Free Jack Letts (@JLettsJustice) header
Free Jack Letts (@JLettsJustice) profile picture

Why has Jack Letts been abandoned in a foreign prison without charge, legal representation or adequate medical care for 9 years?! #FreeJackLetts

Joined May 2019
Photo by Free Jack Letts (@JLettsJustice)Photo by Free Jack Letts (@JLettsJustice)Photo by Free Jack Letts (@JLettsJustice)Photo by Free Jack Letts (@JLettsJustice)Photo by Free Jack Letts (@JLettsJustice)Photo by Free Jack Letts (@JLettsJustice)Photo by Free Jack Letts (@JLettsJustice)Photo by Free Jack Letts (@JLettsJustice)Photo by Free Jack Letts (@JLettsJustice)Photo by Free Jack Letts (@JLettsJustice)
Jack is no terrorist. We've been saying it since Day 1. But he is being held incommunicado in a foreign dungeon, unable to defend himself. Join our campaign to #FreeJackLetts! freejackletts.com/latest-new…
2
16
17
6,415
"I speak to the mothers of these children. They, too, are bemused, despairing, depressed, angry, fearful, stagnating, forgotten. Their fate is in the hands of those who hate them. Where are our public intellectuals who say this is wrong?" @DalrympleWill @CraigMurrayOrg @owenjonesjourno @profbensaul @USAMBTurkiye @hind_kabawat @asaadhshaibani @lloydaxworthy
In UK & Canada, the beautiful simplicity of Bertrand Russell's statement on nationalism can be extended even further - ie a person who is perceived to be against nationalism in his own country is judged to be the worst type of enemy - ie the enemy within - and against him or her the worst form of atrocity and vileness can be legimately practised One only needs to look at the mindset of mainstream @BBC presenter, Stacey Dooley, who, on her exit from the Syrian camp where 1000s of women & kids are imprisoned, shrieked, 'You turned your back on democracy!', as the huge metal gates closed against the bemused faces of 100s of small, bedraggled children Those children are still there, 7-9 years on - still imprisoned as the offspring of those perceived to be the enemies of 'British values' - as if British values means imprisoning children and women, because, well, we don't like them very much and, as Bertrand Russell says, being proud of your country means you can legitimately practice vileness and atrocity against your enemies I speak to the mothers of these children. They, too, are bemused, despairing, depressed, angry, fearful, stagnating, forgotten. Their fate is in the hands of those who hate them. Where are our public intellectuals who say this is wrong? The Bertrand Russell's of our time? What explains the silence of the left, so preoccupied with the oppression in other parts of the world that it has no time to see the despair of its own people. imprisoned abroad bc countries like UK and Canada believe this is the most convenient place to dump our enemy within? @DalrympleWill @CraigMurrayOrg @owenjonesjourno I don't even know who to tag any more as this atrocious and vile situation has gone on for so long & most of my tags usually fall on very stoney ground. However, here's an attempt: @profbensaul @USAMBTurkiye @hind_kabawat @asaadhshaibani @lloydaxworthy @MargaretAtwood
1
3
60
There seems to be a real attempt to make the public believe that Tice was killed in 2013, and to move on. Much more on this on my Substack. teapawt.net/FADELABDULGHANY/status…
Fears of evading justice For SNHR, the main concern is not intelligence cooperation itself, but whether any arrangement could prevent evidence from being used in criminal proceedings or shield individuals from accountability. The organisation has argued that the pursuit of information about Tice must not come at the expense of the rights of Syrian victims. At the same time, it has stressed that intelligence gathering and criminal accountability are not inherently incompatible. Accountability does not necessarily require al-Hassan to be extradited to Syria, @snhr told The New Arab. What matters is that any allegations against him are examined by a competent and independent court that can guarantee a fair trial. The organisation warned that if arrangements with intelligence agencies were to prevent such proceedings, victims could be left with the impression that cooperation with foreign governments allows former officials to evade justice. Hassan could also possess information relevant to Syrians who were forcibly disappeared during the former regime’s rule, including details of detention decisions, officials involved, and the locations of detainees or burial sites. Such information would need to be verified rather than accepted at face value, SNHR said. @The_NewArab The full report is in the first comment.
