Canada’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced Saturday their arrest and prosecution of Kimberly Polman on Friday, who allegedly traveled to Syria and joined ISIS in 2015. Polman will be appearing in court on August 2 in Vancouver Provincial Court.

Polman was charged with two counts of terrorism-related offenses: leaving Canada to participate in activity of terrorist group and participation in activity of terrorist group, contrary to the Criminal Code sections 83.181 and 83.18 respectively. Both offenses attach a maximum of 10 years imprisonment upon conviction.

Polman’s previous legal counsel Lawrence Greenspon expressed his surprise at the charges, contending that Polman has followed strictly the conditions imposed on her by the court-issued peace bond and has been getting counseling to integrate back into Canadian lifestyle. A peace bond is a protection order issued by the court against an individual who appears likely to commit a criminal offense with no reasonable grounds to believe that an offense has actually been committed. Polman’s peace bond required Polman to regularly report to a parole officer, wearing electronic supervision equipment, in addition to prohibitions of driving and leaving the province.

Polman was not the only person repatriated to Canada in October 2022. Another returnee, Oumaima Chouay, was soon charged with “providing, making available, etc. property or services for terrorist purposes” and a conspiracy for leaving Canada to participate in activity of terrorist group, in addition to the two offenses Polman is currently facing. Greenspon opined at the time that by not pressing charges against Polman, the police “did not have the same kind of evidence against Polman as they did Chouay.”

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau stated that the government is committed to holding individuals liable for supporting terrorism, when he was asked about the government’s stance shortly after Polman’s repatriation took place.

Polman was alleged to have left Canada and traveled to Syria to join ISIS in 2015. In March 2019, a US-led international coalition was able to gain control of the last holdout of ISIS’s self-declared territory. Since then, foreigners living there have been considered arbitrarily detained in northeast Syria by human rights groups, with their right to review the legality of their detention deprived.

In particular, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism raised concerns about Polman’s dire conditions of detention in Syria. In its letter issued to the Canadian government in 2021, the Special Rapporteur highlighted that the government is under an international legal obligation to facilitate Polman’s return to terminate her “indefinite arbitrary detention” and protect her and other Canadian inmates from the risk of serious human rights violations. These potential human rights violations included the failure to ensure prisoners’ right to adequate healthcare services amid COVID-19, the failure to prevent human trafficking and the inability to protect the right to food and health under the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) also similarly condemned Canada for making no consular efforts to establish direct contact with detainees, let alone improving the conditions of their detentions. HRW held the view that the government’s failure to act was flouting its international legal obligation under the Convention against Torture.

On the other hand, Canada refused to repatriate by sending diplomats to Syria in early February, citing concerns about security risks and its diplomats’ safety. However, Canada also rejected the former US ambassador Peter Galbraith’s offer to bring back Polman in February 2022. At the time, Galbraith said:

Canada’s position appears to be this: It is too dangerous to send our diplomats into Syria to help Canadian citizens detained in Syria, but we will provide consular services to any Canadian who reaches a Canadian diplomatic mission. However, Canada will also not make it possible for a Canadian detained in Syria to actually reach a Canadian diplomatic mission.