Good evening.
My thanks to the committee members for inviting me to appear today.
There are many human rights problems around the world and they are becoming more and more serious. We can actually talk about direct attacks against the rule of law and against democracy. Democracies are threatened both from within and from outside. The rise of populist movements, political parties and even governments that cast doubt upon rights that were hard-won after bitter struggles, is a real threat to our democracies. A country like Canada should take this threat very seriously and do everything in its power to counter it, both at home and abroad. The existence of regimes that are increasingly authoritarian and increasingly powerful, both economically and militarily, like China and Russia, does nothing to reassure us. The invasion of Ukraine, in complete contravention of international law, reassures us even less.
In parallel, we must highlight the solidarity of Ukraine's neighbours, like Poland, that have opened their borders. Nevertheless, a number of those countries, including Poland, are led by governments that are cozying up to the extreme right and implementing extremely repressive policies toward migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Even today, with the war raging in Ukraine, people like that, even those with Ukrainian citizenship or a valid residency permit, are being denied asylum.
Yet we must also highlight the courage of the thousands of Russians who are standing up to the regime at the risk of their freedom, their safety, even their lives, in order to demonstrate their opposition. We must support them, we must not betray them. Alexeï Navalny comes to mind, as do all the others.
In the same way, Canada must support the peaceful Hirak movement in Algeria. Since 2019, they have been demanding democracy and have been violently repressed. In recent days, hundreds of people have been arrested and imprisoned on charges that are both very serious and very vague. Such is the case of Lazhar Zouaïmia, a Canadian and an activist with Amnistie internationale Canada francophone. He was questioned by plain-clothes police in Constantine and formally charged with celebrating terrorist acts on social media. We are asking Canada to do everything it can so that Mr. Zouaïmia can return to the country as quickly as possible, and to demand the immediate release of all peaceful activists.
Authoritarian regimes are now in the habit of laying terrorism charges as a result of the use of social media. Such is the case of Raïf Badawi, a Saudi, whose release we were expecting today. He has been in prison for 10 years. Mr. Badawi is not Canadian, but his wife and children are. Canada must do everything it can so that he is able to rejoin his family, in the knowledge that he is prohibited from leaving Saudi Arabia for 10 years after his release. We can only hope that the contract to sell arms to Saudi Arabia does not interfere with Canada's efforts on behalf of Mr. Badawi. Those efforts must also come with strong condemnations on behalf of dozens of human rights defenders, men and women alike, who are currently in the kingdom's jails. Economic interests must never triumph over human life and human rights.
Along similar lines, it is imperative for Canada to support the temporary waiver of patents at the World Trade Organization, the WTO, so that vaccines and other treatments to combat COVID‑19 can be produced. Let us not forget that scarcely 4% of the population in the poorest countries is adequately vaccinated. Economic interests cannot have more weight than the health and the lives of millions of people.
We could also talk of many other conflicts and many other cases of repression around the world. Unfortunately, there are too many, like those in Tigray and South Sudan.
The Americas remain the most violent continent; human rights defenders and journalists are regularly murdered. Coups d'état are proliferating in the countries of West Africa, while extremist groups are taking people hostage. The employees and activists of Amnesty International are increasingly targets. This is the case in India, Hong Kong and Thailand.
In recent decades, Canada has made substantial investments in Afghanistan and Haiti. Today, the people of those two countries are left to themselves, to violence, to economic despair, to famine. Canada cannot stand idly by.
In closing, let me also draw your attention to Amnesty International's major report on Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. After a number of years of detailed investigation, the conclusion is harsh, but it is undeniable. The state of Israel is practising a policy of apartheid against the Palestinians. The Holocaust is very real, it really happened, as did many other pogroms against the Jewish people.
Anti-Semitism is still rampant around the world, including here, but that can either excuse nor explain a policy of apartheid being conducted against the Palestinian people by the state of Israel.
Thank you.