Subcommittee on International Human Rights Committee on Sept. 27th, 2016

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

Is there a role for the International Criminal Court to play in resolving the situation or at least providing justice for the atrocities that are occurring?

[Sébastien Beaulieu]

The response is multi-faceted. First of all, let me perhaps break it up into three parts. First are the investigative mechanisms, and there Canada is contributing, for example, to the Commission for International Justice and Accountability for the fact gathering and evidence gathering.

There is the support to the victims, including victims of sexual violence, and there Canada is also active.

As to the mechanisms themselves, the legal mechanisms, whether it's the ICC, ad hoc tribunals, or other mechanisms, the international community is indeed struggling given the complexity of the conflict, the many actors, and the politics that play out in the various bodies for action to be taken, but Canada is certainly pressing.

Minister Dion earlier this year wrote to the UN Security Council to ask for action to be taken and an investigation of the crimes of Daesh.

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

I have one more question.

In your opinion then, is there another role that Canada can play in really resolving this situation, not just in the short term but also in the long term?

[Sébastien Beaulieu]

Yes, there is one, and again, it's complex. But our response is multi-faceted, whether it's taking part in the anti-Daesh coalition, leading the diplomatic efforts that do continue despite the outlook being grim, or supporting the victims, and that's the essence of the question around accountability. Talks are ongoing between partners to examine means to bring greater accountability, and in the context of a ceasefire, to enhance the monitoring and find ways to enforce that ceasefire.

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

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Levitt]

We will move on to MP Hardcastle.

[Cheryl Hardcastle, NDP, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank all of you for your presentations. They're very thought provoking for us when we're trying to move forward and really get to the heart of a matter.

I want to talk a little bit about the rights of women and girls. I think it was mentioned. I'm sure all of you have a brief comment to make with regard to this, but I don't know if you have eye signals you can give each other on who's going to take it.

With regard to the brief report from South Sudan, where we have the disturbing observation that we have brutal cases of sexual violence against women and girls and that they seem to be increasing, I know that we have international development projects and supports that are supposed to be for the empowerment of women and girls. We're supposed to be stemming these kinds of crimes against humanity in this way. I'm feeling like perhaps we're missing something that you might understand.

Are there gender empowerment initiatives? Are there programs that we should be focusing more on? Are we not deploying this enough? Are there areas where it's been effective? Why wasn't it mentioned in some of your other reports? I would just like to hear a little bit more about that.

This is an issue that, I know, part of the reason we hear more and more about it is social conscience and because we have access to more of these global details. It is an important part of our role in understanding your viewpoints on addressing that situation.

[Angelica Liao-Moroz]

I think you highlighted one of the key issues in the South Sudan conflict right now, which is the vulnerability of women and children. We have seen this repeatedly and regularly over the past several years, and most recently with the recent renewed conflict that started in early July.

One example I'll point out that you are likely aware of already is the incident surrounding the mass rapes and sexual assaults against women, including girls, shortly after the conflict broke out in July. From a political standpoint we are quite public, vocally. Minister Dion as well as Minister Bibeau have expressed our deep concern over this and our support for UN efforts, including the UN mission in South Sudan, to help support the protection of civilians and to limit this culture of impunity.

Beyond what we are doing in terms of political and diplomatic efforts, I'll turn to my colleague Chantal Labelle, who can speak specifically to Canadian programming that is benefiting women and girls in South Sudan.

[Chantal Labelle, Director, South Sudan Program, Southern and Eastern Africa, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development]

Thank you very much.

As you've mentioned, the conflict has certainly highlighted even more the gender-based violence, violence against women, in South Sudan. But even before the conflict, this was a phenomenon that was culturally entrenched in the culture of South Sudan.

For quite some time now, through our investments in improving access to health care for women, we've been working on helping victims—women who have been victims of gender-based violence—through appropriate health care. We've also been working for quite some time on family planning to give women rights over their own health, their own sexual reproduction. We've also, through our investments in agriculture, been working with communities and with families on a day-to-day basis on informing what are women's rights, in the communities and in the family. We work with community members, and the husbands and family members, as well.

This is work that's been going on for quite some time and that will continue to be ongoing. If anything, we'll be focusing even more on these areas.

[Cheryl Hardcastle, NDP, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

That being said, I want to go back to, I think it was, Mr. Morgan's report. There was also a thought-provoking statement about where the line should be drawn.

How can we identify whether it is true that gender-based violence is culturally entrenched in a lot of these cases and a lot of these situations? How do we include that with respect to where the line is drawn in sanctions? Is that a challenge right now? What do you see as our next best steps to identify and include gender-based violence?

[David Morgan]

I would state straight off that we don't have sanctions against Turkey. Turkey is a NATO ally. It's a G20 country, and we consider that, in general, it's a fully and well-functioning democracy. That is not to say that concerns have not been raised with regard to human rights in general. I would say that the focus, however, has been more on political rights. There have been questions as to how robust those rights are at this particular moment in time. Specifically, organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the like have raised their concerns about freedom of expression, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and excessive use of force. That is where the current emphasis is now.

