Subcommittee on International Human Rights Committee on March 1st, 2012

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Today is March 1, 2012, and this is the 25th meeting of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development.

We have four individuals as witnesses today, three of whom will be talking, and one of whom will not, I guess, in terms of opening presentations dealing with the DRC and the condition of women and the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war—something that has been of considerable interest to this committee.

The names of our guests are Patricia Malikail and Marie Gervais-Vidricaire, who are both from DFAIT; and from CIDA, we have Julia Hill and Christopher MacLennan.

I assume you've talked amongst yourselves and you know who will begin.

Okay, Madam Gervais-Vidricaire, please fire away.

[Marie Gervais-Vidricaire, Director General, Stabilization and Reconstruction Task Force, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Before starting our short presentation, I would like to inform the committee members that the presentation that was distributed to you is a little different than the one I'm going to make because I had instead understood that the committee wanted an update on the overall execution of Canada's Action Plan for the Implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security. So I adjusted my presentation a little a few minutes ago to focus on the connection with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

I'd like to thank the chair for the opportunity to provide the subcommittee with an update on the implementation of Canada's action plan for the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security in relation to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Canada has been a strong supporter of the international women, peace, and security agenda, including the fight against sexual violence. This is why, in October 2010, the government launched its national action plan for the full implementation of the UN Security Council resolution on women, peace, and security.

Canada's action plan is about being accountable and transparent in our work to implement the UN Security Council resolution, including those aspects that relate to serious human rights abuses such as the sexual violence that takes place in conflict and post-conflict situations. We make every effort to help strengthen the UN's capacity to address these types of crimes.

Canada's contribution towards the fight against sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations, including in the DRC, include our commitment to continue to support programming that addresses protection of women and girls in conflict, to continue our significant advocacy to further implementation of international norms and standards on this issue in multilateral fora, and to prepare our personnel to respond appropriately when they are faced with serious violations of human rights, including sexual violence.

The Canadian permanent mission to the UN chairs and coordinates the work of the Group of Friends of Women, Peace, and Security and the Group of Friends on Children and Armed Conflict. Through the global peace and security fund of my department, Canada is providing financial assistance to Canadian and international organizations to promote the implementation of the UN Security Council resolution on women, peace, and security, including the fight against sexual violence and armed conflict, and to build international capacity to prevent and respond to sexual violence, including in the DRC.

Through that fund—the GPSF—we have projects valued at over $6 million. I would like to mention one that deals with child protection and prevention of sexual and gender-based violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Through the global peace and security program, we are funding a project through World Vision, in partnership with the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre and the Centre for Foreign Policy Studies. The project addresses the issue of women, peace, and security by improving multi-sectoral responses to sexual and gender-based violence and the protection of children, through the reform and increased capacity of security sector forces and judicial institutions, including the military, the police, and civilian branches. It also enhances national and provincial capacities to manage the causes, manifestations, and impacts of the SGBV and ensures the protection of children.

The second project has to do with equipping the national police, the Police nationale congolaise, with multimedia training tools. With Canadian support, Search for Common Ground, an international NGO, is implementing a project to equip the Police nationale congolaise with multimedia training tools that will enable them to promote respect for human rights and to combat sexual and gender-based violence. These programs are focused on the role of military justice, which includes the police in the fight against sexual violence, and in the protection and security of people.

Also, through the global peace and security funding envelope, Foreign Affairs is currently supporting three projects where sexual and gender-based violence is a crosscutting theme. I would mention

prosecution and military support cells, as well as the support for judicial and correctional institutions in the eastern provinces.

We are also supporting MONUSCO to enhance the ability of civilian branches of the Congolese government and civil society actors to implement and monitor national legislation related to civilian protection. In eastern DRC conflicts, human rights abuses are fueled by the illegal exploitation of and trade in natural resources. Benefiting from the surrounding instability, armed groups illegally control mining areas, tax miners, and traffic in minerals. These revenues are used as a source of funding to gain further control of territory.