2
4
382
Yes, I'm not sure why this isn't bigger news. I would have thought there would be more of an uproar from the general public knowing how often and how readily their government violates citizens' fundamental rights. Two of the following headlines have been paraphrased, and the third has been transcribed verbatim: "Canadian government tight-lipped on deliberate persecution of its own citizens." "Canadian Foreign Minister says innocent Canadian prisoners deserve to be detained and tortured" "The feds refused to repatriate a Canadian citizen detained in Syrian prison. Then she died." @JimBronskill @judyatrinh @MarkJCarney @AnitaAnandMP @melaniejoly
Replying to @MarkKersten
Le's face it - international law died a long time ago. Why have at least 9 Canadian men been held in Kurdish dungeons for 10 years, with no light, no fresh air, beaten, starved, denied access to lawyers, families, doctors, Red Cross, or outside world, not to mention being detained where medical murder takes place - ie deliberate infection of prisoners with TB, from which 1000s have died. All with the blessing of the Canadian government, particularly @melaniejoly, who is an enthusiastic supporter of such torture - quoted on tape if any journalists are interested. (Of course they're not. ) When condemned by the UN, Canada replied that the 'UN is merely an advisory body'.
2
3
7
198
Among them Syrian civilians and activists! SDF just sent everyone in their prisons, including kidnapped, to Iraq. I know of many dozens now in Iraq who have nothing to do with ISIS.
Nearly 5,700 people allegedly linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) are being detained in Iraq. The thousands of boys and men sent to Iraq deserve humane treatment and due process, just as the thousands of survivors of ISIS crimes deserve genuine justice. Learn more: bit.ly/4djf3An
7
24
1,126
How many more detainees are completely innocent while being labelled as IS monsters? @MarkJCarney @AnitaAnandMP
share.google/FgRCOMYApb6jVrh… Iraqi investigators say that Australian Yusuf Zahab - taken to Syria at age 12 & imprisoned for years in SDF adult prison - is completely innocent Yusuf has spent 7 years in barbaric prison conditions as IS suspect, despite being a civilian and with Iraqi investigators finding he had no involvement with ISIS How many more detainees are completely innocent while being labelled as IS monsters? Former Cdn Foreign Minister @melaniejoly said such arbitrary detention in barbaric conditions is 'what you get when you join ISIS' - even when there is no evidence detainees joined ISIS This is the SDF 'justice system' Canada has been so supportive of, it went to court to KEEP CANADIAN CITIZENS INCARCERATED in SDF's inhuman prisons Is this what @MarkJCarney means by 'upholding human dignity & the rule of law'? When will our brave PM walk the walk instead of just talking the talk? @AnitaAnandMP @lloydaxworthy @AmnestyNow @RenaNetjes @MarkKersten @AlboMP
1
5
126
UPDATE from the mother of Jack Letts - 9/30/2026: "Dear all, John and I are now back from Iraq. We managed to talk to Jack for 4 hours last Wednesday in a comfortable reception room at the prison, which we had to ourselves. He looked much better than expected - he said the food is much better in Iraq than Syria. He was also much more mentally together than I expected, and - believe it or not - spent a lot of the time telling funny stories about his experiences, just like the old Jack. We were able to give him books, sweets, after shave, etc, which he was very grateful for. He says he's speaking English for the first time in a long time as he's in a cell with [other English-speaking prisoners.] Some of his experiences were awful - eg spending 3 months in solitary with no books, no Koran, nothing. It turned out that the documentary from 2024 was filmed during this period of solitary, which partially explains why he was so disoriented and tearful. Lawyer Clive Stafford Smith is making great legal progress and [interacted with officials from] the Iraqi Bar Association. I am attaching a couple of pics. One is our escort by the Iraqi SWAT team to the airport on our way home - a sign of the VIP treatment we were given. And one of Clive with the head of the Iraqi Bar Association." #freeJackLetts
1
1
6
339
Free Jack Letts retweeted
It may look like I'm finally being properly arrested but it's actually the totally unnecessary but kind & respectful SWAT team the PM's office organized to take us to the Airport here in Baghdad today...
1
6
54
2,525
Free Jack Letts retweeted
Ahlam Al Lami, the first woman to head the prestigious Iraq Bar Association, was SO kind and even gave me that bouquet of roses!
3
4
56
3,218
Free Jack Letts retweeted
Iraqi authorities gracious & welcoming, & much achieved for prisoners brought to Baghdad by the US. The best moment was when some detainees were allowed to meet their parents, & one got on his knees to kiss his mother's feet (for making the effort to come all this way)...
2
4
16
1,835
Free Jack Letts retweeted
Iraqis have taken on a MASSIVE task with 5600 detainees from NE Syria; we can help the 67 countries to do their part-take them for trial at home if you want/identify the innocent. UNICEF says there are nearly 1500 who were juveniles when the Kurds detained them in Syria...
8
1
21
1,913
Iraqis have taken on a MASSIVE task with 5600 detainees from NE Syria; we can help the 67 countries to do their part-take them for trial at home if you want/identify the innocent. UNICEF says there are nearly 1500 who were juveniles when the Kurds detained them in Syria...
