Subcommittee on International Human Rights Committee on Nov. 26th, 2024

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

Good afternoon, everyone. I call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number 60 of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format. All witnesses have completed the required connection tests in advance of the meeting.

I'd like to remind participants of the following points. Participants must wait until I recognize them by name before speaking. All comments should be addressed through the chair. I would like to ask committee members to raise their hand if they wish to speak, whether they're in the room or participating through Zoom. The subcommittee clerk and I will do our best to maintain the speaking order.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the subcommittee on September 24, 2024, the committee is beginning its study of transnational repression in developing democracies.

I'd like to issue a friendly reminder to my esteemed colleagues and the witnesses that, as the title of our study states, it focuses specifically on international issues, not national ones.

I'd like to welcome the witnesses.

We have with us Uma Ruthiramoorthy, a legal volunteer with Tamil Rights Group, who is taking part in the meeting in person.

We also have Frances Hui, a policy and advocacy coordinator with The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation.

You will each have a maximum of five minutes for your opening remarks. Then we'll open the floor to questions.

Welcome, Ms. Ruthiramoorthy. I invite you to make your opening remarks of up to five minutes.

The floor is yours.

[Uma Ruthiramoorthy, Legal Volunteer, Tamil Rights Group]

Thank you for this opportunity to discuss the ongoing issues affecting Eelam Tamils in Sri Lanka and abroad.

Eelam Tamils have—

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

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

The witness's microphone needs to be turned on, and we should let her repeat her remarks because the interpretation couldn't be done.

I think it's working now.

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

That's fine.

You may continue, Ms. Ruthiramoorthy.

[Uma Ruthiramoorthy]

Eelam Tamils have a long history of being subjected to disenfranchisement and human rights violations. When the war ended in 2009, the Sri Lankan government seized the opportunity to oppress Eelam Tamils further by detaining displaced persons in detention camps. Many of them were subjected to rape, torture, and inhumane and brutal treatment. The death toll and the blatant genocidal acts of the Sri Lankan government against Eelam Tamils over the 26 years of war and at the camps is clearly demonstrated in the discovery of roughly 32 mass graves.

Tensions still exist in the country, with a heavy military presence in the Tamil northern and eastern areas of Sri Lanka. In 2022, it was recorded that there was a ratio of one soldier to every four civilians, enabling de facto authority in the north.

Intimidation tactics by the Sri Lankan government serve to silence civilians in Sri Lanka and abroad from speaking up against any mistreatment. However, recent disturbing reports are emerging, with incidents of arbitrary detainments, religious persecution, land grabbings, police brutality, torture and murder.

Recently, shocking reports emerged of a mother and her baby being assaulted by the Sri Lankan police. Earlier this year, eight individuals and a priest were arbitrarily detained and assaulted for simply worshipping and celebrating a religious festival at the Vedukkunaari Hindu temple. In 2023, a student named Alex Nagarasa had been arbitrarily detained and tortured at a local police station. Like many youth of today, Alex took to social media to reveal his torture. He was subsequently brutally murdered.

Earlier this year, mothers of victims of enforced disappearances were arrested and arbitrarily detained for merely continuing in their protest. There have been numerous accounts recorded by the UN of intimidation, harassment and surveillance towards victims and victims' families, who live in constant fear of repercussions.

There is a complete lack of support for victims, especially for families of enforced disappearances. Rudimentary mechanisms have been put in place, such as the OMP, which lacks the resources, capacity and powers to investigate. At the heart of this issue is the lack of independence and the impunity for perpetrators. War criminals have not only received impunity; many have been promoted to high-ranking or prominent positions in government, which has subsequently heavily influenced the judiciary.

The Sri Lankan government has not resolved the issue of its draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act and the anti-terror bill, which the UN has recognized as being in direct violation of several UN human rights conventions. The enactment of additional draconian laws, such as the Bureau of Rehabilitation Act, the NGO registration and supervision act, and the Online Safety Act, further enables the arbitrary detainment of individuals and the persistent monitoring by the Sri Lankan government over civil society groups. Such draconian laws serve as legislative tools to quash dissent and diminish fundamental freedoms for Eelam Tamils in Sri Lanka and abroad.

