Call for an investigation into the death of a Quebec mother in Türkiye

Photo: Sean Kilpatrick The Canadian Press In a letter to Minister Mélanie Joly (pictured), Senator Kim Pate and human rights activist Alex Neve say the woman died unexpectedly just over a week ago in Turkey.

Jim Bronskill – The Canadian Press in Ottawa

Published at 14:34 Updated at 21:43

• Canada

Human rights activists want Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly to open an impartial investigation into the death of a Quebec woman the federal government refused to repatriate from a Syrian detention camp.

In a letter to Minister Joly, Senator Kim Pate, human rights activist Alex Neve and lawyer Hadayt Nazami say the woman died unexpectedly just over a week ago in Turkey.

Pate, Neve and Nazami were part of a delegation that met with the woman and her six young children in 2023 at a Syrian camp run by Kurdish forces, who have retaken the war-torn region from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) armed group.

The federal government helped bring the children to Canada this year but refused to repatriate the woman, known publicly as “F.J.”

Lawyer Lawrence Greenspon, who helped the family, says Ottawa cited security reasons for refusing to help the mother return. As a result, F.J. was forced to choose between sending her children to Canada alone or keeping them with her in the squalid camp.

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The October 24 letter to Minister Joly indicates that the woman escaped from the al-Roj camp in northeastern Syria, entered Turkey in March and was apprehended and imprisoned by Turkish authorities three months later.

“The circumstances leading up to and surrounding his death raise a number of troubling questions,” the letter said. “We therefore call on the Canadian government to take immediate steps to launch an independent and impartial investigation into F.J.'s death, by someone with the appropriate expertise to thoroughly examine the circumstances of his detention and death.”

Federal officials took steps to help bring the six children to Canada in May. They are now in foster care.

In an interview, Greenspon supported the delegation's calls for an inquiry. “These questions need to be answered,” he said Friday. “This is a tragedy that should never have happened.” »

Ms. Joly's office did not immediately comment.

The letter states that the lawyers were informed that F.J. received at least two consular visits, on July 16 and October 1, at the Tarsus women's closed prison, about five hours from Ankara.

They also learned that she “may have received one or two visits from RCMP officers who questioned her in prison,” and that RCMP officers may have also spoken to her in al-Roj.

“We were told that after one of these visits with consular or RCMP officers, her mood and demeanor changed markedly, and she became severely depressed and psychologically distressed. »

The letter states that criminal charges against F.J. in Turkey for membership in an armed terrorist group were heard on October 15. She was acquitted by a three-judge panel and transferred to an immigration detention center.

F.J., 40, was apparently given medication for sleep problems, the letter added. Her body was discovered by her lawyer in Turkey on the morning of Oct. 17.

Greenspon said he was aware of efforts to obtain an emergency travel document for F.J. so she could return to Canada.

The letter said Canada learned of her death not from Turkish officials, but from a Canadian who had worked closely with families of people detained in northeast Syria.

“We were told that Turkish officials had determined the cause of death was a heart attack. As far as we know, there was no autopsy,” the letter states.

“This is clearly a very tragic outcome, both in terms of F.J.'s death and the serious impact it will undoubtedly have on his children.”

The letter urges Ms. Joly to order an investigation immediately, while witnesses are available and evidence is fresh.

“Such an investigation cannot, in these circumstances, be conducted by either the RCMP or your consular staff. There are many other options that would provide the necessary independence and expertise.”