Subcommittee on International Human Rights Committee on June 15th, 2026

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

Have the multinational organizations that are on the ground helping this process through made a long-term commitment to this? We've seen instances in the past where countries have intervened, provided services and then left, and then chaos is recreated. Are there long-term commitments from multinational organizations to stick with the task?

[Geeta Narayan]

For the UN—and I can speak for UNICEF—we are there. We're not going anywhere. Our funding may decrease, so we may have to reduce activities, as I mentioned earlier, but UNICEF is there. We will be there as long as we are needed—as long as children need us. I think the rest of the UN feels the same way.

The UN mission, as you know, is renewed every year by a mandate of the UN Security Council. That's an annual confirmation or renewal of their mandate. It's one year at a time. Their mandate changes with each resolution of the Security Council. At the moment, their mandate focuses quite strongly, obviously, on elections and the political situation, as well as on community violence reduction, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration.

[Fred Davies, Conservative, Niagara South, ON]

Thank you for that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

Thank you, Mr. Davies.

Mr. Brunelle‑Duceppe, you have the floor for five minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Ms. Narayan, given this is your field of expertise, I'd like to know to what extent children are affected by gang recruitment in Haiti. That question comes up a lot. There are a lot of newspaper articles saying children are not only the first victims, but also the first ones being recruited. There's a bit of a paradox here.

Could you share your expertise on that?

[Geeta Narayan]

I don't see it as a paradox. I think both things are true.

Children make up 30% to 50% of the armed groups. That's up to half. They are joining the armed groups in different ways. They are kidnapped or abducted to join, in some cases. In other cases, they are threatened into joining. Their families may be threatened: “If you don't join, your family will be attacked and killed.” Sometimes the child joins because home life has become very violent.

Haitian families are breaking down, for a number of reasons. The family is not a safe place, so the child is on the street. The child runs away from the family and is on the street and becomes very vulnerable to recruitment.

In other cases, the child sees no other option. The gangs offer, through social media, a very attractive, very sexy life in the sense of, “Come join us. We have money. You will be in control. We'll give you a gun. You will have power.” Social media is a very persuasive recruitment tactic for children. They don't know any better. You're 10 years old. It looks good and you go, and then you realize what is happening.

There are multiple ways that children end up joining the armed groups.

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

I didn't use the right word when I said paradox.

It's like double victimization. That's more what I wanted to say.

[Geeta Narayan]

That's exactly it.

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

You've experienced this in various places in the history of UNICEF; you have experience with child soldiers. Some organized armed groups, and even some government forces in Africa, have used child soldiers.

Can UNICEF's experience, this expertise on enlisted child soldiers, have an impact on your approach when the time comes to deploying efforts in Haiti?

[Geeta Narayan]

Yes, absolutely.

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

How do you do that?

[Geeta Narayan]

Experts from our global headquarters and African countries supported us in Haiti. That's one thing.

That said, Haiti is a bit of a unique situation. As one of our colleagues said earlier, in Haiti, armed groups aren't ideologically motivated; they're economically motivated. This means we have to adapt our approaches for these children who are recruited by armed groups.

I'd also just like to clarify some terminology. UNICEF doesn't use the term “child soldier” anymore. Rather, it says “children recruited by armed groups”. The term “recruited” is much broader and includes children engaged in espionage and other tasks.

When we say “child soldier”, we're only talking about children with weapons.

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

Absolutely. Some of them work in the camps, for example.

[Geeta Narayan]

There you go. Girls are also being sexually exploited.

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

Okay.

[Geeta Narayan]

We use that term because, in Haiti, all children are stigmatized because of their association with armed groups. It's a much longer expression to use, but it's more specific.

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

It better reflects the reality of these children.

Do I have any time left, Mr. Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

You have a minute and a half.

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

This subcommittee has done a lot of studies on Haiti, but so has the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development. Let's talk about the elephant in the room. If we resolve the ammunition and weapons supply issue on the island, we solve almost 90% of the problem. Armed groups will no longer have access to ammunition and weapons, and will therefore no longer be able to terrorize people.

The power they currently have comes directly from their access to weapons, 95% of which come from the U.S. Are you talking about that? Is your organization aware of that?