Since 2009 the stabilization and reconstruction task force of Foreign Affairs, or START, has contributed $3.7 million to prevent the illegal exploitation of natural resources in the DRC and the Great Lakes region. START supports the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region in implementing the regional certification mechanisms.

We support draft guidance to help companies avoid financing conflict and human rights abuses. We have contributed to the construction of pilot negotiation centres—in French, centre de négoces—in the DRC to legitimize the mineral trade and also to allow governments to collect taxes more easily. Finally, we have taken steps to formalize the artisanal diamond sector throughout the DRC.

In concluding, Mr. Chairman, I would like to say that we are looking forward to the first annual report on the implementation of the national action plan. We think it should be ready in September.

I thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Thank you.

Who is doing the second presentation?

Patricia Malikail, please begin.

[Patricia Malikail, Director General, Africa Bureau, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Chair, honourable members,

thank you for your invitation to appear this afternoon.

I will speak today about the political situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo following the November 2011 elections. I will also comment on the ongoing violence in the east of the country and on sexual violence.

Despite improvements in peace and stability, the DRC continues to experience conflict, weak governance and inadequate infrastructure.

In addition, the Congolese population continues to suffer from chronic poverty, human rights abuses and regular attacks by armed groups and elements of the military.

Though there were significant challenges, the second elections since the end of the conflict in the DRC took place in November 2011. These were the first elections in which the DRC has taken on the main organizational and financial role. Unfortunately the elections were marked by logistical difficulties, violence, human rights violations and irregularities.

I'll say a little bit about the elections. First, President Joseph Kabila won the presidential election with 49% of the vote, and the leading opposition candidate, Etienne Tshisekedi, rejected the results.

After a number of delays, results of the legislative elections were announced on January 26, 2012. The coalition of parties that support President Kabila has a majority of seats, with less than the majority they had in the 2006 elections, by the way. But reportedly over 500 complaints about the process were filed. The opposition leader, Tshisekedi, has called on the elected members representing his party to boycott Parliament in protest of the electoral process.

There were serious flaws in the electoral process. The EU observer mission deplored the lack of transparency and the irregularities in the process, and the Carter Center observer mission has said that the results process was not credible.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade released statements in December 2011 and in February 2012 expressing concern about the irregularities, and urging political leaders in the DRC to provide more transparency and to avoid inciting violence. Canada has also called for dialogue among the parties and for the strengthening of democratic institutions.

It's worrying that the DRC government has placed restrictions on democratic space by, for example, banning peaceful protest, responding with excessive force to prevent protests, and obstructing freedom of the press, but the opposition has also at times made inflammatory statements and hasn't provided viable solutions. Armed groups and elements of the armed forces actively promoted the election of certain presidential candidates and members of Parliament through fear and intimidation. In some regions, resentment remains high, as communities supportive of opposition parties were unable to have one of their candidates elected.

The National Assembly met for the first time on February 16, and they will resume their regular session in March. The president has not yet chosen a prime minister; and the cabinet has yet to be appointed. Key portfolios may change hands. At this time, it is difficult to know what direction the government will take or what the policy agenda will be.

The outcome of the elections and the increase in political tension and instability in the recent months have had a negative impact on the security situation in the DRC. Since the appearance of DFAIT and CIDA colleagues before this committee on October 25, 2011, the situation in the east has worsened. Confrontations between the military and armed groups, between the armed groups themselves and attacks on civilians have multiplied.

Key motivators for violence originate from the competition for resources, political grievances based on ethnicity and land ownership, as well as from fear between ethnic groups—for example, fear of the increasing influence of the Rwandaphone community.

Neighbouring states also have an impact on this situation. Relations, both personal and official, between national-level governments are important guarantors of peace in the region. Many combatants treat vulnerable women, men, girls, and boys as the spoils of war, and sexual and gender-based violence is used as a deliberate tactic by warring parties.

In the context of the fragile security situation in the DRC, we can also make a link between sexual and gender-based violence and conflict minerals. As my colleague Marie Gervais said, armed groups are benefiting from natural resources revenues to expand their control and to abuse civilians.

