Subcommittee on International Human Rights Committee on Feb. 16th, 2021

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Thank you.

We'll move to Mr. Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe for about three minutes.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

This is my last turn.

I want to thank all three of you for being here today. What you're doing matters tremendously. Our job is to become your voice and spread the message.

All three of you talked about the schoolchildren impacted by the conflict. Mr. Fomunyoh, you said that more than 1.1 million school-age children had been out of school for approximately four years. Some say that it's the government targeting the schools and schoolchildren; others argue that it's the separatists.

Can you shed any light on that for us, Mr. Fomunyoh?

[Dr. Christopher Fomunyoh]

There has certainly been confusion around the matter, but things have changed over time.

Initially, when the crisis began, the education system was one of the issues being disputed. People asked the children not to go to school as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the central government. Unfortunately, it became normal practice over time, and most of the schools closed four or five years ago.

Last year, some schools wanted to reopen and offer curriculum they had developed in response to the needs of the various communities, but the state was not on the same page.

There is certainly confusion surrounding the matter.

Today, the schools aren't open, especially in rural areas, areas controlled by armed groups where administrators were not physically present. Those areas account for nearly 80% of the conflict zone.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

How is the local population faring? How are people coping with the situation?

[Dr. Christopher Fomunyoh]

The local population is living with the consequences because it can't negotiate with the armed groups or the government.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

The population is being held hostage, then.

[Dr. Christopher Fomunyoh]

Yes, absolutely. It's being held hostage and having to live with the very real consequences of the school dispute.

In a number of cases, it was decided that the children would be sent to border regions—mainly along the coast and in western Cameroon—so they could try to go to school.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

My sincerest thanks to all three of you.

I would also like to thank my fellow members for asking such compelling questions.

When all is said and done, I hope we get somewhere.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Thank you.

We will move to our final questioner. Ms. Heather McPherson will have approximately three minutes before we get to our e-vote.

Please go ahead.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Again, thank you to all our witnesses for being here.

Dr. Fomunyoh, you mentioned humanitarian aid and development assistance and how that might be able to be used as a tool. Would you like to see Canada examine our development dollars that go to Cameroon? Would you like us to withhold those dollars until the Cameroonian government agrees to a ceasefire or agrees to negotiations?

In your opinion, would that influence the Cameroonian government? Would that be a tool that Canada could use effectively?

[Dr. Christopher Fomunyoh]

Certainly it can be a tool. I think it should be put on the table because the ultimate goal is to get the parties to stop killing each other and to come to the negotiating table. If that can happen as an incentive, it should be utilized.

The concerns that I have are born out of the experience that we've seen on the field where, for example, material assistance that was given to the Cameroon military to fight Boko Haram in the eastern and northern part of the country got diverted and transferred into the Southern Cameroons—the northwest and the southwest—to be engaged in that theatre of operation. There's a sense that as long as the government continues to have resources, it's not going to feel compelled to seek ways to get to the negotiating table and to bring all of the participants to the table, so that this can be sorted out through a negotiated solution.

I think whatever leverage Canada has should be put to use.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Tembon or Professor Garry, do you have any comment on that?

[Efi Tembon]

I would like to say that Professor Chris Roberts, who is a political scientists at the University of Calgary, has done some research on Canada's collaboration with Cameroon. It's telling, in terms of the values Canada promotes at home, in that in dealing with Cameroon it hasn't promoted the same values when it comes to contracts, government support or business. They have just overlooked the human rights issues and these atrocities and have gone ahead to do business with Cameroon. I think that's something Canada needs to look at.

I don't think that would deter Cameroon from continuing what they are doing. They are very determined. It would take more pressure and more serious work alongside other countries to stop these atrocities from happening.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

It could only be part of the solution.

[Efi Tembon]

Yes, that's correct.

[Prof. Hannah Garry]

If I could just jump in on the point of coming alongside other countries doing the same. The U.S. has been looking closely at its defence aid and withdrawing defence aid and military training under the Leahy laws here in the United States. They did so a couple of years ago. They also withdrew trade benefits. I think these are important initiatives that, especially when done with other countries, can put pressure on the government.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Thank you all for being here.

I'll pass it back to you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Thank you, Ms. McPherson.

Thank you to the witnesses on behalf of all committee members and all those who pulled this together. We thank you for your testimony. Thank you for the answers that you've provided us. From this hearing, a statement will be published. Once that statement is published, it will be forwarded to all of you.

Members, we have not gotten the notice yet for the e-vote. I thought we would have had it by now. It would have been a good transition.

Madam Clerk, it looks like we are going to move into our second round. Is that right?

[The Clerk of the Committee, Ms. Erica Pereira]

Yes, Mr. Chair. If you could just suspend for a moment while I switch out the witnesses, that would be great.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Members, we'll suspend.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

We're going to get started with the witnesses' opening statements. I would ask the witnesses to stay strictly within five minutes.

