Subcommittee on International Human Rights Committee on Oct. 23rd, 2012

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Order, please. Good afternoon, everyone.

On this day, October 23, 2012, I welcome you to the 52nd meeting of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development.

We are televised today, so be on your best behaviour. Your mother might be watching.

We have as our witness today, Neil Reeder, who is the director general of the Latin America and Caribbean bureau of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

Mr. Reeder has been with us before. He is returning to give us an update following the Venezuelan elections.

By a curious coincidence, we also are all now in receipt of the government's response to our third report—more correctly, it's the third report of the standing committee, but it originated here—relating to the situation of human rights in Venezuela. That has been distributed to committee members for your reading pleasure.

The usual rules apply here. We'll have a 10-minute presentation. Then we'll look at how much time is available and divide that amount of time by six, which will allow every member of the committee to ask a question and get a fulsome answer.

I should mention, by way of introduction, that Mr. Reeder will be responding to a motion that was passed by the subcommittee, specifically:

That the Subcommittee invite Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade officials to discuss the processes by which the Government of Canada raises the profile and increases protection of human rights defenders and the effects of these actions;

—so their effectiveness—

for example by awarding the ‘Embassy of Canada in Venezuela Human Rights Award’ and similar prizes.

Mr. Reeder, we look forward to your testimony. Please feel free to begin at any time.

[Neil Reeder, Director General, Latin America and Caribbean Bureau, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

I will present in English, but if there are questions in either of our official languages, I will be very pleased to answer.

I'm going to address the narrow question initially because I was asked to come forward in relation to your motion on the human rights defenders and the Canadian support for the human rights NGOs in Venezuela.

I'd like to speak a bit about our efforts to support human rights and human rights defenders in that country. We were pleased to receive and respond, as you said Mr. Chairman, to the subcommittee's detailed report in June of this year. We're glad to see that the government response was tabled in Parliament this month.

Canada continues to voice its concerns regarding the human rights situation in Venezuela. In 2011 Venezuela underwent its first universal periodic review on human rights at the UN Human Rights Council. The Venezuelan government seemed to view the process as overly critical of the political reforms of the Chavez government. However, the Government of Venezuela did participate in the mechanism and accepted 95 total recommendations.

During Canada's statement, we noted Venezuela's progress on social rights, equality, and efforts to reform the police, but expressed concern about impunity, lack of independence of the judiciary, and challenges to freedom of expression and association.

Canada also called for the Venezuelan government to publicly recognize the legitimate role of human rights defenders.

Canada made eight total recommendations, of which two were accepted. Unfortunately, all recommendations related to the independence of the judiciary, freedom of the press, and the ability of human rights defenders to work freely were rejected.

One of Canada's notable successes in Venezuela in the area of human rights is our annual human rights award. Since 2009 the Canadian embassy in Venezuela has partnered with the Universidad Central, centre for peace and human rights, to create a high profile award in order to recognize the efforts and careers of prominent human rights defenders in Venezuela.

The prize, which is widely publicized, is given out at a large diplomatic event, which is in fact the embassy's largest public event of the year. It also includes a trip to Canada to meet with civil society, academia, and Canadian government officials. The recipient, accompanied by embassy staff, then travels to centres outside the capital of Venezuela to share his or her experiences as a human rights defender.

The prize not only gives recognition to the winner, but has also come to symbolize the public commitment of Canada by providing financial and moral support to civil society organizations, whose role is increasingly questioned by local authorities.

The winner for 2011-12, Lisandro Raul Cubas, the founding member of a prominent NGO called Provea, held dialogues on various topics in Canada in relation to labour, health, and indigenous rights. He also made new contacts and informed stakeholders about the situation of human rights in that country.

He also learned about Canadian mechanisms for monitoring and enforcing human rights which he and his colleagues can now apply in Venezuela. A substantial program of some 20 meetings and activities was organized in Ottawa and Montreal, including a meeting with the Minister of State of Foreign Affairs, Diane Ablonczy, to discuss Venezuela's human rights situation.

The previous year's winner, Feliciano Reyna, was able to learn from the Ontario Human Rights Commission about public consultations and best practices with NGOs in Toronto working for the rights of persons with HIV-AIDS. Mr. Reyna has forged an ongoing relationship with the University of Ottawa human rights centre and has since returned to Canada on two occasions as a board member of CIVICUS, a global civil society network.

The first winner of the prize, Humberto Prado Sifontes, who is the director of an NGO which monitors the rights of prisoners, was able to meet with Corrections Canada officials and visit a number of Canadian prison and detention centres. He uses these models in his advice and advocacy to Venezuelan officials in order to better design buildings and programs to address the country's prison crisis.