Since 2009, the government of the DRC has put in place sound national plans and policies to fight sexual violence, including a zero tolerance policy towards the perpetrators of such acts.

In December 2011, the heads of state of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region, a regional forum, also engaged their government to fight sexual and gender-based violence and to end impunity. Such initiatives are dependent on political will. To progress, governments, including the DRC, must turn these plans and policies into concrete actions.

We hope that the new government in the DRC will take the necessary measures to fight against sexual violence and to improve security in the region in order to also improve security and peace in the DRC.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Ms. Julia Hill is next.

Please go ahead.

[Julia Hill, Acting Senior Vice President, Geographic Programs Branch, Canadian International Development Agency]

We have just one statement between us.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

All right, I'm not sure how that differs from what happened just now, but fire away.

[Julia Hill]

I meant only one of us will be speaking.

Thank you for the invitation to appear this afternoon. I am the acting senior vice-president for geographic programs. I am therefore responsible for implementation. My colleague, Christopher MacLennan, is here on behalf of the policy part of the agency.

I'll take a couple of minutes to explain how CIDA determines how and to whom aid will be channeled within a country. Respecting members' time, I will focus primarily on human rights, which are also a fundamental concern for CIDA.

We require a country-specific analysis of gender-equity, human rights, and governance for every single program we develop. We do that at implementation, at the conceptual phase, and all the way through. These analyses help us shape our development interventions. We monitor all our initiatives and we take action if and when the context or the situation changes within the country.

We expect, as do the public and the members, that CIDA programs will have a positive impact on the situation in any given country.

For example, as a result of the political crisis that began in 2001 in Zimbabwe, CIDA has adjusted development programming considerably. Canada remains engaged with the Zimbabwean people though no longer with the Government of Zimbabwe.

CIDA also assessed the country's poverty situation, the level of citizens' participation in setting national development priorities and the human rights situation. Our programming is a product of ongoing consultations with local and Canadian partners, with other donors, with UN agencies and, of course, with the government of the DRC.

We do not provide direct financial support to the government of the DRC. Our programming in the DRC is therefore channeled through trusted partners. It is focused directly on women and victims of human rights violations.

We do this in partnership with the international community, through partners such as the World Bank, the United Nations Population Fund and through a respected Canadian non-governmental organization, the CISC or the Centre for International Studies and Cooperation.

CIDA is committed to fighting sexual violence against women and children in the eastern DRC and in the Great Lakes region. Canadians have every reason to be proud of the difference that Canada is making in the lives of those who suffer human rights violations.

We also support broader democratic processes, as my colleagues have mentioned, because we believe these are integral to improving the situation in human rights. Electoral support has been a priority for Canada and CIDA since the 2006 elections.

We do engage directly in dialogue with the government of the DRC and other authorities on topics such as citizen security, human rights, gender equality, and access to justice. These are all areas in which we have very clearly communicated our desire and expectation for improvement.

In closing I would say we can only hope that one day democratic and human rights conditions will have improved sufficiently in the DRC that Canada and other donors in the international community will be able to engage with the government on advancing a development agenda. We certainly are not there now.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Thank you.

All right, we have 35 minutes left and no other business. If we do five-minute rounds, we'll have time to do seven participants.

[Ève Péclet, NDP, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

I do have a motion.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Oh, I'm sorry. All right, if you're going to introduce a motion, let's cut it down to five minutes and then we'll try fitting yours in at the end.

Just to remind you, Madame Péclet, although I know you want to be courteous and wait until other business is taken care of, you are always within your rights to move a motion, at any time.

With that being said, we'll go to Mr. Sweet for our first question.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to our witnesses for being here.

To carry on right where we left off on security, there is a good reason for people to be encouraged, for the government to be encouraged, and for any human rights watcher to be encouraged. In March 2011, when eleven high-ranking military officials were actually charged because of being guilty of mass rape, that was encouraging. But now we find the situation has deteriorated quite a bit, as far as the electoral process in the government is concerned.

