Subcommittee on International Human Rights Committee on Nov. 19th, 2020

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

First of all, I thank Mr. Imahiagbe for being with us tonight. It is very enlightening.

I have a preliminary question to ask so I can be sure I understand the political situation in Nigeria right now.

Are we dealing with police forces and special forces, like this police squad called SARS that is completely out of control and acts with a lot of impunity in terms of police brutality, arrests and sometimes torture? Or do you feel instead that the Nigerian government is directly linked to these police forces?

Are these police officers and forces out of control, or are they following orders?

[Chukwuyem Imahiagbe]

The structure is broken. I will try to create a very clear picture of why there is a big problem. I'll bring it home here to Canada.

If in Canada every police force or unit took direct orders from the Prime Minister, you'd agree with me that this would be a big problem. There would be no Ottawa police and no provincial police. There would be no such police. There would be just one national police force taking direct orders from the Prime Minister directly. That would be a big problem.

That is exactly what is happening in Nigeria. That's why people are calling for the system to be restructured. For several years we've been calling for local policing in Nigeria. Of course, there's always enormous push-back on those calls, because those calls do not serve the interests of those who want to keep the status quo. The government knows that localizing police forces in Nigeria would work and it would serve the people.

Nigeria is a big country, with over 200 million people. You'll agree with me that one unit, one police force, cannot serve the interests of 200 million people. From the north to south in Nigeria and from the east to the west, the cultural systems are different. Only local policing can properly understand the issues on the ground and be able to respond effectively.

Orders come from one unit. It comes from the presidency all the way down. That is why it would be very helpful if Nigeria could receive strategic support in the area of policing. That would help enormously in bringing about part of the solution to what we face in Nigeria.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Thank you for clearing that up.

I'd like to ask a question about the Nigerian community. I believe you are familiar with Ottawa, Ontario. How do Nigerians living here in Canada feel about the federal government's response at this time?

You have already offered some potential solutions, but I was curious to know if people in the wider community feel we are doing enough or if, on the contrary, they think we are completely out of the picture.

[Chukwuyem Imahiagbe]

Thank you.

Before presenting to you, I read out a whole list of committees that I have consulted, and the feeling is the same. Nigerian Canadians are very happy and lucky to be in a country where there are laws; where, when you work hard, there is a reward; where, when you follow the law, there is a reward; where, if you are accused wrongly, there's a process that will prove that you were wrongly accused. We're very grateful to be in a country where such rights are guaranteed.

It's not the same in Nigeria. We know that. We have family in Nigeria. I have my parents. My mom is in Nigeria. I'm forced to travel to Nigeria quite often so I can take care of her. We, the community here, feel that there's a connection between us and Nigeria. Nigeria is a very important country in Africa. It's about one-fifth of the entire continent in terms of the number of people in the country alone. It holds a very strong strategic ground. If the country of Nigeria goes out of control, then the entirety of Africa is going to go with it. That's a known fact.

That's why we are very concerned in our community that the Government of Canada can do more to help bring about stability in that country, to bring about a peaceful existence in that country, so that people can actually prosper in that country. Right now, that is not the case. We hope that—

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

I have only one minute left, but I'd like to ask you one last question.

You have identified potential solutions where Canada could take action, including police training, restructuring the justice system and bringing to trial people who have committed crimes or human rights violations.

However, if the Nigerian government does not want this assistance at all, shouldn't Canada be using diplomatic and economic pressure to force the current government's hand?

[Chukwuyem Imahiagbe]

Yes, of course. We support any measure, diplomatic or economic, to force their hands. Canada is an important country that has a whole lot of leverage. Many countries respect Canada. Canada has many allies that respect the wishes of Canada. I'm sure that if Canada pushes its allies to put pressure on Nigeria to bring about change, it will be impacting the lives of over 200 million people. That's what that would do for people.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Thank you very much.

We are now moving into our second round, although, members, there will be only enough time for one questioner. That will be Mr. Zuberi, from the Liberals, for five minutes.