The Sri Lankan government has attempted to silence diaspora globally. Victims of the Sri Lankan government’s atrocities who come forward to share their testimonies are often subjected to retaliation, with family members back home put under surveillance, threatened and intimidated.

Civil society groups significantly operate with a sense of fear, as the Sri Lankan government regularly publishes gazettes that include the names of foreign nationals known to oppose the regime, labelling them as terrorists. Many diaspora Tamils have experienced issues travelling to other countries and being denied entry, or have been mistreated upon entry to Sri Lanka, with arbitrary detainment, police brutality, torture and other inhumane practices as a means of global intimidation.

We would like to present four key recommendations.

First, Canada should actively support the work of the UNHRC Sri Lanka accountability project and advocate to broaden its mandate.

Second, Canada should broaden its sanctions to include more individuals linked to the Sri Lankan government.

Third, many civil society groups, including the Tamil Rights Group, have called on the Canadian government to pursue legal action at the ICJ.

Finally, the Tamil Rights Group has formally requested Canada to support its article 15 submission to the ICC.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

Thank you. That was good timing.

I would like to invite Ms. Hui to take the floor for five minutes.

[Frances Hui, Policy and Advocacy Coordinator, The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation]

Good afternoon, Chair El-Khoury, Vice-Chair Lake, Vice-Chair Brunelle-Duceppe and distinguished members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today.

My name is Frances Hui, and I am from the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, which campaigns for the freedom of political prisoners in Hong Kong. I was born and raised in Hong Kong, and I have been advocating for its democratic development since I was 14 years old.

In 2020, after China imposed its national security law in Hong Kong, I sought asylum in the United States due to the risk of arrest for my international advocacy. Now based in Washington, D.C., I continue to speak out on the Chinese government's abuse in Hong Kong and beyond.

Last year, the Hong Kong authorities issued an arrest warrant and placed a bounty of a million Hong Kong dollars on my head under the national security law. This illustrates how the Chinese Communist Party deploys transnational repression to silence dissent, targeting not only activists like me but also Uyghurs, Tibetans, Taiwanese and Chinese dissidents globally.

Freedom House identifies the CCP's campaign of transnational repression as the world's most comprehensive. Its methods include spyware, intimidation, disinformation, surveillance and threats against dissidents' family members back home. It's all designed to suppress dissent far beyond its borders.

A key player in this strategy is the CCP's United Front Work Department, which controls and mobilizes organizations and individuals on the party's behalf. The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices, the HKETOs, located in Toronto and around the world, are operating with quasi-diplomatic status to promote Beijing's narrative, influence foreign policies and monitor dissidents abroad.

In 2019 and 2020, a U.S. citizen in Boston was tasked by Beijing to spy on my activities. He had attended my events, taken photos and videos, and shared them directly with PRC officials. This man was not just spying on me. Between 2018 and 2022, he provided intelligence about members and leaders of Chinese family associations and community organizations and anti-CCP dissidents to the PRC officials, including those at the United Front.

In one instance, he mobilized hundreds of pro-Beijing individuals to counterprotest our march in August 2019. Some of the people vandalized our belongings and physically intimidated us. These people had openly discussed bringing weapons to attack the participants and even firearms to “shoot her in the face”. After the rally, I was followed home and I had to call the police twice for assistance.

The repression didn't stop here. After Hong Kong issued a bounty for my arrest last year, the harassment intensified. A week later, my parents in Hong Kong were brought in for police questioning. I regularly receive phone calls from Chinese-speaking men who know my name. These tactics aim to isolate and intimidate with profound psychological, social and political impacts.

I think today's hearing is so critical because Canada, with its large diaspora communities, is particularly vulnerable to transnational repression and foreign interference. It is crucial to take timely and decisive action to address this issue and protect both your citizens and national security. I urge Canada to make full use of its sanction authorities to hold bad actors accountable. It should also consider revoking the HKETO's diplomatic immunities and privileges as it has now become an outpost for the Chinese government to surveil and propagandize its own agenda on Canadian soil.

I will lay out other policy recommendations later on in the questions section.

