Subcommittee on International Human Rights Committee on Feb. 28th, 2022

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Mr. Turkel, I'd ask that you wrap up in the next 15 seconds, please.

[Nury Turkel]

Sure.

The world is waking up to the need to end the brutal regimes of dictators like Putin and Xi Jinping. Should we fail to take decisive leadership, we will be counted among the cowards and criminals of history.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to testify today. I look forward to your questions where I can highlight and articulate some of the key issues that involve China and other parts of the world where minorities and religious groups have been subject to human rights violations.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you, Mr. Turkel.

Now we turn to Ms. Byrnes from Oxfam-Québec.

You have five minutes, Ms. Byrnes.

[Denise Byrnes, General Director, Oxfam-Québec]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for inviting us today. I am here to testify on behalf of Oxfam.

Oxfam is an organization that works on the ground to provide a humanitarian response during emergencies and to support long-term community development. Our testimony is based on our direct, in-person knowledge of those impacted by human rights violations.

In the first two years of the COVID‑19 pandemic, we have observed a major reduction in the space given to civil society organizations and an increase in inequality among those communities.

Our observation is that a whole-of-government approach will be necessary to better protect human rights defenders and to reduce the obstacles that confront organizations working to provide humanitarian assistance in conflict situations. The various development services, foreign affairs, trade, diplomacy, defence and the environment, must absolutely come together and work together. In situations such as the one in Yemen, which I am going to tell you about, all those factors come into play and nothing can be done in a piecemeal fashion.

The media has largely forgotten about the crisis in Yemen. However, according to the United Nations, the UN, it's one of the worst humanitarian crises ever. Two thirds of the 30 million Yemenis are living on humanitarian assistance. Thirteen million are experiencing serious food shortages, especially women and children.

Meanwhile, the conflict has raged on for seven years. Around 19,000 people have been killed and January 2022 was one of the most troubling months in terms of attacks. These include the destruction of a water supply and distribution system on which 120,000 people depend. Access to water is a basic right. Hospitals and schools have been destroyed.

Currently, we know that the conflict is being fuelled by weapons coming from Saudi Arabia. We cannot guarantee that military equipment from Canada has not been used during those attacks. There have been investigations but, according to our research, they have not been conclusive.

Canada is a signatory to the Arms Trade Treaty. We must examine the issue of arms sales, and suspend the export of military equipment, to Saudi Arabia, as a number of other countries have done, such as Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Finland, the Netherlands, and Sweden. We have a duty to protect.

Yemen is hardly talked about. The conflict has been going on for seven years. There is no joint, international action as we see with Ukraine. What is being done for Ukraine is really impressive. As someone said earlier, the system is working, people are coming together and concerted sanctions are being imposed.

The Yemenis have been somewhat abandoned. I feel that the Government of Canada could address the situation by playing a stronger role. This will also take an intergovernmental approach. That is very important.

Allow me to make one final comment about Yemen. The UN Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen, a body created to monitor human rights violations in Yemen, was dissolved in October 2021 and has not been replaced.

January 2022 was a deadly month in the country. So it is important to create another independent mechanism, a replacement for the group of experts, to monitor what is happening in Yemen in terms of human rights violations and even to provide humanitarian assistance to the people directly affected.

Some of my colleagues have spoken at length about Palestine. So I will not do so, although I have things I could tell you. Instead, I will talk to you about Latin America.

In Colombia and Honduras, we are seeing an extremely troubling increase of violence against human rights defenders. They are victims of harassment, surveillance, defamation campaigns, threats, disappearances, physical assaults and, unfortunately, murder.

Indigenous and racialized people are particularly vulnerable as they defend their land and their natural resources against the establishment and proliferation of extractive industries, tourist projects and extensive monocultures.

Particularly noteworthy are the defamation campaigns against the women who lead human rights groups, especially indigenous women. These campaigns are aimed at the role of women in society and their sexuality.

We are also seeing a troubling increase of violence against LGBTI+ communities and especially against those standing up for the rights of those communities.

Colombia, unfortunately, holds the sad world record for the number of human rights defenders who have been murdered. Despite a small drop in 2021, more than half the people killed around the world while defending their rights are from Colombia. That's 177 of 331 people, or 53%. It's terrible.

In addition, in the regions of Central and South America—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Ms. Byrnes, could you conclude in approximately 15 seconds?

[Denise Byrnes]

Gender‑based violence is rampant. There's an increase [Technical difficulty—Editor], as we've seen recently in Honduras. Even the emergency contraceptive pill—commonly known as the “morning after pill”—is banned and criminalized there.

In Colombia, abortion was decriminalized. However, the next day, the president said that this was absurd and that the constitutional court's decision should be overturned. We're also concerned about women's rights.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut you off.

