RAQQA, SYRIA –

Editor’s note: This is the first of a three-part investigation in which CTV show W5 Avery Haines tells the story of Jack Letts, a Canadian Muslim convert currently in a Syrian prison after being accused of being a member of the Islamic State. The first part focuses on his family’s fight to bring their son home.

Jack Letts in a Syrian prison talking to W5.

Jack Letts spent seven and a half years in a legal black hole. Detained without charge in a secret prison in northeastern Syria, he is accused of belonging to ISIS, but has never been tried or convicted. His parents, John Letts and Sally Lane, fought tirelessly to bring him home.

Born in the United Kingdom, Letts holds Canadian citizenship through his father. Every day, John Letts feels guilty for his son’s fate.

“I had a good night’s sleep in a reasonably warm bed. Jack is lying on a cement floor in pain. I eat breakfast and he doesn’t. I take a hot shower. I feel guilty,” he told W5. “So how do you live with that as a constant thing throughout your day? You can’t live with that.

A young Jack Letts, second from right, with his family (photo provided)

Who is Jack Letts?

Jack Letts was born in Oxford, England. His parents say he was a popular kid who loved theater, music and sports. His personality changed dramatically when he was 14 and he was diagnosed with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder. Jack became obsessed with Islam and converted at age 16. Two years later, in 2014, he traveled to Syria, drawn, his parents say, by pro-democracy protests against Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.

“I really think he felt that if he didn’t help – his OCD required him to become a good Muslim – then he would go to hell,” John said.

Captured by Kurdish forces in 2017, Letts says he was fleeing ISIS after being targeted for speaking out against the group.

“If you’re caught escaping, they’ll kill you,” John said. “Whether you went in thinking it was a utopia and were misled, as many have been, once you’re in it and you want to escape, how do you get out? »

Sally added: “ISIS have done absolutely horrible things. But not everyone who went to Syria was a member or did horrible things. »

When news broke that an Anglo-Canadian teenager from Oxford had gone to Syria in 2016, British tabloids dubbed him “Jihadi Jack”, with a photo of him in ISIS territory appearing to make a so-called salvation from the Islamic State. His parents point out that he made a similar gesture well before leaving for Syria.

On the left, Jack Letts in a photo posted on Facebook near the Tabqa dam in Syria and on the right, a photo of him as a child making the same hand gesture (Photo provided)

In a 2019 interview with the BBC, he said he had considered carrying out a suicide attack, but then denounced the group’s ideology as anti-Muslim.

“I just want people to have an open mind,” Sally said. “They can ask as many questions as they want. What did he do? What didn’t he do? These are the same questions I ask myself. I want to know.”

Canada’s role

The United Kingdom stripped Jack Letts of his British citizenship in 2019, leaving Canada as his only potential recourse. However, public opinion or political circles have shown little willingness to intervene.

Sally has organized protests, hunger strikes and petitions, hoping to persuade Canada to repatriate her son, even if it means taking him to court.

“I would be perfectly happy if he was tried in Canada. It’s not like there isn’t a process for this,” she said. “I find it ironic that it is the families who are demanding trials, and not the governments.”

Sally Lane, Jack’s mother, in an interview with W5

John echoes his frustration: “Where is the evidence? Move it forward. Put him on trial. How can you convict someone without even having a trial?

The numbers

Jack Letts is one of at least nine Canadians among 10,000 suspected ISIS members held in 29 makeshift prisons in northeastern Syria. Most of the detainees are foreigners who cannot defend themselves against the allegations due to the lack of a justice system.

The prisons are controlled by US-backed Kurdish forces who recaptured northeast Syria from ISIS in 2019. International amnesty and the The United Nations denounced these arbitrary detention conditions with evidence of torture.

Ilham Ahmed, a senior Kurdish official, has repeatedly called on nations to repatriate their citizens.

“It is imperative that these people be repatriated. Their presence here is illegal and they have no rights under our laws,” she told W5.

Despite these calls, Canada has not responded. Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly declined repeated requests for an interview. At a recent event in Toronto, she said: “When you decide to join ISIS and you leave the country… you bear responsibility for your decision. »

Tayab Ali, Jack Letts’ lawyer, never had access to his client. He says Canada’s policy goes against the concept of innocent until proven guilty: “When do our values ​​allow us to say… I’m going to… keep them in detention indefinitely without proof because I think that this person committed a crime. Isn’t this the system we created?

Threat to global security

The United States repatriated the 27 male American detainees, and 10 of them were charged upon their return. U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, have urged other countries to follow suit, warning of the risks posed by leaving detainees in a politically unstable region.

“Ten thousand ISIS fighters remain in custody, the largest concentration of detained terrorists in the world,” said Ian Moss of the US Office of Counterterrorism. “If they escape, they will pose a threat not only to northeast Syria, but also to our homeland. »

ISIS sleeper cells are increasingly active in Syria and continually attempt to evacuate detainees to form what would be a ready-made ISIS army. During a nine-day siege in 2022, 400 detainees escaped in a sophisticated ISIS breakout.

The courts intervene

In 2023, it looked like Canada would be forced to act. A federal court judge ruled that Canadian men detained in Syria had the right to return. Judge Henry Brown wrote: “Notably, (the government) does not allege any of the plaintiffs engaged in or assisted in terrorist activities. »

For Sally and John, it was a rare moment of hope.

“We were delighted. I had messages from all over the world saying it was fantastic,” Sally recalls. “We were delighted. Jack comes home.

But the the government appealed and won. The appeals court judge ruled that Canada was not legally obligated to repatriate its citizens, but added that the ruling did not prevent the government from making efforts on its own. The Supreme Court refused to hear the case.

Canada’s contradictory policy

Canada repatriated six women and 25 children from Syrian detention camps, some of whom were charged or placed under recognizance not to disturb public order on their return. Sally Lane wonders why men are treated differently.

“Why is the Canadian government denying these men a fair trial? The women have returned. Some of them have been charged. Some of them didn’t,” she said.

The repatriation of women has also been the subject of controversy demands for a federal investigation after a Canadian mother who was denied repatriation for security reasons died mysteriously in Turkish custody. Her six children are now in Canada.

The parents’ struggle

Sally Lane lives in Ottawa and continues to advocate for the repatriation of her son. She hasn’t had contact with Jack in years and has no proof that he is still alive.

“I know of three European families who found out more than a year later that their loved one had died (in prison),” Sally said. “It scares me, that you could think he’s alive and he’s not.”

John Letts, Jack’s father, in an interview with W5

John Letts said the fight consumed their lives.

“Until I die, I will try to get my son out. What else can you do? We can’t stop because that’s what a parent should do.