Exclusive: ‘Battlefield evidence’ from Syria is coming to Canada’s courts

“Battlefield evidence” collected successful Syria has begun appearing successful Canadian courts successful cases against suspected ISIS members, a Global News probe has found.

Seized from captured combatants, ISIS documents and physics files are being utilized for the archetypal clip successful Canada to flooded the challenges of holding alleged overseas fighters to account.

The materials, which person present surfaced successful courts successful 2 provinces, are the merchandise of Operation Gallant Phoenix, a U.S.-led effort to stock what is known arsenic collected exploitable worldly (CEM).

CEM is grounds recovered connected the battlefield, and tin see paperwork and information harvested from the pockets, phones and laptops of fighters taken captive during combat.

It is portion of an effort to code a large nationalist information occupation for Canada: How to bring to justice those who participated successful ISIS successful Syria and Iraq.

Such grounds has already been utilized to convict ISIS members successful the United States, but experts and officials said it faces hurdles earlier it is treated arsenic reliable successful Canada’s courts.

A Global News probe recovered the RCMP has already enactment CEM earlier the courts successful British Columbia and Alberta, against suspected ISIS members who person returned from Syria.

In 2 of the cases, constabulary asked the courts for coercion bid bonds to restrict the movements of ISIS women successful the sanction of nationalist safety. Both cases were successful.

But Crown prosecutors person not yet tested CEM successful a transgression trial, and a elder RCMP serviceman said enactment was underway to usage it to bring charges against Canadians who participated successful ISIS.

In an exclusive interrogation with Global News, RCMP Assistant Commissioner Brigitte Gauvin said constabulary had “been utilizing CEM, which is collected exploitable material.”

“We’ve made a batch of advancement successful obtaining that evidence, and we are moving connected a model to beryllium capable to utilize it arsenic grounds successful court,” said Gauvin, the caput of nationalist information investigations.

She said it was being utilized to place the crimes of those the authorities calls Canadian extremist travellers (CETs), who near the state to instrumentality portion successful panic groups similar ISIS.

“We are continuously requesting that benignant of grounds on with different accusation oregon quality that we tin usage to beforehand our investigations,” Gauvin said.

“It hasn’t been utilized successful prosecutions oregon tested successful tribunal yet, but we’re decidedly prepared to bash so.”

Although Canada has been putting terrorists connected proceedings for the past 2 decades, successful immoderate cases for what they did successful warfare zones, prosecutors person not yet relied connected battlefield evidence.

“This is the benignant of grounds we haven’t seen yet,” said Michael Nesbitt, a starring nationalist information student and subordinate dean astatine the University of Calgary instrumentality school.

He said it could beryllium a boon to prosecutors, but they volition person to found however it was collected and got into the RCMP’s hands.

“The question, arsenic always, volition beryllium the authenticity of the evidence.”

Prosecutors whitethorn person to record affidavits attesting to the root of the papers and their continuity, meaning wherever they were recovered and however they were passed from bureau to agency.

In the 2 cases successful which CEM has already been filed successful Canadian courts, the RCMP provided a statement of the “capture circumstances” for each document.

The usage of CEM whitethorn beryllium peculiarly effectual against ISIS members since the panic radical kept voluminous bureaucratic records, partially due to the fact that it had to govern the areas it occupied.

Foreign violent fighters permission “trails of evidence” that tin beryllium “a goldmine for prosecutors and investigators, said Matt Blue, the main of the U.S. Justice Department’s counter-terrorism section.

Materials picked up connected battlefields are being analyzed, catalogued and shared, helium said successful a speech successful April. “Knowing however overmuch grounds we’ve collected implicit the years, I cognize we tin bring galore much individuals to justness for their transgression activity.”

Last year, specified grounds was utilized to convict Emraan Ali, an American who served successful ISIS.

“Foundational to the transgression charges against Ali was grounds successful 2 logbooks and 2 hard drives collected by U.S. authorities,” Blue said.

The government’s propulsion to usage it successful Canadian courtrooms comes amid a bid of arrests successful Ontario and Quebec implicit the summertime that served arsenic a reminder that ISIS remains a threat.

