Subcommittee on International Human Rights Committee on June 7th, 2018

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Levitt]

I call the meeting to order. Good afternoon, everyone.

I want to welcome everyone to the 114th meeting of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights.

Welcome to our guests. From the Ukrainian Canadian Congress we have Ihor Michalchyshyn and Orest Zakydalsky. Gentlemen, thank you very much for being here.

The warm relationship between Canada and Ukraine I know is of great importance to the members in this room. We're expecting a visit from the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group next week, and there will be lots of activity on the Hill in a very multipartisan way, acknowledging and embracing the warm relationship between our countries.

I want to give you the opportunity to take 10 to 12 minutes to give us an update on some of the key issues. Again, with the visit coming next week, that'll be very valuable. Then, of course, we'll open it up to the members to ask you some questions, as is our practice.

With that, gentlemen, please proceed.

[Ihor Michalchyshyn, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Ukrainian Canadian Congress]

Thank you very much. It's an honour for us to be here, and we are very grateful for the opportunity.

We represent the Ukrainian Canadian community in Canada in all of our branches and member organizations. We have six provincial councils, 19 local branches, and 29 national member organizations. We speak on Ukraine and issues of importance for the community here in Canada. The recent census tells us that there are around 1.4 million people in the Ukrainian-Canadian community in Canada.

As well, we work closely with our partners at the Ukrainian World Congress and other ethnocultural communities in Canada. We work with the Government of Canada through CUSAC, the Canada Ukraine Stakeholder Advisory Council, where we speak about Canada-Ukraine relations. Also, we regularly meet with members of Parliament, politicians, stakeholders, and other policy-makers.

You've invited us here today to talk about the human rights situation in Ukraine. As we know, Ukraine is a country at war. Since 2014, Russia has waged a war of aggression against Ukraine. Crimea and parts of the eastern Ukrainian oblasts—or regions—of Donetsk and Luhansk are under Russian occupation.

Russia's war has led to over 10,000 deaths, 24,000 wounded, and over 1.5 million internally displaced people. Far from being a frozen conflict, Russia's war against Ukraine is a hot war, in which Ukrainian soldiers and civilians die every day.

In the parts of sovereign Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia, the occupational authorities have instituted a regime that systematically, purposefully, and methodically violates internationally recognized human rights. It's these actions that we feel Russia wants to hide from the world as it hosts the FIFA World Cup starting in mid-June. Our organization, UCC, will be part of a global information campaign to highlight the deplorable human rights record of the Putin regime, and we call on all members of Parliament to ensure this message reaches as wide an audience as possible.

In Crimea, a regime of terror has been implemented against the indigenous Crimean Tatar population, ethnic Ukrainians, and anyone who opposes Russia's occupation. The severe restrictions on and violations of internationally recognized human rights that have been documented include restrictions on and violations of freedom of expression; the right to the equal protection of the law; the right to a fair trial; freedom of assembly and association; freedom from torture, cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment; and freedom from arbitrary arrest, detention, or exile.

In April 2016, the Russian authorities banned the Mejlis, the representative assembly of the Crimean Tatar people. Since the beginning of Russia's occupation, there has been a campaign against the Crimean Tatar people, ethnic Ukrainians, and other institutions of both groups, and they have been systematically targeted in an attempt to quash dissent in the peninsula.

Illegal arrests, detentions, searches, and intimidation are commonplace tactics in Crimea. Over 70 Ukrainian citizens are illegally imprisoned today, either in Crimea or in the Russian Federation, on falsified charges. Many have been handed long prison sentences for no crime other than opposing Russia's invasion and occupation.

These are people like Oleg Sentsov, a Ukrainian filmmaker from Crimea who opposed Russia's invasion, and Volodymyr Balukh, another who is in prison for his views. Both Balukh and Sentsov are part of a group of people on hunger strikes, as are several other Ukrainian prisoners, in opposition to their illegal imprisonment. Earlier this week, on June 4, Russia sentenced Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko to 12 years in prison on fabricated espionage charges.

Russia has consistently ignored the international community's demand for the release of these Ukrainian political prisoners. As one of Ukraine's staunchest international allies, Canada has a unique opportunity to leverage the G7 presidency to support peace and security in Ukraine and to ensure that Ukrainian political prisoners jailed by Russia are released and returned home to their families. In our letter to the Prime Minister, public statements, and numerous meetings with Canadian officials, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress has called on the Government of Canada to ensure that ending Russia's aggression against Ukraine will be a priority of the G7 leaders' summit.