All three winners also shared their experiences in different regions of Venezuela. They were able to deliver their messages through public dialogues with academics and students, as well as with various civil society representatives, generating debate on a wide variety of human rights issues relevant to each state that was visited.

Private meetings were also organized in Venezuela with local ombudsmen and other high-level government contacts. The award also allows the winners in Canada's embassy in Venezuela to engage government interlocutors outside the capital, who may not normally participate in such discussions.

The prize is well promoted. The 2011 award was supported by press releases and several radio interviews organized by the embassy, three of which were on prime-time national programs, including two of the most widely listened to programs in Venezuela.

This year's prize competition was launched on September 4 and the call for nominations ends on October 28. The winner is intended to be announced in Caracas on December 10, which is international Human Rights Day. The trips to Canada and around Venezuela will follow in 2013. The announcement and an explanation of the award has been placed on the Government of Canada website through our embassy in Caracas, in Spanish with English and French translations to follow.

Through a relatively small investment, Canada is having an important impact, establishing links with Canadian institutions and Canadian organizations, injecting new ideas and models into Venezuelan NGOs and providing new perspectives on the role of civil society and how to interact with government. It also helps to share Venezuelan experiences and perspectives among the Venezuelans themselves. These exchanges build capacity within NGO leaders and leadership. They also reinforce and multiply Canada's commitment to human rights, a value shared by our partners.

The award plays a role in depoliticizing the promotion and defence of human rights in an environment where restrictions on civil society are tightening. This effort to create non-political and non-polarized spaces for dialogue on human rights, including outside the capital, results in our embassy gaining a better understanding of the country's varied human rights issues. More importantly, this provides a unique opportunity to promote a Canadian foreign policy priority in Venezuela in a non-confrontational and less controversial manner.

The award continues to be an important tool for Canada, but it is not the only way by which our embassy in Caracas achieves its commitments and priorities. In 2011, the embassy of Canada spent over 50% of its annual Canada fund for local initiatives on projects supporting human rights, with the remainder divided between community efforts to improve local governance and citizen security. A portion of the embassy's public diplomacy funds was also allocated to projects supporting human rights. Canada will continue to use these initiatives to encourage the values of human rights, democratic governance, and citizen security. We will also continue to promote human rights in Venezuela by organizing regular meetings with civil society and diplomatic missions and public events to show our support.

Following the recent re-election of President Chavez, Canada will continue its engagement with Venezuela in an attempt to keep the channels of dialogue open with government officials and seek opportunities to raise issues.

Those are the end of my remarks, Mr. Chairman. Merci de votre invitation aujourd'hui.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Thank you. We've been very timely. We have 45 minutes. We'll have time for six-minute question and answer periods, because I do want to leave a few minutes at the end to deal with some administrative matters.

We begin with the government side. Mr. Albrecht, please.

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Mr. Reeder for being here today.

I was not part of the subcommittee that presented the report, but I have had a chance to look at the government response to the report, and also listen to your comments today. I want to focus on the recommendations that deal with the financial and moral support, recommendations 4 and 12 in the report, which are bunched together in the government response.

First of all, I certainly applaud the work that's going on there. You mentioned in your opening remarks the Canada fund for local initiatives. You indicated that half of that had been spent for public diplomacy allocations on projects supporting human rights. Could you give us an idea as to the size of that fund? Do you have that at your fingertips? If not, you can get it to us later. Then you mentioned some of the other projects that were supported through that.

[Neil Reeder]

I would want to get back to you, sir, on the exact size of the fund, but generally speaking, funds of that nature at our missions are usually between $50,000 and $150,000, something like that. I have a list here of some of the Canada fund projects. I can highlight a couple of them if you'd like.

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Sure, if you would, that would be helpful.

[Neil Reeder]

These are in Spanish, so please bear with me.

For example, one is with a group called UNIANDES, for promotion of women's human rights, and support for women dealing with issues affecting violence against women in Venezuela. There is another with an entity called the House of the Woman Juana Ramirez, for the promotion of human rights for women, assisting them to develop a network of community organizations dealing with cases of violence against women at home. Another one is in relation to supporting groups that promote sexual diversity in Venezuela. We're also looking at another one that talks about a book that describes the stories of women who were affected by violations of their human rights in Venezuela, and investigations, displays of art, and such, over cases of impunity where journalists in Venezuela suffered violence against them and no action was taken. There was impunity in that particular case.

