Subcommittee on International Human Rights Committee on Feb. 9th, 2012

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Here, yes.

[Alex Neve]

I think it's become very clear right around the world. While I don't have the details, I'm sure this is a concern with the community here in Canada that Eritrean government supporters, and perhaps even agents, are quite active. They exert pressure. I know in the United States there have been many reports of independent Eritrean journalists, for instance, working in the United States being subject to surveillance and harassment. So that is another serious part of the story.

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Mr. Hiebert, please.

[Russ Hiebert, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock—Cloverdale, BC]

Thank you.

Mr. Neve, it's always good to see you. Thank you for being back.

With the limited time I have I want to focus on something that came to our attention at our last meeting, and that is the diaspora tax, which I don't know if you mentioned in your remarks.

[Alex Neve]

I did a little bit, but not much.

[Russ Hiebert, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock—Cloverdale, BC]

We were told on Tuesday that Eritreans in other countries—expatriates, of course—are forced to give back a percentage of their income to the Eritrean government. According to the UN Security Council resolution of last December 5, that money is used to procure arms and related material for transfers to armed opposition groups, and so on. That resolution in item number 10 condemns the use of this diaspora tax.

There was an article in the National Post in December a few days after this resolution was passed. It highlighted this and actually made reference to a document that my staff was able to find. It's from the consulate general of the state of Eritrea, in Toronto. It is a form that is basically used, from what we can tell, for the purpose of collecting a 2% tax on Eritreans in Canada. The suggestion is—and I can't corroborate it—that if you don't pay the tax there will be consequences.

What could our government do to prevent or ban this kind of activity? We know that a variety of international terrorist groups and other groups that have been banned in Canada do use Canada as a source of fundraising. We've talked about that before. But I'd be interested in your thoughts at this point. What do you know about this diaspora tax, and what do you think could be done about it?

[Alex Neve]

We haven't done our own research into the practice. We certainly know of its existence. I think you're absolutely right. What greater source do we need than the fact that this is something that has been noted and condemned in a UN Security Council resolution? The UN Security Council has called on the Eritrean government to cease the practice, but has called on other countries—which would certainly include Canada to the extent that this plays out here—to take action to back that up. What laws can or cannot be used by the Canadian government to do so would take some study. I'm sure Justice lawyers here could give you some very good advice on that front.

Clearly there's a call for action by the UN Security Council. They've come at it because they've highlighted the ways in which they feel the tax is being used in destabilizing the Horn, including the security considerations and Eritrea's support for Somalia. Those are all very serious concerns. It's not a big leap from there to imagine that the tax also provides resources that facilitate human rights violations within Eritrea itself. It could be part of the wider strategy to address the kinds of concerns I've outlined in my presentation.

The UN Security Council has called for action. Canada needs no greater reason to do something.

[Russ Hiebert, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock—Cloverdale, BC]

Do you know of any other countries that have a diaspora tax in Canada? Have you heard of this from other human rights-violating countries?

[Alex Neve]

There are certainly allegations that have been documented in the past about ways in which the Tamil Tigers engaged in something along those lines within the Tamil community. That's the only one that I am readily aware of. I wouldn't be at all surprised if it has happened in other communities also.

Certainly expatriate communities are viewed by a whole host of people—certainly by family members, but also by governments—as an incredibly important source of revenue. I'm sure sometimes they find this a temptation that's impossible to resist.

[Russ Hiebert, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock—Cloverdale, BC]

Can you think of any reason why a government would not want to put an end to this practice if it were happening in their country—libertarian views or otherwise?

[Alex Neve]

Do you mean why wouldn't Canada or any other government not take action?

[Russ Hiebert, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock—Cloverdale, BC]

Yes.

[Alex Neve]

Well, I suppose sometimes you get into difficult questions about sovereignty, and these may be people with dual nationality. It is certainly open to governments to tax their nationals, even when they're living abroad. You start to get into some complicated legalities here, which Justice lawyers and others would need to work through. Clearly, as an important starting point here, we have one of the most pre-eminent sources of international authority in law—the UN Security Council—saying, “End this and take action”. I would say it's therefore incumbent upon Canada and all other countries to explore the ways to do so lawfully.

[Russ Hiebert, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock—Cloverdale, BC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Thank you.

Professor Cotler, go ahead please.

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

I just want to echo the comments about the importance of this hearing, because I think human rights in Eritrea have just not been on the radar screen in Canada or internationally. That's allowed it to foster a culture of impunity, but more out of a kind of culture of simply ignoring what is going on in Eritrea.

As a parenthetical remark, there's a rather substantial number of Eritreans in Israel. They've not been deported back to Eritrea, but neither have they been given refugee status. The Israeli law on refugee status is, frankly, underdeveloped. So they're there, but Israel doesn't know how to deal with the situation, other than not to send them back for the time being. Indeed, there's a substantial number—as I found out when I was there—of African refugees who have come from Sudan as well as from Eritrea and elsewhere into Israel.

You mentioned about the cluster and categories of violations. I was going to ask you this in terms of freedom of the press and journalists. There were, as you know, some 20 men and one woman who were arrested, a group referred to as the G15, but nothing's been heard from them since 2001. Do we know anything about the status of that group?

[Alex Neve]

No. You're quite right, they remain in prisons incommunicado, with no charges or trials, no access to lawyers or family members. Amnesty International did a fair bit of campaigning last year marking the tenth anniversary of their arrest and imprisonment, and it continues to highlight them as being among the most emblematic cases of this pattern of political imprisonment and prisoners of conscience in the country.

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

They were a rather courageous group who had published a manifesto at one point, critical of—

[Alex Neve]

Yes, and they included three former cabinet ministers, some very important and influential people, who were certainly not taking up arms, were not fomenting or encouraging criminal activity. They simply were pressing for democratic change in the country, and they've paid a very heavy price for doing so.

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

We've taken up cases of people in prison elsewhere. Here you have an utterly non-violent group simply seeking democratization and expression, yet they're being held incommunicado all these years and nothing is heard of them, and not much seems to be done on their behalf. Or am I reading it wrong?

[Alex Neve]

I think that's very true. I do imagine that governments, including the Canadian government, have on occasion found opportunities to raise their cases with Eritrean officials and that there are governments who have made it clear that they expect and want to see those prisoners released, but against a backdrop where we're not really seeing a wider significant, concerted global campaign of pressure on Eritrea with respect to these and other human rights concerns, it doesn't deliver positive results.

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

There does not appear to be any NGO access in Eritrea, but what about the United Nations, which has its own monitoring mission with regard to Eritrea? Does it have access to prisoners? Has the human rights situation been addressed by it?

[Alex Neve]

My understanding—I wouldn't want to say it categorically—is that it doesn't have access to prisons and detention centres, nor does the International Committee of the Red Cross. That's one of the keys, as a minimal first step, in addressing the concerns associated with the tension. It's access of that sort that we need to see open up. Certainly, none of the UN special rapporteurs are given access to Eritrea. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and other international human rights organizations aren't given access. Everything about how the country is run is about restriction and secrecy. As you know, that's exactly what breeds human rights abuse.

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

I think that's what makes your recommendations, both with regard to the Red Cross access and also about having a UN special rapporteur with regard to Eritrea, even more compelling.

Thank you for that.