Canadian court bans woman sought ISIS training in Syria from travel
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – A Canadian court banned on Wednesday a woman from traveling for joining the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria and seeking weapon training.
Aimee Lucia Vasconez, 39, a woman from Alberta, Canada, admitted to the court she received military training and applied to join an ISIS battalion. The court imposed on her a “terrorism peace bond,” banning her from travelling and accessing the internet for a year.
Vasconez left Canada with her husband and two children in 2015 to join ISIS in Syria, according to Federal Crown prosecutor Monique Dion. Vasconez’s husband died fighting for ISIS, she later remarried, but her second husband also died in combat.
Dion added that under the peace bond Vasconez will be monitored to ensure she does not participate in terrorism-related activities.
“There are reasonable grounds to fear Ms. Vasconez may participate in a terrorism offence, and that’s meant quite broadly,” she said adding, this could range from aiding in an attack to advising someone to join an extremist organization.
Dion pointed out that Vasconez surrendered to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in February 2019, where she stayed for four years in a camp for ISIS families.
After the military defeat of ISIS in Baghuz, eastern Syria, thousands of ISIS fighters surrendered to the SDF. They were transferred to prisons and detention centers, while their families were transferred to Hawl and Roj camps in areas run by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
Vasconez was repatriated to Canada in April 2023 along with three women and 10 children.