1
3
104
Iraqis have taken on a MASSIVE task with 5600 detainees from NE Syria; we can help the 67 countries to do their part-take them for trial at home if you want/identify the innocent. UNICEF says there are nearly 1500 who were juveniles when the Kurds detained them in Syria...
3
1
6
269
Children could grow up to become "terrorists" echoed an argument used by Nazi officials at the Nuremberg Trials to justify the killing of children during the Holocaust. -UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese
151
2,640
47
4,712
37,788
Reposting for reach.
Replying to @implausibleblog
Fine words, @MarkJCarney, well done. However, why are 12 uncharged Canadian men, women, child detainees still held in brutal arbitrary detention in Syria & Iraq (with their conditions described in horrifying detail in 289-page @amnesty report), & why did Canadian government go to court in order to KEEP THEM THERE?
3
103
Free Jack Letts retweeted
To incarcerate people like this is not worthy of humanity. It is important to have just trials and repatriate. #Syria #repatriation #law #justice #Iraq #terrorism
🇸🇾🇮🇶 457 des 3 497 Syriens détenus par les FDS/YPG, pour liens présumés avec Daesh et transférés en Irak en janvier dernier, ont été déclarés innocents et seront libérés en Syrie après enquête irakienne et suivi officiel syrien. Ce transfert massif d'environ 5 700 détenus, visait à sécuriser les prisons du nord-est syrien suite aux avancées des forces gouvernementales et aux risques d'évasions. 
Les investigations révèlent que les forces kurdes ont potentiellement utilisé l'étiquette Daesh pour détenir des opposants, des rivaux tribaux et autres.
2
2
136
We, too, protested for 10 years about the arbitrary arrests by SDF & long-term illegal detention of those who never faced charges, trial, presentation before a judge, or access to a lawyer. The only two voices of the press that reported publicly about the unlawfulness of this were yours & Rena Netjes - and your voices were drowned out by the millions of voices, as led by US, that protected & promoted the decade-long scandal of the brutal imprisonment of uncharged people. It has to be said that even al-Monitor never inserted the little word 'alleged' before 'IS fighters' - even when there was no evidence that many of them had ever been IS fighters. SDF atrocities were protected & ignored by US for political expediency reasons. The evidence of a Canadian court that the Canadian government had never received any evidence of criminal activity of any of the Canadian men in captivity was ignored by all media, domestically & internationally. The facts coming out now that SDF imprisoned innocent people for years based on settling political scores will similarly be ignored. The innocent detainees who were deliberately cruelly treated as a matter of US/SDF policy will face life-long physical & mental damage. Yes, people should have listened to you years ago & they didn't, and that is to the eternal shame of the international community who could have stopped this unlawful cruelty 10 years ago and chose not to
1
96
"The Iraqis want to return these men to Canada, saying they are Canada's responsibility, not theirs." Why is Canada stalling? These Cdns should be repatriated, as Iraq requests. @j_maloney @AnitaAnandMP @gary_srp
Canada has supported the incarceration of 7 Canadian men in conditions like these in SDF prisons - boxes of hell with no windows - for 7-9 years. These men are still incarcerated - now in Iraq, after being illegally rendered there by US, the world bully who renames Canadian lakes. Former Foreign Minister, Melanie Joly, says this is what you get for joining ISIS (please see CTV documentary for her direct quote) - even though Justice Henry Brown said in federal court that there was no evidence any of these men had joined IS. @avilewis - do you believe this is how Canadians should be treated? The Iraqis want to return these men to Canada, saying they are Canada's responsibility, not theirs. What do you think? Do you think Canadians should be illegally incarcerated in hell boxes with no windows for 7-9 years, and counting? @GAC_DM_FA @CanadainIraq
3
4
225
Free Jack Letts retweeted
shafaq.com/en/Security/Count… The source cited France & Morocco among countries with which Baghdad had held talks, but said no transfers had yet taken place under those understandings Iraq has previously secured or pursued repatriation arrangements with countries including Turkiye, Russia & Canada Baghdad plans to intensify diplomatic & legal efforts to return foreign detainees after the remaining US-led Coalition forces leave Iraq, a withdrawal scheduled to be completed by Sept. 30, the source said. US military officials have said the drawdown remains on track
2
11
382
Free Jack Letts retweeted
rudaw.net/english/categories… 'Baghdad has initiated legal & diplomatic procedures to transfer around 6,000 foreign detainees & convicts associated with Islamic State (ISIS) to their home countries, a spokesperson for Iraq’s justice ministry said on Sunday, excluding those serving death sentences' "The main objective of this step is to reduce the immense pressure on our prisons caused by overcrowding,” he added Karkh Central Prison in Baghdad has been designated as the main facility where the prisoners will be assembled before procedures for their transfer are completed
1
7
15
959