Conservatives call return of Canadian woman with ISIS ties 'unacceptable'

The Conservatives say it's "unacceptable" that the federal government allowed a Canadian woman with ties to ISIS to re-enter the country.

CBC News reported Tuesday new details about the identity of a 33-year-old woman the government repatriated with her children in April from a detention camp in northeastern Syria.

Dure Ahmed, who is now living in the Toronto area under conditions, was married to El Shafee Elsheikh. He's a high-profile ISIS militant who was part of a cell known as "the Beatles" because of their British accents.

Elsheikh is the highest ranking ISIS member to be tried in the U.S. He's serving multiple life sentences in a supermax prison for his role in the deaths of eight American, British and Japanese hostages.

"It is unacceptable that the Trudeau government allowed someone affiliated with one of the world's worst terrorist groups to re-enter Canada without first ensuring the safety and security of Canadians from this terrorist threat," said Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong in a statement to CBC News. 

"This is but one example of Mr. Trudeau's neglect of Canada's national security."

Crown Attorney Marie Comiskey told a court in Brampton, Ont. on Tuesday that Ahmed had been "steeped" in ISIS ideology during her more than eight years living in Syria in ISIS territory or in a detention camp. 

WATCH/ Repatriated Canadian woman was married to notorious ISIS fighter, court confirms

Repatriated Canadian woman was married to notorious ISIS fighter, court confirms

1 year ago

Duration 3:11

A repatriated Canadian woman with ties to ISIS was married to a notorious fighter who is now in a U.S. prison for his role in the executions of four American hostages. Dure Ahmed has not been charged with a crime but her presence in Canada worries some who lost family members to the Islamic State.

The Crown said it's "likely" that Ahmed knew of her husband's role in ISIS before leaving Canada in 2014 to join him in Syria. Comiskey said she also believes the relationship continued and they communicated in recent years.

Comiskey said she has reasonable grounds to believe that Ahmed could commit terrorism offences in Canada, including indoctrinating and recruiting others to join ISIS.

During a hearing on the conditions of a terrorism peace bond, Ahmed's lawyer, Yoav Niv, said there was no admission of criminal liability in court on Tuesday.

Niv said people should not be punished for other people's crimes. He said the case is still under investigation and currently no one is alleging Ahmed was present for any crimes.

"So we need ot be careful with how inflammatory allegations can be made," Niv told CBC News. "After all, she's been repatriated. The government decided to bring her back, so whatever security concerns did exist, they weren't so much that she wasn't allowed back into the country."

'This is very frightening'

The president of the Canadian Yazidi Association, Jamileh Naso, said she's "horrified" that Canada repatriated Ahmed.

"That is very frightening that someone like that has been welcomed back and repatriated into the country," Naso told CBC News.

Naso's association represents hundreds of Yazidis who sought safe haven in Canada after escaping ISIS captivity in Syria.

She said they were already re-traumatized when they learned that the federal government was repatriating women from northeastern Syria.

"We want these folks to face the full brunt of the Canadian justice system," Naso said. "It does not feel like justice has been served at all."

Naso said that, like many members of Canada's Yazidi community, she lost family members to ISIS. In a campaign launched in 2014, ISIS set out to eradicate the Yazidi people, who are members of an ancient Kurdish-speaking farming community in northern Iraq.

The federal government brought roughly 1,200 Yazidi survivors, mostly women and girls, to Canada. Naso said some were abused and sexually assaulted by ISIS.

'I can be charged tomorrow'

Amarnath Amarasingam, a terrorism researcher at Queens University, said some wives of ISIS members "didn't do anything except stay home," while others were "exceptionally brutal" and owned slaves of their own. 

In the Netherlands, some repatriated citizens have been charged with crimes against humanity, such as pillaging, using Yazidi women as slaves or illegally living in houses that ISIS took from the owners.

In an exclusive interview this week with CBC Podcasts and the BBC, Ahmed denied any wrongdoing and called her decision to travel to Syria to be with her husband in 2014 a "stupid mistake." She also denied knowing what her husband was doing in Syria and acknowledged she could face charges.

"I can be charged tomorrow," said Ahmed. "I could be charged next week, next year.

"Everything is still ongoing ... Obviously Canada's priority, and most countries' priority, is public safety. If I was a threat or they found me an imminent threat, I won't be out. I'd be in jail."

Leah West, a professor of national security law at Carleton University, said women who supported or participated in ISIS are often defended by claims that they were duped or manipulated.

"I think these women's agency needs to be recognized and that adult women, just like adult men, should be held accountable for their actions," said West.

West said more charges are being laid against other repatriated women. 

"It seems like once they've returned, the RCMP is building their case, potentially in conjunction with interviews of those women now that they're back in Canada, and seeking to prosecute them where they can," said West. 

Terrorism charges laid in other cases

The RCMP charged Ammara Amjad earlier this month with allegedly participating in activities of the Islamic State group. She was one of the other women repatriated at the same time as Ahmed in April — part of a group of four women and 10 children the government brought back to Canada.

Ottawa lawyer Lawrence Greenspon represented the repatriated women in a federal court case. Greenspon said he hopes the RCMP are not using any information the women share during court-ordered counselling or social services against them. 

"I would hate to think that the RCMP is turning around and using the results of those counselling services to up the ante to criminal charges," said Greenson. "I certainly hope that's not the case."

The RCMP said it would not comment, citing the fact that the matter is before the courts.

Ahmed's case returns to court on Thursday, where a judge is expected to rule on the conditions of a terrorism peace bond.

The Crown said what's being asked for is "slightly more freedom" for Ahmed so she can reintegrate, but with protections in place, such as RCMP monitoring.