Subcommittee on International Human Rights Committee on March 22nd, 2011

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

I call to order the 51st hearing of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, on this 22nd day of March 2011.

We are televised.

We have a witness today, Rachel Gouin from Inter Pares, but before I turn the floor over to Madame Gouin, I have a couple of things to draw to the attention of members.

The first item is that sometimes we let this run late. Today we will not let our meeting run late, because members have to get from this room way down the road to Centre Block in time for question period, and there is no way of doing that unless we wrap things up exactly at two o'clock. For that reason, I'll be seeing the clock as exactly what the clock is instead of as the imaginary clock in my head that we sometimes use.

We will have a little green bus waiting at the exit to take us. At 2:00 p.m. we're going to wrap it up and everybody will get upstairs. Like the marines, we leave no one behind, unless, unlike the marines, I see that someone is taking too long, in which case we do leave without you. Consider yourselves warned.

The other thing to mention to you is that Mr. Sweet has a motion, which is receivable. I understand there have been some consultations. I'll turn things over to Mr. Sweet.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll be as brief as I can.

The motion states:

That the Subcommittee on International Human Rights initiate a study of actions taken by the Government of Ukraine to suppress political dissent, free speech, freedom of the press, and academic freedom in Ukraine. The study will focus on allegations of wrongdoing by Government of Ukraine officials and implicated bodies in cases including, but not limited to:

- the murder of independent journalist Georgy Gongadze and the case of editor and investigative journalist, Vasyl Klymentyev, who is missing and feared dead;

- recent imprisonment and launching of criminal investigations and imprisonment against opposition party members including former Presidential candidate Yuliya Tymoshenko;

- actions taken to remove the autonomy of academic institutions, and harassment and intimidation of the academic community, focusing on historians who draw attention to Ukrainian national resistance to Soviet rule;

- the use of improper election tactics in local elections of October 31, 2010.

I've had conversations with all members, Mr. Chair, with regard to support for this motion.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Let me ask, is there support for this motion? Est-ce qu'il y a consentement? Okay, it is adopted unanimously.

(Motion agreed to)

Thank you to everybody.

Go ahead, Mr. Silva.

[Mario Silva, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Now that the motion has been adopted, maybe Mr. Sweet can tell the committee sometime in the future whom he would like to have as a witness and whether we will need one or two meetings to realize that motion.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

In the event we don't have an election, I was going to suggest we devote our first post-non-election meeting to figuring out what our agenda is. This could fall into that category, as would additional meetings on the subject before us today.

We now have Dr. Rachel Gouin,

the Inter Pares Africa program manager. I believe she will be discussing matters relating to Africa, and more particularly the situation in the Sudan.

Ms. Gouin, I invite you to make your presentation.

[Dr. Rachel Gouin, Africa Program Manager, Inter Pares]

Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. I'm grateful for the opportunity to speak before the subcommittee today.

Inter Pares is a social justice organization based here in Ottawa. My particular area of focus is on women's rights in Sudan, a country that is in the midst of an historical transition, having undergone a referendum that set the course for independence in the south. I work closely with women in north Sudan who live under a government that severely restrains their rights, including the right to equal participation, the right to equality under the law, the right to determine their own lives and futures, and the right to live lives that are free from violence and the threat of violence.

In the past weeks, Inter Pares' counterparts, our partners in northern Sudan, have been appealing to the international community to condemn the continued and recent use of sexual violence by security and public officials in efforts to contain pro-democracy and human rights demonstrators in Khartoum.

One especially courageous young woman, Safiya Eshaq, has spoken publicly about her rape, posting her testimony on YouTube and asking women to break the silence on the violence they are facing at the hands of government agents. She was picked up on the morning of February 13, 2011. Safiya was asked about her political affiliations and her participation in demonstrations before being brutally beaten and raped by three security officers. This was confirmed at a police station and by medical doctors.

To honour her courage in speaking publicly about her ordeal, hundreds of people in Sudan and around the world have joined with her to denounce the use of sexual violence by the National Congress Party agents, stating that we are all Safiya and the violence concerns us all.

