Ottawa asks court to dismiss ruling directing it to repatriate 4 men detained in Syria

The federal government says the Federal Court of Appeal should dismiss a high-profile ruling ordering Canada to bring home four Canadian men detained in northeastern Syrian prisons for suspected ISIS members.

Government lawyers told a Toronto courtthat the Federal Court made errors in its ruling. They said the courtmisinterpretedthe Charter of Rights and Freedoms when it directedofficials to "take extraordinary measures" to secure the release of the men.

Federal lawyer Anne Turley argued during the one-day hearingthat the lower court's judgment interpreted a citizen's right to enter Canadaas a right to expectthe government to rescue and return citizens if they're in trouble.

Turley called that interpretation a "wholesale expansion of the law with broad-ranging implications."

"Here we have a detention by a non-state entity. The next time, it might be somebody who was stranded because of a natural disaster,"Turley told thecourt. "It could be somebody who is in trouble in other ways."

The men travelled to northeastern Syria against the travel advice of the Canadian government and have been held in prisons for those suspected of ISIS affiliation.The campsin northeastern Syria are run by the Kurdish forces that reclaimed the war-torn region from the extremist group.

At the centre of the appeal is Federal Court Justice Henry Brown's decision in January that ruled the four men detained in Kurdish prisons were entitled to have the federal governmentmake a formal request for their release"as soon as reasonably possible."

Brown's decision also ruledthe men are entitledto have at least one representative or delegate present to facilitatetheir handover, and to passports or emergency travel documents.

The appeal will determine whetherthe Canadian government is under a legal obligationto repatriate.

The International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group sent an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday calling on the government to "honour" the Federal Court ruling and repatriate the Canadians "arbitrarily detained."

The letter is signed by more than 100 members of the Canadian legal community,including former minister of justiceAllan Rock and multiple human rights advocates, national security experts and lawyers, according to a press release.

One of the three judges on the Federal Court of Appeal asked if theFederal Court should even be dealing with this matter.

"Aren't we right at the bullseyeof where courts have to defer on such matters and didn't the Federal Court errin ignoring that completely?" Justice DavidStratasasked.

Stratas said no othercourt in the world has ruled that governments with citizens detained in Syria have a legal obligation to bring themhome.

Lawrence Greenspon, the lawyer representing the four men detained abroad, said there aren't many countries that have aCharter of Rights and Freedoms like Canada's.

He arguedthe matter iswithin the court's purviewand called it a "very unusual and unique situation."

"[The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES)]has de facto control over the territory and the prisons and has repeatedly requested Canada and over 25 countries [to] please come and take their nationals," he said. "This is an unprecedented situation."

AANES has set three pre-conditions for the release of detainees: there must bea formal request from a national government fortheir release,emergency travel documents must be issuedand arepresentativemust be present for the handover. Greenspon said the government met these conditions on four occasionswhen it repatriatedthree women and four children.

"How are you able to do it there?" said Greenspon.

WATCH |Dozens of Canadians to be repatriated from Syrian detention camps:

Ottawa to repatriate 19 women and children held in Syria, lawyer says

2 years ago

Duration 2:02

The federal government has agreed to repatriate 19 Canadian women and children held in Syrian detention camps for suspected ISIS members and their families.

Stratas said there's evidence to show the male detaineesarealleged to be ISIS-affiliated and aren't in "quite the same position" as the women and children.

Greensponsaid two of thewomen repatriated last year were arrested. One of them isfacing four criminal charges, including participating in a terrorist group. A terrorist peace bond is being sought for the other woman, said Greenspon.

He also saidthat the fourmen have been held "indeterminately for more than four years and have not been charged with any crime." Thefederal government also hasn't alleged any of the men engaged or assisted in terrorist activities, said Greenspon.

"There's no question this is the epitome of arbitrary detention," said Greenspon."Canada's failure to act, refusal to act is the real cause for them not being able to be returned."

The one-day hearing comes after the federal government struck a last-minute deal in Januaryto repatriate 19 women and children held at detention camps, which removed them from the Federal Court case a day before the ruling came out.

The women and children are set to arrive on Canadian soil any day now.

Canadians detained in China referenced during hearing

Justice Siobhan Monaghanaskedwhat kind of exposure the government could face if it doesn'tmeet another country'sconditions for repatriation.

"What if AANES said you have to pay a ransom, $50 million, in order for us to agree to release these four men," said Monaghan. "Canada can afford to pay $50 million. Where do we draw the limits?

"And doesn't that open Canada to exposure that any time a Canadian is kidnappedthat they'll be a demand, that my mobility rights are being infringed because Canada is refusing to pay a ransom?"

Greenspon replied this has happened before and pointed to the case of China's arbitraryimprisonmentofCanadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig for more than 1,000 days. Their detention was widely viewed as a pressure tactic meant to get Canadian authorities to release telecommunications executive Meng Wanzhou, who was arrestedon a U.S. warrantin Vancouverin 2018.

"China was saying, 'No we're not giving them back unless you do this, and this and this,'" said Greenspon. "What did Canada do?They took every possible step diplomatic or otherwise to have those men returned. Ultimately, they made the trade."

He saidhe can't see a court ordering Canada to pay a ransom, but could see a court ordering Canada to make an official request forrepatriation or issue emergency travel documents.

Stratassaidhe thinks Greenspon is "overstating the simplicity of this" and addedthere is evidence to indicatethat AANES requires that senior Canadian officials show up so detainees can be handed over for repatriation.

Greenspon had said a third-party country or representative could be present for a detainee's handover. A formerU.S. diplomat helped free a 4-yr-old Canadian girl in 2021; shewas repatriated to Canada.

Jack Letts one of the men detained

The four men at the centre of the court battleinclude Jack Letts. He'sbeen imprisoned for more than four years in notheastern Syria.

Letts was a dual British-Canadian citizen until the U.K. government stripped him of his citizenship in 2019.

During a 2018 interview with U.K.-based ITV News, Letts said he joinedISIS in Syria and said "it was probably the stupidest thing I'd ever done." Lettssaid he hadn't killed or hurt anyone.

His family has said he gave the interview while under duress and was jailed three times for opposing ISIS. His family saidLetts was captured by the Kurds while escaping them.

His mother, Sally Lane, recently publisheda book describingalmost ten years spenttryingto get her son to Canada. She sent a copy toPrime Minister Trudeau last month, according to Lane's social media.

Lane tweeted Monday that she felt thefederal government would argue in court that Canadashould be "allowed to perpetuate the physical and mental degradation and annihilation of my son."

"Why do they want to destroy another human being?" tweeted Lane."Why is [Canada] allowing this cruel charade? Why does this [government] decide who is human and who is not?"