A British-Canadian couple is pleading with the Canadian and U.K. governments for help getting their son out of a prison in Kurdish-held northern Syria.
Jack Letts, a Muslim convert from Oxford, England, has been imprisoned since May.
His father, John Letts, originally from Pain Court, Ont., said his 21-year-old son claimed he was being tortured when he and his British wife, Sally Lane, last spoke to him.
"I'm scared of electricity… I've actually been tortured… I can prove it," Jack said in correspondence which his parents shared with CBC News.
Letts and Lane said the Kurdish officials have told them for months that they are willing to turn their son over to Canadian or British authorities. All they need is a formal request from either country.
They asked Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, in a letter on Sept. 19, to make that request. Freeland replied the same day that she would follow up with her team.
But since then, though they remain in regular contact with Global Affairs Canada (GAC), Letts and Lane have been told only that Canada's diplomats are "reaching out" on the matter, but that efforts are hampered because Ottawa does not have a consulate in that region, which is known as both Rojava and the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria (DFNS).
The de facto autonomous region is allied with the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS, and opposes the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad.
In a statement to CBC News, GAC said it could not comment on the case because of privacy concerns.
British authorities also issued a statement saying that they do not have consular access in the region.
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British-Canadian couple fear son being tortured in Syria, plead for Canada's help securing release - World - CBC News
Jack Letts, a Muslim convert from Oxford, England, has been imprisoned since May.
His father, John Letts, originally from Pain Court, Ont., said his 21-year-old son claimed he was being tortured when he and his British wife, Sally Lane, last spoke to him.
"I'm scared of electricity… I've actually been tortured… I can prove it," Jack said in correspondence which his parents shared with CBC News.
Letts and Lane said the Kurdish officials have told them for months that they are willing to turn their son over to Canadian or British authorities. All they need is a formal request from either country.
They asked Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, in a letter on Sept. 19, to make that request. Freeland replied the same day that she would follow up with her team.
But since then, though they remain in regular contact with Global Affairs Canada (GAC), Letts and Lane have been told only that Canada's diplomats are "reaching out" on the matter, but that efforts are hampered because Ottawa does not have a consulate in that region, which is known as both Rojava and the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria (DFNS).
The de facto autonomous region is allied with the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS, and opposes the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad.
In a statement to CBC News, GAC said it could not comment on the case because of privacy concerns.
British authorities also issued a statement saying that they do not have consular access in the region.
more
British-Canadian couple fear son being tortured in Syria, plead for Canada's help securing release - World - CBC News