Since the adoption of the Magnitsky act in October of 2017, the Government of Canada has had the tools to sanction Russian officials responsible for these violations of internationally recognized human rights. The government has not taken any action thus far against the Russian judges, prosecutors, investigators, security service officials, and politicians responsible for these violations. Therefore, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress recommends that the government immediately use the tools available in the Magnitsky act to implement sanctions against Russian officials responsible for the violations of internationally recognized human rights of Ukrainian citizens.

I will now turn it over to my colleague Orest Zakydalsky.

[Orest Zakydalsky, Senior Policy Advisor, Ukrainian Canadian Congress]

Thank you.

A similar situation with respect to human rights exists in the Russian-occupied parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. Adding to the urgency and severity is the fact that Russia continues to wage a hot war that puts civilians directly at risk. Shelling of civilian targets by Russian and proxy forces is commonplace.

On May 28, a shell fired by Russian and proxy forces killed Daria Kazemirova, a 15-year-old girl in Zalizne. Several reports by human rights groups have documented irrefutable evidence of torture and ill treatment both of Ukrainian soldiers and of civilians held captive in the occupied territories. Cases have been documented of prisoners being killed or subjected to fake executions. Cases of sexual assault have also been documented, as has the recruiting of minors into illegal armed formations by Russian and proxy “authorities” in the occupied territories.

Recently, the joint investigation team into the downing of Flight MH17, in which all 298 passengers on board were killed, confirmed what the world has long known. Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down by a Russian Buk missile. These sophisticated weapons did not get to occupied Ukrainian territory on their own. Someone in the Russian chain of command gave the order to deploy the weapon. Someone even higher in the Russian chain of command gave that person the authority to issue such an order.

The Buk that brought down MH17 originates from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, a unit of the Russian army from Kursk. The downing of MH17 is an act of international terrorism to which the international community must respond with resolve. The UCC calls on the Government of Canada to work with allied nations to designate the Russian Federation a state sponsor of terrorism and to declare the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics terrorist organizations.

The egregious human rights violations perpetrated by the Russian occupation authorities in Crimea and the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts are a direct result of Russia's war against Ukraine. These violations will end only once Russia's war and the occupation of the Crimea and Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts ends.

In order to ensure peace returns to Europe, the international community must exert significantly more pressure on the Russian authorities and economy. If war is more expensive to the Kremlin than peace, Ukraine will have peace.

In April 2018, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on seven Russian oligarchs and 12 companies they own or control, 17 senior Russian officials, a state-owned Russian weapons trading company, and a subsidiary Russian bank. The U.S imposed the sanctions in response to Russia's continuing international malign activity, including Russian's invasion of Ukraine and its support for the murderous Assad regime in Syria.

The Government of Canada has not imposed any sanctions on Russian officials, companies, or sectors of the Russian economy since November 28, 2016. The UCC recommends that in the nearest possible time the Government of Canada implement mirror sanctions against the Russian officials and companies designated on April 6 by the U.S. Treasury, and that the Government of Canada strengthen sectoral, economic, and individual sanctions on Russia and Russian officials, including the removal of Russia from the SWIFT international payment system.

Canada, in co-operation with the EU, the G7, and other like-minded nations, should strengthen economic sanctions on Russia in order to exert pressure on Russia to end its occupation of Crimea and its invasion of eastern Ukraine.

With that, thank you for allowing us the opportunity to testify today. We of course welcome any questions you may have.

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Levitt]

Thank you very much.

We're going to begin.

MP Sweet and MP Anderson, I think you're splitting the time.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Flamborough—Glanbrook, ON]

Thank you very much for your testimony.

Can you share with this committee the nature of your conversations with the Government of Canada in regard to sanctions of members of Putin's regime who should be targeted? Have they made, or are you aware that they are making, a list of the most egregious perpetrators of human rights violations against the Tatars and ethnic Ukrainians? Have you supplied any names of and evidence on those people who should be targeted?

[Ihor Michalchyshyn]

Thank you for the question. I would say that we've had an ongoing dialogue with the Government of Canada for a number of years about the issue of sanctions, starting in 2014.

