Evidence of meeting #120 for Subcommittee on International Human Rights in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was burundi.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Ms. Anita Vandenbeld (Ottawa West—Nepean, Lib.)
Do you have any further comments?
President and Founder of Maison Shalom, Maison Shalom Rwanda, As an Individual
We are in the refugee camps and we have a clear picture of how these people incited hatred. The Imbonerakure, the governing party's militia, is armed. Even the lyrics of some songs incite hatred, for example: “We will rape every Tutsi woman”. That is a sign. They tried to divide us, but it didn't work. Now they are going to shift their focus on ethnicity and claim that everyone who left the country are from the same ethnic group. That is not true: there are both Hutus and Tutsis in the refugee camp where we're staying. They will force everyone to agree with them and kill those who do not, even those from their own ethnic group, the Hutus, as was the case in Rwanda.
Our plea to you is to take this seriously. It's happening every day.
Ms. Anita Vandenbeld (Ottawa West—Nepean, Lib.)
Thank you.
We have just two minutes remaining, but I have a quick question.
Why do they want to kill children? Is there a reason for that?
President and Founder of Maison Shalom, Maison Shalom Rwanda, As an Individual
I am just as surprised as you are. I have no answer to that question. I get the impression that they want to show they are not afraid of anything. They want to inflict terror.
As I was saying, no one dares speak up in Burundi. Even when I come here there are people who refuse to have their picture taken with me for fear of those pictures being published and the regime taking that out on their 90-year-old mother.
They are doing this to inflict terror and to prove that they can exterminate us.
Assemblée des Burundais du Canada, section Montreal, As an Individual
I would like to add something. I think that they're attacking children in order to break the spirit of the resistance. There is nothing more dear to a parent than their children. If someone sees their neighbour's child getting killed, they will not dare protest or say anything. It is a way of terrorizing the entire population.
Ms. Anita Vandenbeld (Ottawa West—Nepean, Lib.)
Thank you very much.
Thank you for your courage and your testimony today.
We will be suspending for just one minute to go in camera, so I'll ask anybody who isn't a committee member or direct staff to please vacate the room.
We'll come back in just one minute.
Thank you very much.