[Sameer Zuberi, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

I'd like to thank you for being here to speak with us this evening on this very important issue, and for your courage and your activism over what I'm guessing is a long time of several months and years. The advocacy work you do is extremely important in educating Canadians, and us also, in terms of how to move ahead.

In my riding of Pierrefonds—Dollard, there are many Nigerian refugees whom I have gotten to know and befriended and worked with. I'm sensitive to the concerns that you're bringing up. I'm somewhat familiar with the challenges in the country. I know that there are a lot of economic challenges. There's government corruption. There are extremist groups on the ground also.

How has Nigeria handled the security challenges and balanced those with human rights in comparison with other jurisdictions, other countries, that have challenges similar to Nigeria's? How would you rate Nigeria's handling of these challenges and balancing of security and human rights?

[Chukwuyem Imahiagbe]

Thank you for that question and for expressing your interest in bringing about solutions to Nigeria.

In terms of balancing security challenges in Nigeria and human rights, it's very sad to note that dealing with the security challenges that have been brought on Nigeria by extremist groups from sub-Saharan Africa and down into Nigeria has been almost non-existent, like giving up in a way. We believe that the entire north of Nigeria is kind of open for terrorist groups to operate in. They come into Nigeria and find their way all the way down to the middle belts, which are central Nigeria and the south of Nigeria.

The situation is very dire for the people. Every day, we hear of cases of kidnapping. These groups have now put themselves into little batches of kidnapping gangs. They stay in the forest, come onto the highway, stop vehicles, forcefully kidnap people, take them back into the forest and ask for ransom. This is now very common and open. It is dangerous. They are now free to travel the roads.

The last time I travelled to Nigeria, on every journey, even some journeys that are just one hour, I had to fly. It is unknown in Nigeria to rely on flying from one part of the country to another, but because of the security challenges, getting onto the highway to travel is like surrendering yourself to these terrorist groups to take you into the forest and ask for huge amounts of ransom money. That is the situation.

The government is aware of the presence of these groups in the forest. However, the focus is on brutalizing people who are living peacefully and leaving alone those who are the actual terrorist groups. That is why I gave the example of the chair of the Senate Committee on Army, who testified before his own committee that Boko Haram members, who were already pardoned and said to be reintegrated into society, slaughtered 75 old men, seniors who were taken from their homes and slaughtered.

That is the security situation that unfortunately has brought about #endSARS protests. The response of the government is to suppress it instead of calling for a dialogue to have a better understanding and provide an effective response to improve the security situation.

[Sameer Zuberi, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Mr. Zuberi, you are pretty much out of time.

[Sameer Zuberi, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Yes. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

At this time, we want to thank you, Mr. Imahiagbe, for coming before the committee with your testimony, for imparting all of this information to us, for your advocacy for human rights in Nigeria and also for being on the front lines here during this COVID pandemic as the vice-principal at your school. Thank you very much on behalf of all the committee members.

Members, as we go to our second panel, we will be suspending at this time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

We are going to commence. Welcome back, everybody.

I'd like to make a few comments for the benefit of the new witnesses.

Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. When you're ready to speak, you can click on the microphone icon to activate your mike.

I will remind us that all comments should be addressed through the chair. Interpretation in this video conference will work very much as it does in a regular committee meeting. You have the choice at the bottom of your screen of either “Floor”, “English” or “French”. When you're not speaking, your mike should be on mute.

I would now like to welcome our witnesses regarding the situation in Zimbabwe. We have, I think, three representatives so far from ZimLivesMatter. As I understand, each of you will be making a brief opening statement. If you can make that statement a little briefer than it was going to be, our members can get to questions that I'm sure they'll all want to ask you.

I don't know if you have any particular order in which you would like to start. I'll go by your order of arrival at our session. We'll be starting with Mr. Gombiro as our first speaker for three minutes.

[Roy Gombiro, Representative, ZimLivesMatter]

Honourable Chair, we do have an order, so I am going to pass to Tsitsi Gadza for the opening remarks. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Sure. Thank you.