As I testify today, 45 pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong—some of them close friends of mine—have recently been sentenced to four to 10 years in prison for organizing a democratic primary election. This is the grim reality of life under authoritarian rule, but the repression goes beyond, as you have heard. My story is just one example of how Beijing's transnational authoritarianism, driven by tools like the United Front and the HKETOs, threatens freedom and democracy worldwide.

Lastly, I would like to applaud this Parliament for passing the Countering Foreign Interference Act in June this year. I think it was a great step forward, and I hope the government will continue to take meaningful and leading steps to protect individuals and your sovereignty from transnational repression.

I appreciate the committee's efforts in addressing this issue. I look forward to your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

Thank you. That's excellent timing.

I would like to thank both witnesses.

Now I would like to open the floor for questions and answers.

I'll invite Mr. Ehsassi to take the floor for seven minutes.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I'm very grateful to the two witnesses, who have taken the time to appear before us today.

I will start off with Ms. Hui. It's good to see you. You have been indefatigable for so long. It's incredible to see how engaged and active you have been as a human rights activist.

Given that the topic of this study is transnational repression, you did talk about some chilling incidents where an individual in Boston was harassing you. This is truly unacceptable. I was wondering if that made it into the media and, if it did, if it's possible for you to send more information our way on how the media covered these incidents.

[Frances Hui]

Yes, definitely. In fact, the U.S. Department of Justice last year indicted this Massachusetts man. The indictment is up online, and the trial continues to happen. I believe he's been bailed out right now with some conditions. I can definitely follow up with you with the information.

As it was happening in 2019, obviously there was a lot of media coverage on the protests that I was mentioning. The rally was organized in Boston in support of the protest that was happening in Hong Kong.

What made it so profoundly terrifying is that, before we organized this rally in August, it was all very peaceful. People were well received and very welcoming, knowing more about this issue. We started off in June. That's when the movement happened in Hong Kong. From that period of time, from June to August, we had never seen such coordinated and large opposition or any sort of attention from the Chinese community at all.

Then in August, when that march happened, it got so much attention. Boston was not the only place facing this kind of backlash. There were protest rallies on the same day in Australia. I believe some of them were in Canada, in Vancouver and Toronto. All of the people who attended those rallies witnessed violent attempts from the other side.

I think this draws lines for us to see the global scope of transnational repression by the CCP. The United Front Work Department is essentially an international network. They work with local organizers and people on the ground in different countries to coordinate these campaigns of intimidation and threats against the pro-democracy activists on the ground.

I thought this was information that I wanted like to share with the committee. I think it demonstrates how large the influence of CCP is in our society. It brings us to see that this issue needs to be tackled not just domestically in Canada. Canada should also work with and collaborate with other countries multilaterally to tackle it.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Absolutely.

Perhaps I will touch on something else you shared with us.

You did say that you approached the police to report this. Were the police helpful? Did they provide you with any additional information as to whether they had received complaints from others regarding this very same individual and what the scope of his activities were?

[Frances Hui]

When I found out I was followed by the man, I called the police, and they intervened and basically told him to step away. I continued to go on to return to my home. Then I saw the same person come back to me and continue to follow me, so I called the police again. They intervened and asked him to go.

When I talked to the officer, he said that, because it is not a repetitive pattern, they couldn't arrest this person. They couldn't do anything about it. From that, I think I see a problem with a lack of training with our police, the local police, and law enforcement about transnational repression.

The situation is that, a lot of times, these things don't happen. They're not conducted by only one person; they're conducted by multiple people who are under the network of the United Front. It's really hard to track, if we're only targeting one person and say they only started this as the time that we take action.

We know that, afterwards I was contacted by the investigative agencies about this, and I learned that, after COVID, that person who was following me went back to China and he never came back. Even though the U.S., certain agencies, were able to identify him as spying on me under the order of the United Front or the Chinese government, they were not able to enforce any law and they were not able to take any action, because that person had already left the country. They're never going to come back, because China is just going to swap another person in now that they know this person has gotten attention.

It was a terrifying experience and, again, it has instilled a lot of anxiety in my life since then. I think that it shows lack of action and lack of training among agencies on this issue of transnational repression.

Right now, in the past few years, we have improved a little more with more training, but I think a lot more needs to be done. The definition of transnational repression needs to be written in the law, and these acts should be criminalized.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

I'm looking very much forward to the follow-up information you're going to be sending us. I'm very grateful.

