Subcommittee on International Human Rights Committee on Sept. 22nd, 2016

[Leslie Norton]

Since this is a political crisis, we need a political solution and are in favour of an inter-Burundi dialogue. In his statements, the minister emphasized and supported the idea of those dialogues. For the moment, the diplomatic route is the one which presents itself and the one we are going to continue to follow.

[Jean-Bernard Parenteau]

I want to add that a concrete position taken by the Minister of Foreign Affairs is to recognize that there is a regional responsibility. In light of that, he spoke with interveners in the region to make them admit that the East African Community and the African Union also have to show leadership in responding to this crisis. In summary, efforts are ongoing in this regard.

[Leslie Norton]

I simply wanted to add that the funding of the HCHR office in Burundi, which totals $640,000, is also a way for Canada to demonstrate its efforts on this front in a concrete manner.

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

The diplomatic response is being carried out from Nairobi, which is several thousand kilometres away from Bujumbura. Is that the case?

[Leslie Norton]

It is being done from here, from Nairobi and Kigali.

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Levitt]

Thank you.

Next on the list is MP Sweet.

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

Witnesses, thank you very much for your testimony.

Chair, I was wondering, Mr. Parenteau mentioned that financing was apportioned, but he doesn't have the numbers. Could we have that tabled with the clerk afterwards so we know exactly what that funding is?

Also, I think it's important; it was mentioned earlier that there was a contingent of 500 police as the first initiative, and then 5,000 peacekeepers and assorted other human rights experts were going to be ordered in. The Burundian government said they would view this as an invasion.

Does this trouble the minister, in the sense that an invasion would be viewed as an act of war?

[Leslie Norton]

I have the details here in front of me of the announcement made by Minister Dion at the UN General Assembly yesterday. He announced a “package of up to $25 million of support over three years to enhance UN capacity in the area of conflict prevention, mediation and peacebuilding”. This is “part of Canada’s new Peace and Stabilization Operations Program”, and it includes:

$10 million over three years to the UN Department of Political Affairs to reinforce the UN’s ability to find political solutions to conflict through conflict prevention, mediation and conflict-resolution efforts; and

up to $15 million over three years to the UN Peacebuilding Fund to provide rapid, targeted funding to respond to emerging crises in fragile and conflict-affected states and strengthen efforts to build lasting peace and stability in countries emerging from conflict.

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

That's the numbers question, thank you very much. Has the minister made any statement with regard to that statement of it being an invasion?

[Jean-Bernard Parenteau]

Certainly I cannot speculate on the state of mind of the minister. The government is certainly troubled by the whole situation. Whenever a deployment like this one, proposed first by the African Union, is put forward, or a deployment by the UN, the most sensitive aspect is to secure the approval of the host country, the country about to receive the deployment. Certainly in that case, the Burundian regime did not collaborate. This is a troubling response by the Burundian government and its president.

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

The report by the United Nations Independent Investigation on Burundi is just a draft right now, but I have it in front of me. It's profoundly concerning because of the detail that we see the government is going to suppress any kind of opposition, to the point of targeting youth and sexual violence against women and extrajudicial killings of youth in front of crowds of people. The government has made no attempt to investigate this at all. One of the youths, Jean Népo, was shot in the head twice by a commissioner of the police while he begged for his life to the other policeman, and no investigation is forthcoming.

Has the minister commented on those kinds of things?

[Jean-Bernard Parenteau]

One thing I can mention is that Canada is directly supporting women and girls in Burundi, and in the broader region as well, with quite an extensive program implemented by CECI, the Montreal-based organization, precisely looking at sexual violence and working with women and girls. This long-standing support has been provided by Canada in the region.

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

Thank you.

On page 10 of the document from the United Nations, it lists the kinds of torture. I'm going to spare my colleagues and those staff people who are here on the kinds of things that are being done to human beings, for which the United Nations report says they found substantial evidence.

After 11 years on this committee, you kind of get a sense of where things are going by the nature of the evidence that we see. This is a systematic, well-planned, execution of a strategy to make sure that all opposition is removed. It doesn't take long to see that, when you see that the human rights activists are targeted and that sexual violence and killings of young people are happening. You see disappearances, hidden places of incarceration, and satellite photographs of mass graves. There have been repeated requests to the government not to touch those graves, but there's been no forthcoming commitment.

Why haven't we executed any kinds of measures right now to make sure that we put some pressure on this government to stop these kinds of actions? So far, 564 people have been killed since last April, and the UN says that that's a very conservative number, but it's the only one from their documentation that they can substantially prove.

[Leslie Norton]

Perhaps, if I may, as mentioned earlier, Canada has been very active on the diplomatic front. The minister has been very active in discussions with neighbouring countries to try to increase and ensure continued momentum and pressure on the Burundian government. As also mentioned to Ms. Hardcastle, we have been very active in the Human Rights Council. The report has just come out; it was just published, I believe, yesterday. I think now the body that called for it will be seized with the report and we will see in the coming days what actions will be taken by the collective international community.

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

My suggestion would be targeted sanctions that would encourage the neighbours to take this much more seriously than they are.

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Levitt]

Thank you, MP Sweet.

MP Khalid.

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

Thank you for coming in today and talking to us about this very important issue.

I have a quick question to begin with. Have we in Canada received any refugees from that displacement, from that area specifically?

[Leslie Norton]

I'm not aware at this time, but I will find out for you.

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

Okay.

You had mentioned that a solution to this whole problem was going to be through intra-Burundian dialogue. What would such a dialogue entail? What is the likelihood of such a dialogue happening? Would a solution actually be reached from that?

[Jean-Bernard Parenteau]

The dialogue as mentioned is led by President Museveni of Uganda, supported by a facilitator, Benjamin Mkapa, former president of Tanzania. It has been ongoing for some time. The main challenge is to have the Burundian government accept the participation of the main opposition group, CNARED. There are still attempts to pursue the dialogue with side channels, but really the main challenge is the one I just mentioned.

We do hope that the collective wisdom of these heads of state in the neighbouring countries will eventually help open up the channel and allow us to see some improvement in the dialogue.

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

What exactly are we asking of a person who clearly has no regard for human rights at this point?

[Leslie Norton]

What we would be asking the president and his government to do is to respect the Arusha accord of 2000. As mentioned, it does read like a constitution and it does set out very strongly the system of quotas and power-sharing guarantee across all of the democratic institutions in the country.

I'll leave it there.

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Levitt]

I share the concerns that have been raised by a number of my colleagues regarding the increase in torture and extrajudicial killings, and particularly the impact this kind of political disruption is having on women and children and families in Burundi, and the rise of sexual violence, in particular.

I just returned from Guatemala where Canadian development monies have been channelled very effectively into civil society groups that are on the ground, very directly assisting and empowering women, especially young women, and giving them some of the protections they need to withstand some of the challenges they face.

What can Canada be doing better in Burundi? Who can we be working with? Are there civil society groups on the ground that we have some relationship with through the local initiatives fund that we can be targeting to get assistance to these people, both within the country and also in some of the displacement camps in the surrounding regions where Burundians are fleeing?