Those are the kinds of programs that we have.

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

One of the topics that this committee is always concerned about is the best method by which we, as a committee, and then the Government of Canada, could be effective in promoting human rights around the world, but specifically in countries where different cultural sensitivities may come to the front. Are there specific differences in our government's approach with Venezuela as opposed to other countries? Are there unique methodologies that would apply in Venezuela that may not be applicable worldwide?

[Neil Reeder]

The context is difficult in Venezuela because the government challenges the legitimacy of many of these NGOs. NGOs are sort of forced to take sides, or they feel that they are being pressured by the government not to do certain things. They are trying to retain their autonomy and independence. It's a very polarized political environment. The civil society groups sometimes find themselves in the middle, so they have to navigate carefully if they want to effect change. It means sometimes working with government. Some NGOs won't work with the government, and some will. It's a complicated environment for them to work in.

We engage directly with civil society, as do other friendly embassies in Venezuela, but our leverage on the government to effect change or to encourage them to engage with civil society is rather limited because we don't engage with that government at a very high level, and that is a decision taken by the Government of Venezuela, not certainly our side.

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

One point that came through in some of the reports as well is some of the anti-Semitic activity that has occurred in the past. Are you aware of any more recent examples of anti-Semitic activity or criminal actions against Jewish people, their synagogues, and that sort of thing?

[Neil Reeder]

As you are aware, sir, there were some incidents in the past. The last one I'm aware of was a posting on a government website of language we felt was offensive to those of the Jewish faith in Venezuela. I was actually in Caracas at that time and raised this with the foreign ministry, and subsequent to that the language was taken off.

We tend to monitor these statements and respond accordingly, but I can't say there has been overt aggression or activities. I haven't heard much lately, and, to be fair, we've also seen some effort by President Chavez to reach out to the Jewish community in Venezuela following some of those activities, because of expressions of concern by Canada and others.

We also have an important role because we act as the representative for Israel in Venezuela, given that Venezuela does not have diplomatic relations with Israel. We process Israeli visas and passports through our embassy.

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Do I still have some time, or am I through?

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

You have 30 seconds.

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

I just want to comment that, for me, as a new member on this committee, it was very encouraging to see the kind of progress that has been made, to see that there was actually a response on the part of the Venezuelan government to take down that material on the website. While there is still a long way to go, Canadians in general should be pretty pleased that we have made progress and that we're going to continue to keep our voice at the table to effect more change.

Thank you for your comments today.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Thank you, Mr. Albrecht.

Mr. Marston, please.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Welcome again, Mr. Reeder. it's good to have you back.

I have a couple of questions. One came to mind as you were talking about the pairing of embassies, because there has been some reaction in Canada about the pairing with the British embassy. Some questions were raised.

Are we paired with Israel and other countries?

[Neil Reeder]

I'd have to take that question under advisement, sir, because I don't know.

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

I'm more curious than anything else. It just struck me that this is the first time I've heard of that particular pairing.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Mr. Reeder, would you be able to send us a note on that?

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

Just send us a note.

[Neil Reeder]

We will get back to you.

Because of the lack of relations, we represent Israel's consular interests in Venezuela in accordance with the Vienna Convention, but I can't speak beyond my particular region. I'd want to check on that.

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

I have no issue with it; it's just a matter of curiosity.

The other thing that struck me is the human rights award that we give out. We had witness testimony before about it here, and it was explained to us. Do we give that award out in any other countries?

The human rights issues in Colombia or Honduras are fairly significant. Have we done the same thing there, or is this exclusive to Venezuela?

[Neil Reeder]

I would want to check on that, sir.

I couldn't speak for other regions, but I can certainly speak in terms of Latin America and the Caribbean. We have a lot of programming of that nature in a number of countries where there may be human rights challenges, as you mentioned, but in terms of an individual award, I'm not sure if we do that beyond our region.

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

I'm wondering why we got to the stage of doing that principally in Venezuela.

I understand there are some risks to the human rights defenders in Venezuela. What type of risks do they physically face?

[Neil Reeder]

I think there may be some evidence of physical risk, but it's a non-welcoming environment for them to work in, and that's the challenge they face. You can identify some countries where human rights advocates are aggressed physically or may suffer a worse fate than that. I would say Venezuela is not a welcoming environment, and often the NGOs find themselves attacked by the government. Even among the NGO community itself, there's debate about whether you should work with government or not. It's a difficult environment to work in and not a very welcoming one. Canada's view is that we should step up and try to assist, because these are fundamental values no matter what the nature of the government.