We have initiatives on the ground there to keep people safe. So my question is—I'm going to try to keep it as simple as I can. I noticed one of the indicators we developed from the United Nations Security Council resolutions was indicator 3.1, police and military protection.

What are we doing presently, right now, to empower victims and keep them safe on the ground? And could you also tell us, because there are multiple departments involved in these programs, if Canada.... You said we don't give any aid directly to the DRC, so do we have RCMP and military personnel on the ground right now, and tell me what the difference is between them being funded on the ground and us giving funds directly to the DRC?

[Marie Gervais-Vidricaire]

Thank you for that question.

I refer to our support for MONUSCO, and what I can add to this is that under the Canadian police arrangement, we have five Canadian police officers deployed with the UN mission in eastern DRC—MONUSCO—of whom two are women. The officers are employed in specialist positions such as training, mentoring, and rule of law prosecutions. So we think it's a concrete contribution to improving the security situation there.

We have also nine Canadian Forces officers deployed to the mission, in addition to the police officers.

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

So the only contribution we're making, then, is that of training. There's no funding for the DRC's police or military. It's all training. I understand you mentioned multimedia training for their security forces as well. Is that correct?

[Marie Gervais-Vidricaire]

Yes. Absolutely.

I referred to two specific projects. One had to do with child protection and prevention of sexual and gender-based violence in the DRC, and the second one, as you rightly pointed out, had to do with equipping the national police. We do that with an NGO called Search for Common Ground, and we are indeed equipping the police with multimedia training tools that will enable them to promote respect for human rights and to combat sexual and gender-based violence.

These programs have focused on the role of military justice, which includes the police, in the fight against sexual violence and in the protection and security of people.

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

Great. Thank you. In a country like the DRC, trying to provide protection and education for women, I know it's complex. I don't want you to take my questions in too penetrating a fashion, but in Canada's action plan it does say that we are making an effort to put mechanisms in place that promote departmental accountability for the implementation of the action plan. As I mentioned earlier, there are multiple departments involved.

In the couple of minutes we have, can you explain how those accountability mechanisms work? Are we reaching a level of effectiveness there in the DRC, as to the implementation of our strategy?

[Marie Gervais-Vidricaire]

Thank you. As you probably know, the national action plan is general in nature. It doesn't, of course, focus on one particular country or one region. The implementing departments—Foreign Affairs, CIDA, National Defence, and Public Safety—have developed their own action plans and they are accountable for them, and I guess they will publish them in due course.

What I can tell you, for example, is that I chair the START committee, the stabilization and reconstruction task force. We have an advisory committee that meets every three months with my counterparts from those departments, and through that mechanism we keep senior management aware of progress made and of countries where we have particular concerns, but it's up to each department to ensure that they deliver on their part of the action plan.

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

Mr. Chair, I thought I could squeeze in another one.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

That was it.

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

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Go ahead, Mr. Marston.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Following on Mr. Sweet's last question, do you see the DRC government at all as a willing partner?

[Marie Gervais-Vidricaire]

Thank you. I will let my colleague Pat Malikail speak to that as well. I think there's a willingness in the DRC to address this issue. It's a complicated one, and so far, the situation remains of grave concern.

Patricia might want to add something.

[Patricia Malikail]

I think, whenever you're working in this kind of situation, you have to avoid the temptation to consider our interlocutors as monolithic. I think what we are trying to do is work with people who are willing to work with us, and there always are such people, quite frankly. We try to build on those people who are willing to work with us and who have influence on the ground. That's where we're aiming. I didn't want to make a generalization because I think there are partners who will work with us.

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

The way I've always looked at it, even in the worst of countries there are always some good people, and it's a matter of tapping into them.

At this committee we hear regularly about countries with impunity and the impacts on the citizenry. Ntabo Ntaberi Sheka, the eastern military commander who was accused of ordering the rape of hundreds of women, ran openly as a candidate in their election. That in itself is a very serious statement about impunity. Human Rights Watch was one of the groups that raised concerns about this person doing this and being allowed to be a candidate.

What's your reaction to that?