Obviously our organization works in Canada, but we work with partners in Ukraine. There are many civil society organizations that follow these kinds of cases in the Russian court system, and many partners who profile this, such as Amnesty International and others who follow the court cases. For many of these people, the situation is that although they are Ukrainian citizens, they have been arrested in Crimea and eastern Ukraine and are tried and jailed in the Russian domestic court and penal system. That's the crux of the issue.

We have supplied lists that we've received from organizations such as Let My People Go. We have copies of some of these lists here to share with members as well, from specific cases; every case has a process from the arrest to the prosecution. These lists include the judges, prosecutors, police officials, and, ultimately, prison authorities. There is an increasing volume of evidence of the kinds of people involved in the mechanics of detaining a Ukrainian political prisoner. We're happy to share those with the committee today.

We have supported the creation of a sanctions unit at the Department of Global Affairs, because we know that this has been an ever-evolving issue. We are hopeful that they are considering these kinds of further actions, but again—I think for a variety of reasons—they're not able to share with us the details of their work in terms of who specifically they're looking at. I think that's the kind of question that members of Parliament should be asking of the department. We look forward to hearing more about what they are able to do.

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Levitt]

Go ahead, Mr. Anderson.

[David Anderson, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Thank you.

I want to welcome both of you. I was in Ukraine last week. It was great to be at an event that was multi-party and had multi-department organs of the government there. It was a multi-leader event and prayer breakfast. As I've told you before, the atmosphere was tense, but really, I think it was a good atmosphere.

One of the things that was probably most poignant was that one of the young guys who was working with us called himself a refugee in his own country. He's from eastern Ukraine. I thought it was an interesting way to see that. He couldn't go home, and he has family on both sides of the line. He talked to us a bit about that.

I want to talk a bit about the increased tensions in the eastern area there. In the last couple of days, I think, Putin has said that there would be “drastic consequences for Ukraine's statehood” if it tries to liberate Donbass. Is that just more talk, or is there heightened aggression there since the election?

[Orest Zakydalsky]

There has been an increase in attacks, both on Ukrainian military positions on the front line and on civilian areas, with increased artillery and mortar shelling since about March 2018. The last two or three months have been a lot worse than, say, the previous six months. The cause of that is the subject of speculation, I think, in terms of what the Russian occupation force there is trying to gain by ratcheting up the pressure. That can be interpreted in a bunch of different ways, and I don't know that it's.... I think the point is that there has not been enough pressure put on Russia to stop and to pull its armies out of eastern Ukraine.

Ambassador Volker, the American special representative, has been meeting with his counterpart from the Russian side, Vladislav Surkov, who is a special representative of Putin's, since July 2017, so for basically a year, and we are where we were a year ago.

[David Anderson, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

I'm going to run out of time here, so can you talk a bit about the new bridge, the Kerch Strait bridge, that has gone in, and what impact that has had? Crimea is one of the first places where Russia really showed that aggression. What does that do in solidifying that kind of situation we find in Crimea?

[Orest Zakydalsky]

Well, I think the Kerch bridge, along with a bunch of other actions the Russians have taken, is an attempt to make the occupation permanent. The Kerch bridge gives you a link for the delivery of whatever—freight and goods and that kind of thing. Like other actions, this is one of the things they're doing to try to solidify this occupation.

When they do something like that, I think it's incumbent that the rest of the world put more pressure on them. With respect to the Kerch bridge, we saw that everyone condemned it, but there wasn't any increase in any penalties on Russia for doing it. I think that's the main issue: the follow-through of actions.

[David Anderson, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Have the sanctions to this point been effective? You're asking for more. You're asking for Canada to move. Do you see the effectiveness of the ones implemented in the past?

[Ihor Michalchyshyn]

I would say that Canadian sanctions, combined with American and EU actions, are effective. We believe more coordinated action is needed. For example, the Magnitsky act that Canada passed has gone through many parliaments among Canada's allies—the U.K., the U.S., and other European parliaments. We believe it won't be just one country's action but a coordinated alliance, if you will, of countries that are dedicated to confronting the Russian aggression that will be the defining point in this conflict.

[David Anderson, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Do you think that's the most effective tool we have?

[Ihor Michalchyshyn]

We also believe there's supplying Ukraine with defensive weapons. In terms of the military aspect, this is a military act of aggression, so we are happy to see that our American allies and others are.... Canada, of course, through Operation Unifier, is training troops. The Americans have recently supplied specific defensive weapons to the Ukrainian armed forces.

