Canada’s domestic and international human rights obligations towards women, children, and the right to family.”

 

Information: Stop Canadian Involvement in Torture, tasc@web.ca, 613-300-9536