Of course, our embassy in Ankara does cover the full range of human rights issues that present. I am in no way minimizing the challenges that specifically women and girls face in Turkey. I would only state that in the last two to three months, the emphasis has been, as I said, on those more traditional political rights.

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Levitt]

Thank you very much.

We're going to move on to MP Tabbara for the next question.

[Marwan Tabbara, Liberal, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

Thank you. I'll be splitting my time with MP Miller. I'll try to be very short.

My question will be to Ms. Labelle and Ms. Liao-Moroz.

Regarding the recent closing of the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya, more than 300,000 Somali refugees are being forced to return to Somalia, a country undergoing civil war. The UN has urged Kenya to delay the closing, warning that sending Somalis back to their homeland would be unsafe and inhumane.

What is Canada's stance on this particular file?

[Angelica Liao-Moroz]

If I don't provide enough details, please let me know and I'll undertake to provide some more following this meeting.

Canada has, first of all, in many of our interactions with Kenyan officials at all levels discussed this issue. I assume you're referring to Kenya's recent announcement about repatriating these refugees and closing the Dadaab refugee camp over the next couple of years.

The way we see it, first of all Kenya has in its own right shouldered a major responsibility in the hosting of these refugees over the past few years. Obviously, our concern is that if refugees are to be repatriated back to Somalia, the conditions need be right. That includes the security conditions, and that means that they must be returned in a voluntary and dignified way. These are messages that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees has underscored many times as well with Kenyan authorities.

[Marwan Tabbara, Liberal, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

Okay, thank you.

I'll pass it on to my colleague.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Parenteau, I appreciate the fact that you speak in both official languages. We rarely have the opportunity to hear presentations in which English and French are used equally. Continue making the effort and try to integrate this practice into the public service.

The question I want to ask you is more or less hypothetical.

Imagine the minister tells you he wants to get involved in a region of the world. Take Burundi, for example, since the study starts with that country. You are experts on the subject. What would you tell him?

[Jean-Bernard Parenteau]

Under these circumstances, I would remind him—and this has already been addressed by some of our colleagues—that Canada has a variety of tools. We're able to intervene diplomatically through our ambassadors, public servants, or ministers themselves.

As noted during the discussions on Burundi—and this applies to most of the countries mentioned today—Canada frequently uses multilateral channels. That's also the case for sub-Saharan Africa. No intervention is carried out without taking into account, for example, the position and capacity to intervene of the African Union or other regional political fora. Moreover, there is always the possibility of working with the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie or with certain players such as Burundi or the DRC, when the work involves members of that forum, or with the Commonwealth, for certain other countries.

We already have a cooperation portfolio that enables us to be quite flexible in our interventions. Most of the time, we address the most pressing humanitarian needs while continuing to work on improving the basic aspects of a given society over the longer term. That's what we're doing in the DRC, for example. All the humanitarian support we provide to the eastern DRC covers refugees and internally displaced persons. However, at the same time, we're working on improving health, in particular the health of women and children.

Not only do we note the difficulties with the electoral process, we also support the process together with the Independent National Electoral Commission or work with the civil society to improve the situation.

That was a long way of saying we have a variety of tools. The tools are available, and we'll discuss them with the ministers when the time comes to make recommendations.

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Levitt]

Thank you very much.

We have time for a slightly shorter question.

MP Anderson, the floor is yours.

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

I wish I had time for a couple of them, but I will just focus on one thing.

I had a chance to go to a conference in Berlin about two weeks ago. There were about 90 members of parliament from around the world who came together to talk about religious freedom. One of the questions I heard consistently was “Where is Canada?” They are familiar with the Office of Religious Freedom, the small budget that it had, and the work it had done. It was known around the world and seen as a real leading light in that area. Canada was chairing the international contact working group and was seen as being completely pivotal in putting that initiative together.

I see that the government has said they are going to continue the chairmanship of the group, but no one seemed to know or understand that Canada was still involved in that. Can you tell me if we are continuing to chair that group? What is the plan going forward with that international working group?

[Jean-Bernard Parenteau]

I'm not sure we have someone around the table—

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

I just want to bring this up. Is it a surprise to you that someone would bring up the office of human rights, freedoms and inclusion at the subcommittee for human rights? I am surprised that somebody hasn't come prepared to answer some questions about that. It was a major initiative of the previous government. This government is spending four times as much on that office. They are already $3 million over budget. They've hired 40 people, and I can't get a question about what the mandate is and what it is involved in.

[Jean-Bernard Parenteau]

Mr. Chair, we will have to come back to you with a response.

[The Chair, Liberal, Michael Levitt]

Thank you. If you can provide us with a written response about the mandate, and in particular the question on the working group that MP Anderson raised, then that would be greatly appreciated.

With that, I see our time has come to an end. I want to thank all of you again for coming in and addressing this group today on a number of the hot spots. I'm sure we're going to be hearing individually from you as we move forward with a series of studies over the next number of months, but thank you and we look forward to getting the follow-up information that MP Anderson has raised. Thank you very much.

Colleagues, just a reminder that if we can get you to submit the names of witnesses for the list by October 7 for the upcoming Yazidi study, then that would be fantastic. We need to get those in by October 7 so that we can start drafting a bit of a game plan.

The meeting is adjourned.