That is another element of it, but the larger political element of the conflict remains. I think that's where the international alliance needs to be strong and unified in its approach on the sanctions issue.

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Levitt]

Thank you very much.

We'll now move to MP Wrzesnewskyj.

[Borys Wrzesnewskyj, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Just before I put questions to our witnesses, I'd like to table a document for the record of this hearing. It contains two lists. One is a list of 74 Ukrainians held illegally by Russia. These are individuals who were illegally arrested, who in most cases were abducted into Russia, and who have faced or will be facing show trials. The second list is of the jailers, torturers, and in many cases prosecutors and judges of show trials that have taken place.

I'd like to table this in English and French, for the record.

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Levitt]

Thank you, and thank you for having it in both official languages.

Go ahead, MP Anderson.

[David Anderson, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

I'm not going to object to this, but we haven't heard or seen anything of this. If Borys wants to stop by and visit our committee, it would be appropriate for us to see the documents beforehand.

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Levitt]

Yes. It is the practice of this committee that we distribute things before we hand them out. In this case, if there's no objection from the floor, we'll allow it. If not, we'll hold it and pass it out to members.

[Borys Wrzesnewskyj, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

I'm happy to hold the list until the end of the meeting. I do have some extra copies that I'm more than happy to share, as long as there are no objections.

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Levitt]

No, it's fine. It's a point of order, and a valid one, given our operating procedures that we tend to guard here.

That said, you're free to pass those out. Thank you again.

[Borys Wrzesnewskyj, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

Thank you. I appreciate the co-operation.

To our witnesses, I'd like to put questions first on the situation in Crimea and then on the situation in occupied Donbass.

Crimean Tatars have had a tragic history ever since Imperial Russia first invaded Crimea two centuries ago, with a series of ethnic cleansings and an attempted genocide in 1944 by Stalin. What's particularly troubling the closure of Crimean Tatar language schools; the closure of mosques; FSB officers watching the mosques continuously; the removal of all the Crimean Tatar leadership; the banning of their organizations; the disappearances of many of the key leaders, some never found, and others found with clear signs of torture; and recently the historic sites of the Crimean Tatars being closed for renovations and people witnessing very important cultural sites being disassembled and artifacts disappearing.

Would you call these the beginning of an attempt at ethnocide of the Crimean Tatar population?

[Ihor Michalchyshyn]

I think you've outlined the many deliberate actions being taken, and nothing here is being done by accident or is circumstantial. It's methodical, it's planned, and it's supported by the authorities there.

I think two groups are being targeted in Crimea—first, as you outlined, the Crimean Tatars and their specific territorial, historic, cultural, linguistic, and religious identity that relates to that geographical territory. We had a ceremony in Toronto two weeks ago when the Crimean Tatars' recently released prisoners and leadership came to Canada to raise the Crimean Tatar flag in Toronto and speak to Canadians about the importance of how Crimean Tatars see themselves as part of a multi-ethnic Ukrainian state. They are appealing for international support. I think they have great support in Ukraine for their cause.

The second group that's being targeted is Ukrainian citizens, other Ukrainian citizens whom we have met with, who may not be Crimean Tatars themselves. For religious reasons their churches, their places of worship, the language of instruction in their schools, their access to services are all being severely limited as they're being forced into taking out Russian citizenship.

We see a broad-based attempt to intimidate and to desecrate, as we indicated. I think it's specifically targeting the Crimean Tatar population, but also all Ukrainians who reside in Crimea.

[Borys Wrzesnewskyj, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

I'll come back to my question, which was whether you would classify this as the beginnings of an ethnocide. Let me provide some additional context.

As well, perhaps just to your point on the persecution of ethnic minorities and the closure of religious institutions, I'd also like to note that the Jewish Crimean community no longer exists. Their synagogues were among the first religious places of worship that were shut down.

To come back to the Crimean Tatars, a century ago they were still a majority of the population, notwithstanding all the massive ethnic cleansing during the Russian Czarist occupation. Currently they're down to about 200,000 people. There has been an exodus. Their language is being suppressed, their historical cultural sites are being destroyed, and approximately a million Russian citizens have been moved into Crimea.

Is this an attempt to extinguish the only indigenous peoples of Crimea, namely the Crimean Tatars?