We know the use of rape is not a new trend in Sudan. The use of sexual violence such as rape, harassment, and sexual assault in recent protests does not represent a new pattern of behaviour for the NCP. The International Criminal Court judged that there were reasonable grounds to believe Omar al-Bashir was criminally responsible for the use of rape against women in Darfur. Security and public officials, such as those who raped Safiya, are immune from judicial or criminal procedures unless the director of security forces consents to bring them to justice.

Efforts to secure civil and political rights for women, including the right to be safe from sexual harm, will be incomplete if laws and practices are not reformed. For instance, criminal law does not clearly distinguish between rape and adultery, resulting in women being re-victimized and even punished when they report rape or sexual harassment. Public order laws, which al-Bashir has repeatedly stated would be strongly enforced after the south declared independence, are used to punish conduct or dress that is deemed to be indecent by security forces or police. The punishment is 40 lashes, bail, or both.

Last month 44 human rights activists, including Zaynab Elsawi, who testified last fall before the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, were arrested for proposing reforms to criminal and public order laws. They were subsequently released.

Finally, the personal status act institutionalizes and reinforces discrimination and inequality for women and girls. For instance, it regulates the age of marriage, permitting the marriage of girls as young as 10 years old. It also regulates divorce and child support, setting conditions that put women and children at risk of being abandoned or forced to stay in violent situations. We cannot speak of the use of rape by the National Congress Party without also acknowledging the legal means by which women and girls are violated.

What can be done?

Civil society organizations and women's organizations are working to improve the public's understanding of how these laws attack basic freedoms, particularly those of women and girls, all the while denouncing incidents of rape and sexual harassment, but they have to be very cautious, as there are continued and increased threats to defenders of human rights and journalists in north Sudan following the referendum.

On March 8th, 2011, for instance, when 60 women gathered to celebrate the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, 250 police and security officers were waiting, and over 40 of the women participating were arrested.

Protesters had been calling for an end to rape and human rights abuses. The women who were arrested that day have been released, but many young activists who have stood up for democracy in recent weeks and months remain in the hands of security forces. The international community should remember that any stability for Sudan must also aim to end violence against women and girls, and laws must change and full rights for women and girls must be secured.

The best people to do this are Sudanese men and women themselves. They have the ability to mobilize and to organize civic education, thereby ensuring broad social support for legal reforms and social reforms by the Sudanese population. Their work is risky, and they ask the international community to be supportive of their struggle and also vigilant in its dealings with the National Congress Party.

What can Canada do?

Members of the Sudan task force informed me recently that Canada has been expressing its concerns about human rights abuses directly to NCP officials, and for this we're very grateful. We would encourage Canada to continue to denounce crimes of sexual violence carried out by the military, by police, by security forces, and by armed groups that are sanctioned by the National Congress Party, and to send a clear message that Canada's collaboration with the government in the north hinges on its respect for human rights. This should also include a call to investigate recent cases of rape and sexual harassment against women protesters and to bring those responsible to justice.

Second, we hope that Canada will continue to stand behind the International Criminal Court's indictment against Omar al-Bashir. Peace in Sudan must come through accountability and reparation for women victims and survivors of violence. The ICC and other international mechanisms, such as the International Center for Transitional Justice, play an important role in combatting impunity, and the use of sexual violence will not end if heads of state are allowed to rule with impunity.

Finally, Inter Pares is grateful for the funds it receives from CIDA to support the work of women's groups in north Sudan, and we agree with the recommendation made by the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development that Canada should set up mechanisms to enable direct access to financing for local civil society, including women's organizations in north and south Sudan, to help facilitate their access to funds that Canada is offering to Sudan.

I thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Thank you very much.

We have 40 minutes for four parties. We can have 10 minutes each. I'm going to have to enforce that pretty tightly, but it is pretty generous.

Before we go to any questions from anybody else, I wanted to ask about one thing. You said there was a punishment of 40 lashes, bail, or both. Did you mean bail as in a fine of some sort?

[Dr. Rachel Gouin]

Yes, it's a fine.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

All right. Thank you.

For the Liberals, it see that it will be Mr. Silva splitting the time with Mr. Cotler.

[Mario Silva, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you very much for your presentation.

The world right now is quite wrapped up with what's happening in north Africa and the Middle East, not to mention, of course, the terrible tragedy in Japan, and we have almost forgotten what has been taking place in Darfur. Sudan has also just gone through an important referendum to separate it from the south, which was overwhelmingly endorsed by the people of the south. We'll see how that transition goes. We still don't know what's going to happen in terms of how well that's going to go.

