Global Affairs tight-lipped on fate of Canadian men being held in Iraq

OTTAWA — Global Affairs Canada is refusing to say whether Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand discussed the repatriation of Canadian men imprisoned in Iraq when she spoke recently with her Iraqi counterpart.

In an emailed response to questions, department spokesperson Aditee Kissoon said the federal government continues to assess developments related to Canadian citizens detained in Iraq.

Kissoon said no further information can be disclosed due to privacy and operational security considerations.

Foreign nationals were held in detention centres in Syria for years by the Kurdish forces that won back the strife-torn region from the militant group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Prisoners from various countries, including Canada, were moved to Iraq earlier this year.

Anand spoke by phone July 31 with Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein. Summaries of the call issued by both countries make no mention of Canadian detainees.

Canada’s summary said the two ministers “shared concerns over the conflict with Iran, reaffirmed Canada’s solidarity with the Iraqi people, and exchanged views on the security challenges facing the region.”

Iraq’s account of the call said Anand “reaffirmed her government’s commitment to advancing relations with Iraq and expanding the horizons of bilateral co-operation across various fields.”

Some Canadian women and children were repatriated from Syria in recent years with help from Canadian officials and the co-operation of Kurdish authorities. Ottawa declined to help repatriate Canadian men.

The Associated Press has reported that the thousands of adult male detainees transferred to Iraq from Syria included foreign nationals from Europe, Australia, the United States and Canada.

Ottawa-based lawyer Nicholas Pope said he believes at least five Canadian men are being held in Iraq.

Pope said in an interview that a number of the men were recently permitted to phone family members.

He said he spoke directly with one of his detainee clients in June.

Pope said a common message emerged from these calls. “That the prison officials there, and all the officials that they’re talking to are saying, ‘We want you gone, we want Canada to take you, and we’re reluctantly putting you through the judicial system right now, only because Canada is not doing anything,'” he said.

“The big, really frustrating thing here is that we keep telling Canada this. We keep sending them letters saying Iraq wants these men gone.”

The names of the detained Canadian men are not publicly known, with the exception of Jack Letts, whose parents have waged a public campaign to urge Ottawa to help secure his release and passage to Canada.

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

Pope said the detained Canadian men face serious risks in Iraq’s system.

“It’s well documented that Iraq’s judicial processes are not exactly fair, don’t have the same due process that we have in Canada,” he said.

“There’s a lot of bias against people who are perceived to have been involved with (the Islamic State) and there’s a huge risk of human rights abuses, torture to extract confessions, as well as these men receiving the death penalty.”

The Embassy of Iraq in Ottawa had no immediate response to a request from The Canadian Press for information on the status of the detained Canadians.

Matthew Behrens, co-ordinator of Stop Canadian Involvement in Torture, said in a recent media statement that Ottawa effectively holds the keys to the jail cells holding the Canadian men.

“By refusing to open those prison doors, we remain deeply complicit in their decade-long arbitrary detention,” Behrens said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 12, 2026.

— With files from Dylan Robertson and The Associated Press

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press