[Tsitsi Gadza, Representative, ZimLivesMatter]

Good evening, honourable members. We thank you for providing this platform for me and my colleagues to be able to share insights about the crisis in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe was once known—

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

We're having a bad Internet reception.

Ms. Gadza, we're having difficulty hearing you, so we'll have to change that, and the order. Mr. Gombiro—

[Roy Gombiro]

Honourable members, I'll just proceed with opening remarks.

We're here to discuss the issue in Zimbabwe concerning human rights abuse and the economic decline. We'll go through that in our presentation with all the witnesses.

I was going to speak specifically to the economic hardships that we face in Zimbabwe and provide a brief history of how it started, where we are right now, and maybe the recommendations as to what we're asking from the Canadian government.

As far as history goes, we can trace back the economic decline in Zimbabwe to 1997, when the reserve bank, through the government, printed money to pay off the war veterans in a plea to gain political capital. What followed next was hyperinflation and a decline in the economy, which to this day hasn't quite recovered.

Coupled with the poor economy, Zimbabwe is very reliant on agriculture, and the poor climate hasn't helped the cause, as we witnessed cyclones in the following years: 2002, 2004, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2019 and most recently 2020. Because we're so reliant on agriculture, families have nothing to eat, job losses are high and unemployment is at an all-time high.

As you can see through the slides or the material that is in front of you, we've basically faced a 20-year decline in the economy, with poor fiscal plans from the government and poor infrastructure. I might note that ever since independence, the country has not gained in any way; it has looked back, with the current government obviously creating the poor economic climate.

In one of the graphs, we show Zimbabwe's annual GDP growth, dating back to the 1980s, which is when Zimbabwe attained its independence. It was high, faced a decline, and it ebbs and flows, going up and down. Most recently in the 2000s, because of the history I gave about money supply, the economy has been in the doldrums.

We've tried to provide high-level GDP information to show where we are as a country. Inflation right now stands at about 319%. Just to put that in perspective, if you go to the grocery store today and try to buy bread at $5, by the time you come back tomorrow morning you won't be guaranteed the same price. Meanwhile, wages are not moving accordingly, which is causing so much stress on the people of Zimbabwe.

We are aware that the Canadian government is able to offer support through its work as a top-10 donor in the Commonwealth. With that in mind, we're asking the Canadian government to commit to work with NGOs in Zimbabwe to establish a better economy, to lead the stance to denounce human rights abuses to the UN, to lift the moratorium on Zimbabweans to immigrate to Canada and facilitate their coming and working for their families and being able to fend for them, and lastly for the Canadian government to actively engage the Zimbabwean government in order to set up the right fiscal policies and support immigration to help Zimbabweans.

With that, I'll pass you on to Makanaka, our next presenter.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Thank you, Mr. Gombiro.

Thank you, Makanaka. You can start now. Hopefully, your microphone and Internet are working okay.

[Makanaka Kujeke, Representative, ZimLivesMatter]

Thank you.

Good evening once again, honourable members. As previously mentioned, my name is Makanaka Kujeke, and I will be presenting on the topic of basic necessities, beginning with the Zimbabwe health care system.

Limited resources have resulted in bed shortages, staff shortages and a lack of urgent care within the Zimbabwean health care system for many years. Staff shortages due to ongoing strikes have resulted in many preventable deaths. Most recently, seven stillborn babies were delivered in one night, following a delay in that urgent care that we discussed.

Health care professionals are protesting their unlawful working conditions, which include lack of PPE, especially during a critical time like the COVID-19 pandemic, and earning below a living wage, being paid approximately $130 U.S. monthly. As a result of strikes, many of the health care workers in Zimbabwe were dismissed by the sitting government and were advised that they could only be reinstated if they joined the national guard or the police force, which of course would mean surrendering their right to protest.

On the next slide you will see a civilian named Esther Zinyoro Gwena. Civilians such as Esther have taken it upon themselves to assist their communities as best as they can. Esther has successfully delivered 250 babies without gloves, equipment or any midwife, free of medical training. Women come to Esther's home, deliver their babies, and recover in her small apartment. They are often sent home the same day to make room for others.