You work with organizations and NGOs on the ground. Do they see a continuous deterioration? Is there any improvement at all? Are there things you feel we should be more active on, as parliamentarians, to bring to light the appalling tragedies taking place not just in Darfur specifically, but throughout Sudan? What do you think are some of the steps that we as a committee could take?

[Dr. Rachel Gouin]

When I received a press release--I've brought copies--denouncing the use of rape against protesters in recent protests, they also highlighted the use of rape against women in Darfur, and that this is a continuation of the current practices of this regime.

We don't work with people in Darfur, but there's a concern in all of Sudan, in both northern Sudan and South Sudan. They have been talking and collaborating on how they will continue to work together post-referendum and how they can continue to support women's rights. There's concern about women's rights in all of Sudan, but there's especially fear of further repression in the north, given the separation of the south. The fear is that President al-Bashir and the National Congress Party will claim that only Arabic people live in the north, that it's a monolithic society, and that sharia law must rule. The concessions that were made following the signing of the peace agreements are being pulled back. This has been seen in recent activities, with more arrests and more visits from security forces to NGOs, including the ones we support.

I think the recommendations that were made by the foreign affairs committee were in the right direction. This committee could also affirm the need to keep a watchful eye on women's rights in all of Sudan and in Darfur, especially if there are changes around the ICC and the indictment of Bashir, given that he's letting the south go. That's of concern to us.

I don't know if that answers your question.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

We still have seven minutes.

[Mario Silva, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Go ahead, Professor Cotler.

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

To what extent do crimes of sexual violence go unreported? How do victims feel about reporting these crimes, and to whom do they report them?

[Dr. Rachel Gouin]

They are highly unreported, which is what makes Safiya's gesture so powerful. Not only did she report it to police right away and get a medical examination, she's publicly speaking about it, which breaks a lot of taboos. Rape is largely unreported.

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

On the issue of impunity with regard to President al-Bashir, how do you feel about the approach that is sometimes taken on this issue, which is that if al-Bashir will reconcile himself to the independence of the south, it will be a kind of a quid pro quo for him not being pursued with regard to his criminal indictments?

[Dr. Rachel Gouin]

Thank you for explaining that more clearly than I was.

That is a very big concern, because not only is he allowed to go on and be rewarded, in a sense, but the other practices around immunity for his officials are also encouraged. There's no way to challenge that when the peron at the top is not accountable for his actions.

It seems to be quite a strong statement to make, especially given the continued use of sexual violence against women. For that indictment to be changed or withdrawn would be quite alarming to me, and of concern to women in particular. The message it sends is that it's not so bad; the violence continues.

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Rape was customarily viewed as one of the consequences or incidences of war, as if somehow that made it any less evil. To what extent have rape and other forms of sexual violence been used as instruments for the waging of war, as weapons of war, rather than just as consequences of war?

[Dr. Rachel Gouin]

My understanding is that with the indictment, the ICC is making a statement about its use as a weapon of war, so that remains to be judged and evaluated.

Current participation in public gatherings around women's rights, around denouncing the use of rape, have been punished. While it's not an outright war, it is used as a form of punishment for those who speak out against the regime, and when we talk about rape and sexual violence being used as a weapon of war or as a weapon of repression, that's what we're talking about. It's a way to humiliate those who speak out, to humiliate both the women who are raped and have to live with the consequences of that socially, physically, and mentally and to humiliate the men who were not able to protect the women of their families.

Using rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war encompasses many different aspects. It has to do with women being seen as the property of men and as the spoils of war. What you do to women is what you do to.... You burn down houses; you rape women. Women being property is an element that supports the use of rape.

There are also other things, such as forced pregnancies, which provoke abortions. It's une représaille, a punishment, for having participated, for having been in the wrong area, for having been a woman.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

You still have two more minutes if you wish, Mr. Cotler.

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

I know that Darfur was not necessarily a focus of your inquiry, but what is your understanding of the situation now in the internally displaced persons camps in terms of the levels of sexual violence?

[Dr. Rachel Gouin]

I can't speak to that. I could find information for you, but I've never been to Darfur. I don't have current information about that. I'm sorry about that.

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Thank you.

I now give the floor to Ms. Deschamps.