We're fortunate to be joined by Mr. Jeremy England from the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Mr. England, you have five minutes for your testimony, which will be followed by questions from the members.

[Jeremy England, Deputy Head of Regional Delegation and Head of Operation, International Committee of the Red Cross]

Good evening, Mr. Chair and committee members.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak with you.

The International Committee of the Red Cross, or ICRC, highly values its relationship with the Government of Canada. This relationship encourages us to carry out our mandate without fear or hesitation, while mindful of the support provided, not only for our work, but also for the protection of international humanitarian law. Unfortunately, this protection is becoming increasingly significant every day.

I just referred to international humanitarian law.

That's international humanitarian law, also known as IHL or the laws of war, which brings me to my organization.

The ICRC was born on the battlefields of Europe based on two ideas, the first being that there should be a set of minimum humanitarian standards and protections during warfare. This was the origin of the Geneva Conventions and wider humanitarian frameworks that we all know today. This body of law is distinct from the human rights law that many of our colleagues have spoken about and underpins some of the specific concerns they raised.

Humanitarian law is universal and is non-derogable. What I mean by that is it cannot be waived under a state of emergency, so this law, this international humanitarian law, applies fully today in Ukraine as it does in Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen or elsewhere.

When we speak of IHL, we speak of protection that should be afforded to those people affected by conflict. We also speak about the obligations on those people who are conducting conflict and the obligations on those seeking to offer humanitarian services during conflict. It defines explicitly the responsibilities that the ICRC and other humanitarian organizations may exercise in today's battlefields.

ICRC's mandate is to protect and assist victims of war and is therefore somewhat different from that of human rights organizations. We work differently. We put a premium on neutrality and discretion to assure our access and proximity to those in need. We exercise that dialogue bilaterally and in confidence to achieve the best possible outcomes on the ground and in policy influence. In that sense, we are complementary to the important work of the human rights activists you've heard so far tonight, but we're a slightly different beast.

The other idea defining the Red Cross movement was that there should be national societies, national relief organizations such as the Canadian Red Cross, that can work as independent auxiliaries of the humanitarian services of their governments.

The ICRC remains the specialist conflict-focused arm of this wider Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement and the task today is ever more complicated. I would share with you just a few trends and a few asks, a few reminders or suggestions.

Today, as we operate in over 100 countries, employing 22,000 staff members and spending over $3 billion Canadian a year, we are concerned that the conflicts we are facing are multiplying. They are increasing both in duration and in number, and we're facing an international order today that is increasingly struggling to bring any form of negotiation that can impose peace on these contexts.

As great powers shift in their focus from counterterrorism and long-term insurgencies towards global strategic competition, we see more and more assertive regional actors, as well as increased coups as states see opportunities for new alliances. We see a multiplication of non-state armed groups; we count 612 currently in the contexts where we are working directly. We see increased conflict in urban areas. We see both increased suffering due to that but also longer-term infrastructural damage caused by that urban conflict. We see the focus shifting rapidly to all the new crises—Ethiopia, Afghanistan, and now Ukraine—while nothing is yet solved in Syria, Yemen, Libya, the Sahel, Congo, South Sudan, Myanmar or elsewhere.

We see both COVID and climate change impacting conflict, highlighting the inequalities, the corruption and the frustrations, rendering populations ever more vulnerable, most obviously in the Sahel but also in the Horn of Africa, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

We see new domains where force is projected, where crime and risk is increased, notably in the cyber domain and around the protection of the data of the people we're trying to assist.

Finally, we see ever-increasing challenges and expectations on humanitarian organizations in ever-decreasing space with which to operate safely. What I mean by that is national governments, non-state armed groups, but also the desire to see solutions not coming from former colonial powers, as well as the continued use of sanctions and other restrictive measures by bigger powers and by the United Nations all impacting on the space in which humanitarian organizations can respond.

That leads me to five or four quick messages. The first—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Mr. England, could you conclude please.

[Jeremy England]

Certainly.

There are four points: the importance of steady unearmarked support; the importance of defending humanitarian law; the importance of ensuring that international sanctions always have humanitarian carve-outs and exemptions; and the importance of making sure that counterterrorism legislation does not have unintended consequences for humanitarian actions.

Lastly and most importantly is peacemaking. We need—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you. I am going to have to cut you off, Mr. England, but we have an opportunity for questions. We are opening it up to seven minutes for each member.

The first member is Mr. Sameer Zuberi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'll let Mr. England briefly finish his last point as I move into my series of questions.

[Jeremy England]

That's very kind of you.

The last point was that, as humanitarians, we can only prepare the ground, minimize abuses and give people a bit of hope. What we need is political leadership to uphold the rules-based order, look for solutions to conflict and work the multilateral systems toward ending the ever-increasing number of conflicts.

We know that Canada is a very important player in all the domains I raised.

We thank you for your time and attention.

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

Thank you.

I'll start my questioning with Mr. Turkel. I know that you are the vice-chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. You are here as a representative of Hudson Institute.

I'm sure you're aware of our subcommittee. We did an extensive report on the situation of the Uighur people. First of all, have you gone through that report? Second, if you have, do you support the findings of our committee when we did that study?

[Nury Turkel]

I have reviewed the report and I support the initiative, particularly the 10,000 Uighur refugees resettlement aspect of the proposal. We have a similar bill, an initiative that has been introduced in the United States Congress. This is something that both the U.S. Congress and the Canadian Parliament could do in the meantime.

Humanitarian assistance is one of the less complicated issues, I would say. It does not involve a diplomatic struggle with respect to China. This is something that is urgently needed, specifically in the countries in the Middle East, namely in Turkey.

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

You highlighted Turkey. I hear that is a space where many Uighurs are currently living in third countries.

I want to shift gears for a moment. You touched briefly upon India. Can you elaborate a bit more on that? You didn't really speak much to it.

We have about five minutes left in my questions. It's not all for you, but I'd like to hear about this particular point.

[Nury Turkel]

Sure. That's an important country on which to focus. As the geopolitical concerns with respect to the Indo-Pacific have been heightened, governments, including my own, are losing sight of human rights violations and religious persecution in India against the Muslim population. It is inconceivable that a country with a large Muslim population, which not too long ago had a Muslim president, is now going after this vulnerable group. India is a large democracy.

I would say that the United States and our allies and partners should have a healthy relationship when these kinds of important, principle issues are highlighted in our bilateral, multilateral engagement with India, just as we have done it throughout the east with other regimes.

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

Thank you.

I would like to go now to Mr. England. I looked you up and I saw that in 2016, you were the regional director of ICRC for Bhutan, India, Nepal and Maldives, and you used to live in New Delhi.

I am curious. I'm sure, as somebody who has lived in South Asia, you have also kept an eye on the situation of minorities in South Asia. Would you like to pick up on Mr. Turkel's comments and maybe zoom out? Do whatever you feel is appropriate, but I'm particularly interested in your thoughts around the situation of minorities in India and South Asia.

[Jeremy England]

I have to admit I've been called to a number of other crises around the world in the four years since then, so I wouldn't pretend to be up to speed on the situation in India right now.

The situation for minorities is always of concern in every country, particularly more so in countries affected directly by conflict, so our focus is always going to be in those areas where the conflict is more extreme.

I'm afraid I'll have to decline on commenting on South Asia. I wouldn't want to be inaccurate.

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

That's not a problem.

I'll shift gears to Ms. Denise Byrnes. Would you like to speak to that? I have a question for you afterward on another matter.

[Denise Byrnes]

The situation in India is of great concern. There's quite a lot of anti-Muslim rhetoric from the government. It has incited a lot of communal violence against Muslims in their own communities.

We're also seeing from the Indian government actions to limit the actions of civil society organizations that are denouncing these things. In December they revoked the licences of 6,000 civil society organizations to receive funds outside the country. These are humanitarian organizations delivering aid on COVID to overrun hospitals and to very marginalized communities where people don't have any resources. Overnight they lost 75% of their capacity to act. Hundreds of thousands of people will not receive aid because of this.

There is definitely a link made between the ones who are cut out and how vocal they have been about the situation of human rights in India, in particular the minorities who are being affected.

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

I hear what you're saying.

You did touch on Yemen. Would you like to take the last minute here to speak more about that and about what we can do as Canadians to improve the situation over there?

[Denise Byrnes]

I think there are a couple of things. The first one is to ask questions of the government about where our arms, or parts for arms, are being sent to Saudi Arabia, how that's impacting the conflict and whether we are inadvertently a party to the conflict through that. I think that's really important. We've been talking about that for some time.

Yemen is not spoken about. Like the Red Cross, as a humanitarian organization we're there delivering humanitarian aid, trying to deliver it to all people and all parties, but we ourselves have had our warehouse bombarded. People who work for us, local Yemenis, have been affected directly, losing members of their family.

If there's some way to bring the conflict up in Parliament and keep it active...because others, like Ukraine, take over in the media. They are equally important, but Yemen just gets lost below. It's been going on for seven years. The civil population is in a dire humanitarian situation.

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

Yes—100%. What you're raising here goes into our testimony and raises the issue.

Thank you so much to all of the witnesses.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you.

Mr. Viersen, you have seven minutes.