Moving on to the basic necessity of water, Zimbabwe has also been water- and food-insecure for many years. Families are often forced to drink and use sewage water, because water does not flow in their homes. This, of course, results in many water-borne diseases, such cholera and typhoid. Recently in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, a cholera outbreak killed 10 people who consumed contaminated water. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, lack of a reliable water supply has made maintaining preventive hygienic practices extremely difficult for Zimbabweans.

Moving on to food insecurity, at present 2.2 million Zimbabweans are on the brink of starvation due to food insecurity. The UN World Food Programme has forecast that 3.3 million Zimbabweans will be food insecure by March 2021. The food insecurity is the result of climate change in the region, drought, food shortage and the maladministration of resources. Across many regions, food aid is restricted to community members affiliated with certain political parties. Those who choose not to denounce their political affiliations are often threatened and denied access to rations.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Thank you, Ms. Kujeke.

I believe Ms. Gadza's Internet and microphone are now working.

Please go ahead.

[Tsitsi Gadza]

Good evening, honourable members.

Zimbabwe is facing non-democratic conditions to the extent that people cannot even exercise their right to engage in meaningful political activity. There is no freedom of association. As you can see from this slide, a woman is being tackled to the ground by a police officer, and they're using tear gas, batons and water cannons to disperse opposition party supporters who had gathered to listen to their leaders.

In the next slide, you will notice that these are people who are protesting as a result of an increase in food and gasoline prices, and that is their way of survival. In this case, they are exercising their right to protest price increases, but as a result, police surrounded and assaulted them.

Sexual abduction and inhumane assault has been a prevalent thing in Zimbabwe. In this slide, the women in bed is covering up afer being sexually assaulted and beaten by police. The man on the right has lacerations on his back as a result of thrashing by police. He happened to be just an innocent bystander who got mixed up and brought the wrath of the police on him.

There has been media outcry on the violence, to the extent that the 2019 Human Rights Watch report exposed the Zimbabwean government's abuse of power on its citizens. There was media coverage by local media, and there were journalists whom police were trying to suppress. Police raided their offices and discharged tear gas canisters on them as their way of trying to suppress the report on corruption and violence that's going on in the country.

Similarly, we see a Zimbabwean journalist by the name of Hopewell Chin'ono, who was arrested for publishing an article that exposed government corruption involving COVID-19 PPE supplies. He was again arrested in October for allegations that he breached his bail conditions.

All of this goes to show that we strongly depend on the Canadian government to help us to condemn police brutality by enforcing measures that reprimand non-compliant individuals and to enforce human dignity, human rights, values and principles in the military, police force and government intelligence; provide funding and training for police to remind them of their duty to serve and to protect; restore the rule of law and ensure fair and equal legal representation irrespective of gender, religion or political affiliation; and uphold the rule of law and ensure perpetrators will be accountable and brought before the court, as no one is above the law.

We would also appreciate it if the Canadian government could raise the Zimbabwean situation at the United Nations and African Union level.

In our conclusion, we have realized that it is evident that corruption and poor government administration have driven Zimbabwe into the current predicament. As a result, we can conclude that all forms of funding, be it for distribution or for medical services, should be channelled through non-governmental organizations instead. There's a Canadian international development agency based in Harare that can assume responsibility to manage and report back to the Canadian government on funding matters.

With all the information that we've shared with you this evening, we hope that the subcommittee will seriously consider our proposed recommendations to ease economic hardship; improve supply and distribution of food, water, health and medical resources; and aid the establishment of police reform and the restoration of the rule of law.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Thank you, Ms. Gadza, and thank you to the witnesses.

Now we are going to move to our questions and first round.

In the first round, we have Ms. Iqra Khalid from the Liberals, for seven minutes.

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

Thank you very much, Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses for highlighting such an important issue.

You lead this social media campaign of #ZimLivesMatter. Are there any limitations on the ground in Zimbabwe to access social media or any interference in your advocacy by the state in your raising of awareness?

I will ask Mr. Gombiro, because I think you mentioned it.