Subcommittee on International Human Rights Committee on Nov. 19th, 2013

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

Thank you, Nina.

I have a real concern. You were talking about the judiciary and the lack of separation of the judiciary and the executive, but you also talked about the military taking over a lot of the reconstruction projects. Not only are the lines blurred to the judiciary; they are now blurred as far as the military and the government are concerned.

Is that statement accurate, and does this situation of undue intimacy continue to progress between all of these different institutions?

[Susan Gregson]

Our concern is really that the military are engaged in efforts that actually belong to the civil service or that should be performed by other arms of government. That really creates an atmosphere of intimidation. I mentioned earlier the number of war widows, and it's the female-led households that feel particularly threatened by the large military presence.

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

Are the NGOs that are trying to help the war widows—and you said there were 40,000 who need help—being encumbered as they do their work with this military presence there?

[Deborah Chatsis]

I believe there are some reports of violence against women, including some of the people in these groups, committed by the military, but I'm not sure about the extent of that so we can get back to you on that.

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

So is it safe to say as well then—and I'm detecting this from some of your answers—that it's also difficult to get accurate word out from Sri Lanka now? Is it diminishing to the point where we don't even have accurate reports on the human rights violations themselves, and on which NGOs are working there, etc.?

[Susan Gregson]

I think we have a pretty good insight into which NGOs are working there. Our mission in Sri Lanka is working to maintain contact. But some of these areas are quite remote and quite difficult to get to, and it's sometimes difficult to get information out of them. I have to say though that our mission does try to make visits to these areas and that Parliamentary Secretary Obhrai was recently in Sri Lanka for the CHOGM meeting and also reached out.

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

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Professor Cotler, it's your turn.

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

In the course of the second Universal Periodic Review in 2012, Canada made a number of recommendations. Basically the focus of its recommendations included the need to expedite reconciliation measures, to improve the handling of the return of internally displaced persons, and to ensure that security detainees are not held incommunicado or without access to legal representation and redress.

Why did Canada focus on these three issues? For example, it could have focused on the issues you've mentioned today, the harassment of journalists, the culture of impunity, the sexual violence. My second related question is how did Sri Lanka respond to the recommendations that Canada made and what has been the practical effect of those recommendations?

[Susan Gregson]

With regard to the internally displaced people, it's our understanding that many of them have been allowed to return to their homeland but have not necessarily been allowed to reclaim their lands. There's still concern about the detainees and lack of access to them. So the International Committee of the Red Cross doesn't necessarily have the access one would expect to take a look at the conditions in these detention facilities.

Why have we concentrated on these other areas in the presentation? I think all of these areas are of concern and this is why we do cosponsor the human rights resolution. We've done so in the past couple of years and, depending on the content of course, we'll probably cosponsor again this year. These are areas of concern.

In terms of the response of the Sri Lankan government, my understanding is that there's a certain amount of acceptance and commitment, but we just don't see the results we would expect.

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

In terms of a parliamentary approach, you mentioned, for example, the approaches of a bilateral nature, of a multilateral nature, of engaging in civil society. What might be the distinguishable role that Canadian parliamentarians could play, given both the concerns you outlined during the Universal Periodic Review and those you mentioned in your presentation today?

[Susan Gregson]

To the extent that there are any parliamentary associations with Sri Lanka, people to people is always a good way to engage and to influence thinking. So to the extent to which parliamentarians are able to visit Sri Lanka or have contacts with parliamentary associations in Sir Lanka, that would be one way to get your views across.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

We're going to move on to Mr. Schellenberger.

[Gary Schellenberger, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

To our witnesses, thank you for being here today.

What is the economy like at present? And is there any hope that it may improve, that it could maybe lead to better governance in the future?

[Susan Gregson]

That's a good question. What we've seen is quite a bit of inflation. Purchasing power is diminished. The price of commodities is going up, and so the pressure on households has been difficult. The IMF has refused another loan to Sri Lanka because they feel that it would be used to deal with national pressures as opposed to paying down their debt.

It's not a very positive picture that we're seeing on the economic front either, which is why we continue to work through our development assistance programs on efforts to improve the ability of people to engage in commercial activity.

[Gary Schellenberger, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Are there any UN efforts happening on the ground right now with visible observers, or anything, throughout Sri Lanka?

[Jeff Nankivell]

They would be principally on the humanitarian side through agencies like the UN Development Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization, and the World Food Programme, all of which maintain very substantial operations.

Apart from the other things we've been discussing, Sri Lanka is a country that suffers frequently from natural disasters. There was the tsunami in the last decade but also floods in the last few years that demanded a humanitarian response, so those agencies are on the ground with staff in short- to medium-term programs in the affected areas.

[Susan Gregson]

If I can just add, there is also a UN country team on the ground.

[Gary Schellenberger, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Why is Canada focused on the Commonwealth as a venue to pressure Sri Lanka? And what comparative advantage does action at the Commonwealth level provide compared to bilateral actions on multicultural action in other forums?

[Susan Gregson]

I don't think it's an either/or proposition.

The value of the Commonwealth is that we have shared values of democracy, rule of law, good governance, etc.—sometimes observed in the breach by some of the members. But at least it provides a forum for Commonwealth countries to come together to reiterate our values and to urge one another to observe those values.

[Gary Schellenberger, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

How does Canada view the report and recommendations of the Sri Lankan Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission? What are the key positive and negative aspects of the commission's work?

[Susan Gregson]

I think we welcome the work of the commission. The issue is the follow-up to the recommendations. There has been a commission formed to do the follow-up, but we haven't seen the progress that we'd like to see.

[Gary Schellenberger, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

You may have the rest of my time, Mr. Sweet, if you have some questions.

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

Thank you.

The last time we looked at Sri Lanka we had some testimony before us about a demining process that was happening in Sri Lanka. Can you tell me if that's still continuing on? Is there a relationship that Sri Lanka has with some other countries that are supplying their expertise to demine the north?

[Susan Gregson]

Canada has engaged in some demining activities, but I don't have exact details here. I don't know whether any of my colleagues do. We'll have to get back to you. I know Canada has contributed to that through our demining efforts.