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

Thank you, sir.

I would like to invite Mr. Majumdar to take the floor for seven minutes, please.

[Shuv Majumdar, Conservative, Calgary Heritage, AB]

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, witnesses, for your testimony today.

I will start with you, Frances. Your testimony was gripping, particularly in the context of the experience you had with the Communist Party at your doorstep.

Let me ask you, if you don't mind my putting you on the spot a little bit, to take a stab at defining what transnational repression is, not just having experienced it but, obviously, having had a chance to engage with others who have had to deal with similar strains.

If you were going to try to put your arms around it and give it a definition, what would that be?

[Frances Hui]

Transnational repression is a very sophisticated method of interference. It's hard to say it in one sentence, but I will try.

It's an effort to silence exiles and diaspora abroad, to silence their voices in a way that break downs communities, to instill distrust and break up the communities that are going to eventually become a momentum of some dissent and movement. They will use a spectrum of tactics from assassination, intimidation and threats to taking hostage family members back home, all as a way to silence dissent. That's what I would say.

I think it's important that we remember that transnational repression has grown to a much larger scale globally because, with the emergence of technology, spyware and AI, it makes the cost so low for foreign governments, for the authoritarian states, to continue with these types of acts of repression. From harassment and disinformation campaigns on social media to threatening phone calls on Google and Zoom, it has became so much easier for authoritarian states to conduct.

[Shuv Majumdar, Conservative, Calgary Heritage, AB]

That's excellent, and I think you did a fantastic job for just being put on the spot with that.

Let me then ask you a little bit more about the tools that you see regimes deploy. You had the high-cost tools of the United Front Work Department, which obviously moves people and personnel around the world to impose that repression on nationals that they claim are of Chinese origin. You also touched a little bit on digital tools. I'm sure there are some commercial coercive tools at play as well.

You mentioned in your opening statement that you'd have some policy recommendations on how to deal with those tools, those modern tools of repression. Would you take a minute to unpack that a little bit, please?

[Frances Hui]

I would take the priority to mention the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office. I mentioned earlier that they're located all around the world. There's one in Canada, in Toronto. There are three in the U.S., and they're overseas representative offices of the Hong Kong government.

In the lead-up to the British transfer of Hong Kong to China in 1997, the Canadian government granted the HKETO special privileges and immunities that are exactly the same for consular posts. This was in recognition of Hong Kong's autonomy from China. I think right now there are a few problems we see. They have evolved to serve another purpose: to create and promote propaganda for Hong Kong and China and to track Hong Kong dissidents abroad. There are a lot of examples that back what I have just said about the tracking, the surveillance and the influence on public policies. I'm not going to go into it, but I'm happy to provide that information after the hearing.

I think we have to now acknowledge that Hong Kong's previously known autonomy is gone. We should start thinking of asking this question: Why are we giving China two separate diplomatic representations in Canada, the U.S., the U.K., etc.?

There are some legislative actions behind this idea in the U.S. and in Canada. There is a recent petition presented by MP Jenny Kwan that also includes an ask to revoke the special immunities and privilege of the HKETO. I hope that members of Parliament would would take that as one of the ways to tackle this issue: to shut the HKETO down and to take its diplomatic status away. That would be the one spotlight that I would highlight.

[Shuv Majumdar, Conservative, Calgary Heritage, AB]

Thank you. We'll look forward to your tabling those documents and your recommendations, as you've proposed, so we have a chance to go into it deeply.

If you don't mind, in my last minute with you, Uma.... The new government in Sri Lanka has some interesting characters around the table. To what degree do you believe that they would deploy tools of transnational oppression to Tamil Eelam populations around the world?

[Uma Ruthiramoorthy]

What I think will happen is that they'll just continue business as normal. At this moment in time, we still have the Sri Lankan gazettes, where people are specifically listed. There's always a potential, even for me, to be listed on that list in the future. However, you know, we're seeing things in Canada already with the Brampton memorial and things just generally happening with the genocide recognition here in Canada, so things will continue on.

Yes, I know that people are thinking it's kind of hopeful that there's a new government, that there's going to be change. We always have to remember that this party is an old party that's been around a while. It's a Sinhalese-Buddhist nationalist party that has always been anti-reconciliation and has in the past, especially in the 1990s, sought out to tarnish any peace talks.

I think they're just going to continue on as normal and are not going to stop. We're already seeing it here in Canada. There are gazette lists. Even individuals going over there doing humanitarian work are being subjected to inhumane treatment. As you can see, like I mentioned in my statement, there's new legislation that's come about with the new NGOs act over there and the Bureau of Rehabilitation Act. All that means is that anyone who speaks out anywhere in Sri Lanka or outside is subjected to detainment by the army. It has given this de facto authority to the army to arrest anyone if they speak out against the government.

I really don't believe there will be any change. There's been a long history with the JVP party of diminishing any dissent, and I don't believe anything different is going to happen. They're just going to continue business as normal in order to repress any dissent locally or globally.

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

Thank you.

I'd like to give Mr. Brunelle‑Duceppe the floor for seven minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to thank the witnesses for being with us today for this extremely important study.

Ms. Hui, I think your opening remarks and your answers to my colleagues' questions showed that transnational repression has different faces. Indeed, several paths can be used to achieve the same objective, in other words, to subject the diaspora, particularly the Hong Kong diaspora, to threats, fear and intimidation, as far as you're concerned.

It's a coincidence, but last night a Radio-Canada report focused on the Chinese triads that are established in Canada, mostly in Vancouver, as well as in Australia and the United Kingdom, among others. The documentary reported that the Chinese Communist Party, particularly through the United Front Work Department, which you mentioned, was working with people in organized crime, namely, the notorious triads, to generate transnational repression.

Are you aware of this path that may be used by the Chinese Communist Party? If so, can you explain it to the subcommittee?

[Frances Hui]

I do not have a lot of information about this. A lot of times, the groups that the United Front Work Department works with are community-based organizations. They could disguise themselves as a restaurant, a community organization, a family association, a school association or a student association; they are so infiltrated. They will implant their people into each organization as a way to surveil the activities happening within those groups and to influence their thoughts and control what they are doing.

I will speak about the case of the person who was indicted by the DOJ in the U.S. He was the founder of an overseas Chinese association in Boston. Apparently, he used the organization to participate in events that were organized by the United Front. He was a kind of leader of the Chinese community in Boston. He obviously had networks with other Chinese associations in Boston and New York. That is how he was able to pull together the counterprotest in August 2019.

Their strategy is quite similar to what you described. They will use these local groups that look very innocent to carry out their acts of repression. Often these things are a higher risk than we thought, because of lot of people migrate to the U.S. from China, but they continue to live under the surveillance of China. It's hard to tell whether they are targeted until they go back to China, where they are intimidated by state officials with arrests or threats.

This could also happen in Canada. When ordinary Canadians find something absurd and they want to share it on social media, the censors of the Chinese government are going to detect all the content online. We wouldn't know whether we are targeted. For an ordinary Canadian citizen who has criticized the government, if they ever travel to China, they would perhaps receive that level of intimidation as well.

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

Thank you for that very thorough answer. It will certainly help our analysts.

There may be another way to engage in transnational repression. You mentioned Jenny Kwan, who is the member for Vancouver East. I have the good fortune to work with her on the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. As part of a study conducted by this committee on pension funds, we discussed the case of Hong Kongers who decided to leave Hong Kong for good, mainly out of fear of the regime, and ended up in the U.K. and Canada, among other places, but who were unfortunately unable to access their pension funds. Because the Hong Kong government has changed the parameters, insurance companies like Sun Life or Manulife, for example, can't adapt to the new parameters and allow these people to access their own retirement funds. It's their money. Meanwhile, Canada and the U.K. can't adjust their criteria to allow these people to access their pension funds.

Don't you see a form of transnational repression in using insurance companies that have head offices in Europe and North America? It's unintentional on their part, but these insurance companies are being used for transnational repression, because it's the Hong Kong government that's preventing people from accessing their pension funds.

Doesn't this illustrate the fact that insurance companies are unfortunately being used for transnational repression?

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

We need a quick answer, please, because there are only 25 seconds remaining.