I welcome the witnesses today. They're going to be addressing the current situation in Ethiopia.

Witnesses, at the bottom of your screen, you'll see a globe. If you need translation into English or French, please select the one that works best for you.

Thank you very much, everybody. I'm not going to name you all. I'm just going to start off with Mr. Teklay from the Association of Tigrayan Communities in Canada.

Mr. Teklay, you have five minutes.

[Tesfay Teklay, Association of Tigrayan Communities in Canada]

Thank you very much, honourable members of the House of Commons.

Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Tesfay Teklay, and I'm from the Association of Tigrayan Communities in Canada. It's an honour and privilege to testify in front of you regarding the man-made humanitarian crisis in Tigray. Thank you for the opportunity.

As you might be aware, there is currently a brutal civil war and genocide unfolding in Ethiopia's Tigray region under complete darkness.

On November 3, 2020, the unelected federal government of Ethiopia, led by Mr. Abiy Ahmed, in coordination with Eritrean forces and Amhara regional state forces, attacked the people of Tigray and its government, which was re-elected on September 9, 2020. In this war, the United Arab Emirates also participated by providing drone air power, and Somalia reportedly sent 3,000 troops.

A sovereign state inviting and allowing multiple foreign countries to attack its own citizens using all kinds of lethal weapons is unheard of. The regime framed this treasonous act as a “law enforcement operation”, which is ironic given the fact that it is an unelected and, therefore, unlawful regime.

For the last three months of the war, over 52,000 civilians have been murdered according to a Washington Post report, which cited three opposition parties in Tigray. A Human Rights Watch report concludes that Abiy Ahmed's soldiers bombed civilians to death and destroyed schools, hospitals and markets in Tigray. Mass executions are very common. There is a case of up to 750 people massacred by Eritrean and Ethiopian forces in one day in Axum at a church.

So far, Eritrean and Ethiopian regimes have rebuffed all calls from the European Union and the U.S. government for an immediate withdrawal of foreign troops and a cessation of hostilities.

An unprecedented level of humanitarian crisis is happening in Tigray. As if the bombs and bullets are not enough, Abiy Ahmed is weaponizing hunger to exterminate Tigrayans, just like his role model, Colonel Mengistu, did in 1984 and 1985, killing close to one million Tigrayans. Despite repeated calls by governments and aid agencies to allow access to humanitarian aid, the regime has been putting all sorts of hindrances to make sure that Tigrayans die en masse.

According to the Ethiopian Red Cross Society, 80% of Tigrayans are cut off from aid, and tens of thousands could die within months. Over 60,000 have fled to Sudan, and 2.3 million are internally displaced. UNHCR's head, Filippo Grandi, describes the situation as “extremely grave”.

Rape has become rampant. In many places, it's not whether women are raped, but it is a question of how many times. Gang rape has become commonplace, with instances of 17 Eritrean soldiers raping one woman in Adigrat. Over 700 women are raped in one month in the regional capital alone. There are also reports of individuals allegedly forced to rape members of their own family, under threat of imminent violence, according to UN special representative Pramila Patten. According to Reuters, there are reports of women being ordered to choose between being raped or shot dead.

As the facts on the ground could not be hidden anymore, the Ethiopian minister of women finally admitted that horrible rape crimes are happening in Tigray.

To make matters worse, victimized women and children could not get the medical help they desperately needed because health care facilities were looted and destroyed, mostly by Eritrean invaders. According to a report by Doctors Without Borders, 80% to 90% of health care centres they visited were not functional.

Tigray is cut from Internet and telecom services just so that the outside world won't know about the atrocities. Similarly, international media are blocked from Tigray. If you are a domestic journalist reporting on human rights abuses, you risk being assassinated. That's exactly what happened to Mr. Dawit Kebede of Tigray TV; he was shot dead, along with his lawyer.

Banks are closed and banks accounts of the Tigrayans are frozen so that they won't be able to withdraw money to buy food—

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Thank you, Mr. Teklay. You'll get more chances during question time to elaborate on what you've been saying.

We are moving to, from Balderas North America, Mr. Alemu for five minutes, please.

[Fitsum Achamyeleh Alemu, Balderas North America]

Good evening. Thank you very much.

My name is Fitsum Alemu. I greatly appreciate this opportunity to address this honourable House.

I'm a lawyer and a U.S. citizen residing in Virginia.

From the outset, on behalf of Ethiopians, I'd like to say I appreciate this opportunity and also to express [Technical difficulty—Editor].

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Is Mr. Alemu frozen for everybody?

Maybe we're going to have to have Mr. Alemu work through those details. We may have to move right now to Ms. Gebrekirstoes from the same organization.

Could you speak for five minutes? Thank you.