Human rights activists are calling on Ottawa to recall its Ambassador to Syria. The demand follows reports that a Canadian citizen, Maher Arar, is being tortured in a Syrian prison.

Arar's wife, Monia Mazigh, said her husband has been deprived of his human rights for 10 months. She said that he has been tortured and questioned whether he was still alive during an emotional news conference Thursday.

"Today, I feel I have no choice but to ask the Canadian government to recall the Canadian Ambassador to Syria. The Syrian human rights community in London says that my husband has been beaten.

"He has been beaten on the soles of his feet and beaten with shredding cables. They say he would be squashed into a car tire so his head is touching his toes. This is very consistent with what the U.S. State Department says happens in Syrian prisons," Mazigh said.

Arar's supporters fear the 32-year-old telecommunications engineer could be facing the worst, since he avoided compulsory military service before he left Syria. Mazigh said the fate of her husband remains unknown.

"I am left today asking why there has been no access to my husband. Is he so badly hurt they want no one to see him? Is he still alive?"

Arar was detained in October 2002 after being stopped in New York while on a flight from Syria to Montreal. He was accused of being a member of the al Qaeda terror network and the Americans deported him to Syria because of his dual citizenship.

Amnesty International is urging the federal government to enlist the help of other countries, especially the United States. The organization is also calling on Ottawa to recall the Canadian Ambassador to Syria.

"Ottawa must enlist other countries as allies in this cause. Most importantly, the United States, which bears considerable responsibility for Mr. Arar's fate must get involved," Alex Neve said.

Neve said Prime Minister Jean Chretien should personally intervene in the matter and meet with Syria's leader. He also said there were questions surrounding the involvement of the RCMP and asked for their full co-operation in the matter.

"Troubling questions remain as to the role the RCMP may have played in this case. It is still not clear whether and under what circumstances information was passed from the RCMP to either U.S. or Syrian officials.

"Amnesty International and others have called for a full inquiry into this matter and for the RCMP to fully disclose any evidence it possess," Neve said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham got involved in the situation when Arar was first detained. He registered Canada's protest with the U.S. in a meeting with U.S. Ambassador Paul Cellucci.

"Our position is a person travelling on a Canadian passport ... has a right to be treated as a Canadian citizen and we have, in international law, a right to have consular access to that person," Graham said following that meeting.

In November, 2002, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told Graham that, not only did they suspect Arar as an al Qaeda agent, but the information came from Canadian intelligence sources.

Subsequently, it became apparent Arar had been under RCMP watch for more than a year. At that point, although Ottawa didn't comment directly on Arar's case, it offered no more challenges of the American position.

NDP MP Svend Robinson wants an inquiry into the role the RCMP may have played supplying the Americans with information that led to Arar's deportation.

"The response of the Canadian government to this gross violation of a Canadian citizen has been shameful," Robinson said Thursday.

The situation has also left Mazigh questioning the support her family has received from Ottawa.

"What does a Canadian citizen mean if it doesn't mean anything for my husband? What does it mean for my children both born in Canada?" Mazigh said.

The Prime Minister's Office has said they are taking Mazigh's recall request seriously, especially in light of the torture allegations. Last month, Ottawa recalled its ambassador to Iran in protest of the death of a Montreal photojournalist in Tehran.

Arar has yet to be charged and Syrian authorities have yet to respond to a recent letter from the prime minister asking for his release if he isn't charged.