On Sept. 4, the RCMP arrested Muhammad Shahzeb Khan successful Ormstown, Que. A Pakistani successful Canada connected a pupil visa, helium was allegedly connected his mode to New York to behaviour a wide shooting for ISIS astatine a Brooklyn Jewish centre.

A Toronto insignificant was charged successful August with coercion offences allegedly related to ISIS, and a begetter and lad primitively from Egypt, Ahmed and Mostafa Eldidi, were arrested successful July arsenic they were allegedly preparing to transportation retired a wide stabbing for ISIS successful Toronto.

The grounds against the begetter includes a video successful which helium is allegedly seen successful Iraq, utilizing a sword to hack the feet and hands disconnected a captive suspended from a crucifix.

In addition, successful July a British tribunal convicted Edmonton nonmigratory Khaled Hussein of belonging to Al-Muhajiroun, a violent radical headed by pro-ISIS preacher Anjem Choudary.

But of the 9 women who were allegedly portion of ISIS and person returned from Syria to B.C., Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, conscionable 3 person been charged.

Several different Canadian ISIS women person not yet travel home, and Kurdish fighters are inactive holding astatine slightest 4 Canadian men who were captured during warring successful Syria.

In the lack of charges, the RCMP has been utilizing coercion bid bonds, which person a little load of proof, to bounds the menace posed by the returning women.

In 1 specified case, the RCMP grounds filed successful tribunal includes “Collected Exploitable Material” astir Edmonton nonmigratory Aimee Vasconez. The RCMP said it was provided by the FBI.

The CEM includes Islamic State documents recovered by Kurdish fighters successful Tabqah, Syria, that sanction ISIS women, their aliases, husbands, countries of root and dates of birth.

Within those documents was a ledger that recorded the names of foreigners who entered ISIS-controlled territory successful March 2015. Vasconez and her precocious hubby Ali Abdel-Jabbar were allegedly listed.

The FBI besides gave the RCMP materials taken from ISIS members fleeing the Euphrates River Valley successful February 2019, including Vasconez’s exertion for subject training.

The grounds was utilized by the RCMP’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team successful Alberta to get a warrant to apprehension Vasconez erstwhile she returned from Syria past year.

The tribunal records amusement the materials were portion of Operation Gallant Phoenix, which the RCMP said was launched “to consolidate and disseminate grounds gathered from the struggle portion successful Syria and Iraq.”

Canada has ne'er acknowledged being portion of Operation Gallant Phoenix, and Gauvin declined to sermon specifics astir the sharing of CEM, saying “there are immoderate sensitivities surrounding that.”

“But definitely, the ongoing collaboration and accrued collaboration with our overseas partners, particularly the Five Eyes, successful this area, and the sharing and the usage of CEM has decidedly been an important instrumentality for america to beryllium capable to beforehand those investigations.”

Operation Gallant Phoenix began successful 2013 arsenic a mode to “track the travel of overseas violent fighters successful and retired of Iraq and Syria,” according to the website of the New Zealand Defence Force.

“It has since evolved into a level wherever partners cod and stock accusation astir imaginable and existing violent threats, careless of the ideology down those threats.”

A 2nd ISIS suspect, Kimberly Polman of Squamish, B.C., was arrested upon returning to Canada successful a lawsuit based partially connected CEM, according to tribunal records.

The grounds against her included an Arabic notebook that listed women inhabiting an ISIS guesthouse successful Syria successful 2015. The RCMP obtained the notebook from the FBI, which got it from the U.S. Defense Department, according to the tribunal records.

The U.S. has collected 300 terabytes of CEM, ranging from fingerprints and diaries to letters and information connected fighters, according to the West Point Combating Terrorism Center.

“CEM holds large imaginable and has been utilized successful important ways to analyse and prosecute overseas violent fighters, surface and watchlist violent suspects, oregon contradict travel,” it said.

The U.S. Justice Department counter-terrorism chief, Blue, said the U.S. had amassed “an bonzer measurement of collected exploitable worldly and battlefield evidence.”

“And each day, highly trained analysts and investigators sift done that grounds — cautiously analyzing it and cataloguing it for retrieval and sharing.”

Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca