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

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

I call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number four of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights. As members are well aware, we'll be hearing from several human rights organizations tonight and from humanitarian organizations as well.

Just as a quick reminder for those present here tonight, please do follow the recommendations from public health authorities as well as the directive of the Board of Internal Economy on October 19, 2021.

Also, all participants should know that translation is available through the globe icon at the bottom of their screen. When there are 30 seconds left in your speaking time, I will provide a gentle reminder.

I'd like to welcome our first panellists. This session will go to 7:20.

We're very honoured and privileged to have with us today Ms. Ketty Nivyabandi, the Secretary General of Amnesty International, and Madame France-Isabelle Langlois, the executive director

from Amnistie internationale Canada francophone.

We also have with us Mr. Hillel Neuer, the executive director of UN Watch.

I have a particular thank you for Mr. Neuer, as I know there is a significant time gap between Ottawa and Geneva.

Each of our witnesses has five minutes. We will start with Ms. Nivyabandi.

Thank you, Ms. Nivyabandi.

[Ketty Nivyabandi, Secretary General, Amnesty International Canada]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good evening, members of the committee. I'd like to start by thanking you for inviting Amnesty International to speak to the state of human rights globally. We're certainly meeting at a grim time.

There are several grave and urgent situations that merit your attention in China, Sudan, Afghanistan, Yemen and West Cameroon, among others. I would be happy to brief you further on these in the future, but today, as requested, I will focus my intervention on a few crises that are not widely covered in the Canadian media.

I'd like to start with one exception, which is the ongoing Russian invasion in Ukraine. To bring the committee up to speed with our latest information, Amnesty International has verified irrefutable evidence of Russia's violation of international humanitarian law by using ballistic missiles and other explosive weapons in densely populated areas. These are very inaccurate explosive weapons that regularly miss their targets by half a kilometre or more, and cause civilian deaths and severe injuries. Their use in populated areas is absolutely inexcusable.

We've also documented other incidents in the first hours of the Russian invasion on February 24, including four schools and one hospital. One rocket dropped cluster munitions on a nursery and kindergarten in Sumy Oblast, where civilians were sheltering from the fighting. They killed several civilians, including Alisa Hlans, a seven-year-old little girl, and wounded another child. This strike may constitute a war crime and should be investigated as such. These heinous crimes, as well as Russia's crackdown on anti-war protesters and domestic media, need to be thoroughly investigated.

Now to key countries and themes, I'll start with Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. After four years of extensive research and analysis, Amnesty International released a report earlier this month that documents how Israel enforces a system of oppression and domination against the Palestinian people wherever it has control over their rights. This includes inside Israel and in the occupied Palestinian territories, as well as displaced refugees in other countries.

Our 274 pages of research and analysis detail how Israel's appalling treatment of Palestinians meets the definition of apartheid, which is a crime against humanity under international law as defined in the Rome Statute and apartheid convention. Decades of deliberate, unequal treatment have left Palestinians marginalized, impoverished and in a state of constant fear and insecurity. As we speak, Palestinians are being forced out of their homes, separated from their families, and confined to checkpoints and walls.

This report joins a large body of reporting from Palestinian, Israeli and international organizations that have arrived at the same legal conclusion. It is an important wake-up call. The scale and the seriousness of the violations documented make it clear that the international community and Canada need to urgently change their approach. It is increasingly unsustainable for Canada to avoid grappling with these concurring conclusions. Apartheid is a crime against humanity, and Canada has an obligation to act under international law.

The other situation I'd like to highlight is Ethiopia and the conflict in Tigray that broke out in 2020 and has since spread to other regions of Ethiopia. We reported on the TPLF, the Tigray People's Liberation Front, attack on Nifas Mewcha in the Amhara region in mid-August 2021. Survivors described being raped at gunpoint, robbed and subjected to physical and verbal assaults by TPLF fighters, who also destroyed and looted medical facilities. Of the 16 women Amnesty International interviewed, 14 said they were gang raped. The scale and the brutality of the sexual violence faced by women and girls is staggering, and the acts they described as being committed by those TPLF fighters and by all parties in the conflict amount to war crimes and, potentially, crimes against humanity.

I'd also like to quickly bring your attention to Guatemala. Over the past years, remarkable efforts were made to bring those responsible for crimes against humanity and genocide to justice. These are now being undone systematically by the Guatemalan government effort to weaken the rule of law and persecute anti-corruption officials, in particular. We're also seeing legislation to restrict civic space, and we invite the committee to carefully monitor this space.

Still in the Americas region, we are equally concerned about the deteriorating human rights crisis in Nicaragua, and alarming rates of femicide and gender-based violence across the Americas, which have only increased during the pandemic.

Lastly, I'd like to raise the safety of human rights defenders at risk. We continue to press Canada to create the means for defenders under threat to be able to get out quickly when they need to.

Thank you for your time and attention. I hope I haven't gone over my five minutes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you, Ms. Nivyabandi. Your timing was perfect, to the second.

Now we will turn to Madame Langlois, please.

[France-Isabelle Langlois, Executive Director, Amnistie internationale Canada francophone]

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.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you, Ms. Langlois.

Now we will turn to Mr. Neuer from UN Watch.

You have five minutes, sir.

[Hillel Neuer, Executive Director, UN Watch]

Thank you. It's an honour and a pleasure to be testifying before the committee.

I'd like to share with you some of my thoughts from the United Nations Human Rights Council, where I'm speaking to you from in Geneva. The 2022 session has just opened.

Sadly, with the founding resolution of the council, 60/251, which was adopted in 2006 when the council was created as a body to form the Human Rights Commission, although members were supposed to be those upholding the highest standards, we see the very opposite. We see that dictatorships are increasing in their audacity in human rights abuses and in their audacity to join the Human Rights Council. The current membership of the council is the worst that it's ever been, as 68.1% of the council fail to meet minimal democracy standards.

I'd like to put a spotlight on some of those countries that are abusing their positions at the UN.

We have China as a member of the council, which has herded one million Muslims into camps.

We have Cuba as a member of the council. It has been a communist tyranny now for more than six decades and has been committing widespread human rights abuses in the past year, arresting hundreds of democratic peaceful protesters, putting them in prison and now on trial.

We have Eritrea as a member of the Human Rights Council, which has a system of slave labour.

We have Libya as a member of the Human Rights Council, which tortures African migrants and puts them up for sale in slave markets.

We have Mauritania as a member of the Human Rights Council, which is considered by The Guardian and CNN as the last bastion of slavery in the world.

We have Pakistan as a member of the Human Rights Council, which systematically persecutes minorities, religious minorities in particular, and hosts terrorist groups.

We have Russia, of course. It's already been addressed, but there are terrible atrocities taking place now in its invasion and assault on Ukraine. Let's not forget at home that Russia is a country that poisons dissidents, people like Vladimir Kara-Murza and Alexei Navalny.

We have Somalia as a member of the Human Rights Council, which has one of the worst situations of female genital mutilation.

As a member of the Human Rights Council, we have Venezuela, where five million have fled due to oppression and the collapse of the state due to failed policies.

We have other countries sitting on human rights bodies, such as Iran. In a few weeks, it will join the UN Commission on the Status of Women. It's a country that systematically subjugates women.

I'd like to put a brief spotlight on some situations that are of particular note by looking at political prisoners.

I'd like to put a spotlight on Felix Maradiaga, who is an opposition leader. He was recently convicted, on Wednesday, along with six other Nicaraguan political and business leaders, including three would-be presidential candidates. They were convicted of conspiring to damage the country's sovereignty, effectively a charge akin to treason. They'll be sentenced soon. They're among a group of almost 50 political student, peasant and business leaders, journalists, and human rights activists who were detained by Mr. Ortega's security forces last summer. He quashed potential opposition in preparation for the November election, which he won easily by detaining seven of his would-be candidates. I think we need to put a greater spotlight, certainly in Canada, on the case of people like Felix Maradiaga, and I hope that happens.

Moving over to Africa, we have Zimbabwe. I'd like to put a focus on one particular human rights defender, Hopewell Chin'ono, an award-winning journalist and filmmaker, who won CNN's African journalist of the year. In 2020, he published an exposé, alleging corruption in the administration of President Mnangagwa. His reporting forced the government to fire the health minister, but it also resulted in his arrest on baseless charges. He's been arrested for the third time in six months, in January 2021, on charges of “communicating falsehoods”, which aim to silence him.

In Cuba, as I mentioned, we have systematic oppression. I'd like to put a focus on Hamlet Lavastida, a Cuban visual artist, political activist, who is the founder of Cuba's most prominent artist-led campaign group, the San Isidro movement. He was imprisoned on June 26, 2021, arrested for ideas that he shared with members of the artist activist group to stamp Cuban currency with subversive anti-communist symbols. He spent three months incarcerated at Villa Marista, the high-security prison that is famous for holding political prisoners. He was released in September, but only on the condition that he would go into forced exile.

Finally, for political prisoners I would like to put a spotlight on Nahid Taghavi, a German-Iranian woman who was arrested and sentenced to prison in August. She was charged with participating in illegal propaganda activities against the regime. She is 66 years old. She was given a prison sentence of 10 years and eight months. She was arrested at her Tehran apartment in October 2020 and has been held at Tehran's Evin prison. She's known as a advocate for human rights in Iran, and in particular for women's rights and freedom of expression.

As I mentioned, all of these countries hold positions of power at the UN. Iran is joining the women's right commission. Cuba is on the Human Rights Council. Nicaragua sits on the committee and overseas human rights NGOs.

I will just conclude with mentioning that I disagree with Amnesty International completely in their comments about the situation in Israel. I've spent a lot of time there and there are problems there, but to accuse it of apartheid as they have is absurd. Israel has full equality for Arabs who can vote and are elected, and it has an Arab party in the government. As the French President Macron recently said, this accusation is absurd on its face.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you, Mr. Neuer.

Thank you to all three of our witnesses.

Now we will turn the floor to questions. Each member will have seven minutes.

We begin with Ms. Vandenbeld.

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Thank you very much.

I would like to thank all of the witnesses for being here this evening. I understand that it is a very broad topic. I also know that we can't begin a meeting today of the human rights subcommittee without acknowledging the tremendous human rights abuses that are happening in Ukraine right now. I know there's a debate going on in the Chamber at the moment, but I think all of us here are very united in standing with Ukraine.

I do want to ask some specific questions. I noted that all three of you have talked about particular geographic areas. Over the last decade or two there have been significant advances in gender equality in SRHR and in alleviating sexual violence against women and girls around the world. There are still obviously horrible conditions in certain places.

My question to you is about the current backsliding of democracy and human rights with the rise in authoritarianism that we're seeing around the world.

I would like Ms. Nivyabandi to start, mostly because she's a constituent of mine. I would like each of the witnesses to then step in.

Ms. Nivyabandi, you mentioned Tigray and the sexual violence that's happening against women and girls there. Could you perhaps comment on whether this is something that is increasing globally? Are there areas in particular where this is a particular problem? What is the state currently of sexual and reproductive rights of women and girls?

[Ketty Nivyabandi]

Thank you for that important question, Ms. Vandenbeld.

The short answer to your question is, yes, women's rights have been backsliding. What we notice is that wherever human rights in general are backsliding, then inevitably women's rights also backslide, particularly in the context of armed conflict. We know that sexual and gender-based violence are a weapon of war, and wherever there are armed conflicts, we can assume there's a high likelihood that women's rights are being violated, particularly through sexual violence. With the increase in armed conflict that we're seeing globally, we are definitely noticing an increasing trend of violence towards women.

I would add that as authoritarianism advances, you have more challenges placed around democracy. At the same time, civil society organizations that advance women's rights also tend to be the most affected. I think all panellists have spoken about the risks that civil society faces in various countries; the large majority of names that you heard were male. What happens is that when those figures who normally enjoy a certain privilege because of their gender status are targeted, we can assume that women civil society leaders who are advancing this work are at even greater risk. We see that particularly in the African continent and I would say in the Americas where we have staggering numbers of femicides that are increasing across the region. We're seeing a large number of women human rights defenders who are advancing sexual and reproductive rights being on the run, and likewise for LGBTQIA+ defenders. The numbers that we keep seeing are really staggering, particularly in the Americas, especially in Mexico, where we have a really high rate of femicide.

I would say, yes, this is a trend. I think it's important that we constantly connect the two and understand that as rights are getting assaulted, then women's rights are definitely seeing a decrease as well. I would just add that we see the rise of a lot of far right movements as well as having direct repercussions on women's rights globally.

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Thank you.

Ms. Langlois, do you want to add a comment?

[France-Isabelle Langlois]

No, my colleague answered the question well. I will let you ask other questions.

Thank you.

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Mr. Neuer, did you want to add anything? No.

Okay, I do have another question, and actually, Ms. Nivyabandi, you touched on it a little bit in mentioning the rise of far right extremist movements and their impact on gender and human rights.

My question is on the rapid expansion and spread of disinformation within different countries around the world. Could you comment on that and the impact it is having on human rights globally?

Who would like to begin?

[Ketty Nivyabandi]

Sure, I can start.

I think that's a very valid point, and I would add disinformation to that in the digital age. A lot of the fight for women's rights and feminist principles is actually being done by feminist leaders and women's rights leaders in society while operating increasingly in the digital space, because that is a freer space for them to be able to advance their rights. They are faced with extreme harassment, threats, disinformation, attacks on their person and their families and reputation. We see all sorts of lies being fabricated about these women, which then follow them in their day-to-day lives. Lots of the women's rights leaders and women's human rights defenders we've worked with and who are either on the run or fleeing have been targeted online. We're seeing this growing trend. We're even seeing it here in Canada, with some indigenous women, and indigenous land defenders as well, who are under what I would call a “digital mob” and who are placed at very high risk.

I wanted to put that digital context for you as well.

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Yes, thank you. That was what I was referring to.

I don't know if I have any more time, Mr. Chair. No? Okay. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you, Ms. Vandenbeld.

Now we turn to Mr. Viersen.

You have seven minutes.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

I'll share my time with Mr. Cooper.

Mr. Cooper.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'm going to direct my questions to Mr. Neuer.

Mr. Neuer, like you, I take issue with the suggestion that Israel is the number one human rights issue in the world. It is a thriving democracy with an independent judiciary, and it has a strong track record overall when it comes to human rights.

Now I want to address a specific issue, namely the recent nomination of the special rapporteur on Palestine, which occurred last Thursday. The person nominated was Francesca Albanese. Do you have concerns with this nomination?

[Hillel Neuer]

Thank you for that timely question, because the appointment is to happen in a few weeks.

Indeed, I do have concerns about the nomination of Francesca Albanese for this position as special rapporteur on Palestine. Those concerns would have been expressed by Stéphane Dion, Canada's foreign minister several years ago. When the current mandate holder, Michael Lynk, was nominated six years ago, Canada's foreign minister at the time, Stéphane Dion, said that the nomination violated the council's principles of objectivity and impartiality, because the candidate Michael Lynk had a lengthy record of making prejudicial statements and engaging in campaigning to target Israel, was not objective or impartial, and was motivated by political considerations. In this case, the candidate once again is the product of a politicized process. Francesca Albanese is a lifelong campaigner against Israel. She has accused Israel of being a racist state, a colonial state, and her husband is someone who has worked for the Palestinian government. These are conflicts of interest that she has not disclosed. In addition, she is a lifelong anti-Israel lobbyist. She does not hide that.

The Canadian ambassador here several years ago, Ambassador Golberg, when she was sitting in the consultative group, tried to select someone named Christina Cerna, who had no record of politicization and bias. That was rejected by the council, and the Arab and Islamic countries said they specifically wanted someone who was “an expert”. What they meant was that they wanted someone who was completely anti-Israel. That is contrary to the founding resolutions of the council, which require that someone be impartial and objective. There's no question that a brief review of the application of Francesca Albanese will show that she has been a lifelong campaigner for the Palestinian cause. She supports “resistance” and she's not shy about that including violence against Israel.

She is completely inappropriate, and I do hope the Canadian government, as they did six years ago when Michael Lynk was nominated wrongly and they called for a review, do the same thing prior to the appointment, which will take place in about four weeks' time. I hope the Canadian government expresses their support for the founding principles of the council, which require impartiality and not the opposite, politicization.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Thank you for that.

Among other things, she has attended an event of an organization linked to Hamas. You note that the rules of the council, as defined by resolutions 5/1 and 16/21, state that impartiality and objectivity are to be of paramount importance. I think it would be fair to say she doesn't come close to meeting those requirements.

[Hillel Neuer]

That is absolutely the case. There was a law professor from McGill who had written on this phenomenon, where certain individuals were chosen, not despite their prejudicial statements and their bias but precisely because of it. He was referring to someone who was appointed at the time of the Goldstone report, but sadly this is becoming systematic.

At the Human Rights Council, the most significant mechanism to target Israel is the commission of inquiry that was created in May, which was put forward by Pakistan and the Palestinian delegation. The person who was appointed was Navi Pillay, who is a former UN rights chief but also someone who in the past two years has actively lobbied governments to “sanction Israeli apartheid”.

She signed this statement in 2020 to lobby governments. She signed another manifesto in June 2021 that condemned Israel for committing crimes during the last war. She, absurdly, has been appointed to head an inquiry into whether Israel is racist and whether it committed crimes, when she's already lobbied governments on precisely that point.

I used to be an attorney, and if you go before a judge and ask that judge to recuse himself or herself, you would immediately achieve that result. We submitted a 30-page recusal request. We hope that Navi Pillay will recuse herself. We also hope that all other civil society groups that are committed to the principles of impartiality, that oblige commissioners to have that impartiality, will speak out in this regard.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

We now have a nominee who fails to satisfy even the most minimal standards of impartiality.

Mr. Neuer, could you elaborate a bit on the mandate of the special rapporteur and the discriminatory nature of the mandate of the rapporteur, and any recommendations you have for Canada in light of that?

[Hillel Neuer]

The mandate was created in February 1993. It goes back nearly three decades, and it even predates the Oslo accords, when the Palestinian authority entered Ramallah, Nablus, Hebron—cities that they controlled—as well as Jenin and Bethlehem, and Hamas-ruled Gaza. The mandate predates that.

It's the only mandate that looks at one side. The other special rapporteurs, whether it's on Sudan or others, will look at all sides, and will look at the human rights situation in a region. This one, as the current mandate holder has acknowledged, only looks at one side. It states:

The mandate calls on the Special Rapporteur: (a) To investigate Israel's violations of the principles and bases of international law....

It does not look at abuses by the Palestinian Authority.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Mr. Neuer, your time is up. Please wrap it up.

[Hillel Neuer]

Terrorism by Islamic Jihad, the PA and Hamas are systematically ignored. They're presumed to be violations, and that is why Amnesty International in the past, and other groups, have said the bias is one-sided.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you.

We'll now go to Mr. Trudel.

Mr. Trudel, the floor is yours for seven minutes.