Even though this isn't your main expertise, you're still on the ground. Can you share what you know about that?

Is it true that solving this arms supply issue would solve a large part of the problem?

[Geeta Narayan]

It would solve a good part of the problem, but not all of it.

It's too simplistic to say that it would solve 95% of the problem. Yes, it's contributing to the problem, but as one of the honourable members said earlier—

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

It would solve 95% of the problem.

Is that right?

[Geeta Narayan]

Yes, that's right.

The security problem is linked to the socio-economic problem as well. Haiti is a country of tremendous poverty and tremendous inequities. When you look at the gang leaders of today, they come from the most disadvantaged areas of Port-au-Prince: Croix-des-Bouquets and Cité Soleil. They were young people five or seven years ago, and they are now the leaders of the gangs.

It is not only a security problem in the sense of arms and weapons. There is the economic motivation. There is also the weak governance and the lack of accountability exercised by the justice system, for example.

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

Thank you, Ms. Narayan.

Thank you, Mr. Brunelle‑Duceppe.

I would like to thank all of the witnesses for being with us. Thanks for your good introductions and your answers to the questions.

If you feel like there is something you would like to add to this subcommittee, you can address it in writing either to me or to the clerk.

We will now suspend for a few minutes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Fayçal El-Khoury]

We'll start the meeting.

I would like to make a few comments for the benefit of witnesses and members.

Please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. For those participating by video conference, click on the microphone icon to activate your mic, and please mute yourself while you are not speaking. For those on Zoom, at the bottom of the screen, you can select the appropriate channel: floor, English or French.

This is a reminder that all comments should be addressed through the chair.

I would now like to welcome our second panel of witnesses.

We're studying human rights in Cuba.

From the Canadian Network on Cuba, we have Samantha Hislop, co-chair, by video conference. From the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights, we have Alejandro Gonzalez, executive director, also by video conference. From Prisoners Defenders, we have Mr. Javier Larrondo, president, by video conference.

Every one of you will have the floor for four minutes for introductions. Please try to keep to the time. Because we had a vote, we don't have enough time.

I would like to start with Madame Samantha Hislop.

You may take the floor for four minutes.

[Samantha Hislop, Co-Chair, Canadian Network on Cuba]

Thank you, Chair and honourable members, for the opportunity.

The Canadian Network on Cuba is an umbrella organization with thousands of members across Canada. Our network also works with Canadian trade unions; student organizations; faith, advocacy and peace groups; and other mass organizations that care deeply about defending the basic human rights of the Cuban people: the right to sovereignty, self-determination, territorial integrity, health care, education, clean drinking water, food, housing and peace.

One of our leading contributors is the Cuban diaspora civil society organization the Juan Gualberto Gómez Association of Cuban Residents in Canada, which for many years has been trying to call the attention of the Government of Canada to the deteriorating conditions in Cuba caused by the United States' policies toward the island.

The Canadian Network on Cuba's expertise in working with the Cuban people goes back decades. Every single one of our members is a volunteer who advocates for the end of the illegal United States blockade against Cuba, because we have family members and friends on the island who have been suffering under these coercive illegal measures for almost seven decades.

There are repeated talking points around a desire for Cuba to open up its economy, but it had begun this process over 30 years ago. What prevents most investment in Cuba are U.S. sanctions and the associated risks to third countries and companies, resulting in over-compliance to avoid penalties.

The most recent U.S. measures have caused a swift capital flight, which has seen multiple Canadian companies leave Cuba. If this is not a case where Canada's Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act should be invoked, we're not sure what is. While airlines from the U.S. and other countries continue flying to Cuba, the lack of direct flights to Canada is a significant component of the most recent and severe iteration of the U.S. blockade against the people of Cuba.

The United States has not only been engaging in economic warfare against Cuba since 1960; it has also been behind terrorist attacks against Cuba. It has been organizing, funding and sustaining opposition on the island, and spending millions of dollars annually on regime change efforts and political interference in Cuba, which it funnels through so-called independent media and NGOs.

The work and intentions of the Canadian Network on Cuba stand in stark contrast to many of these so-called NGOs, which claim to be defending the human rights of Cubans while advocating in favour of the U.S. blockade, which is preventing their development and killing them. We're very concerned that individuals from these types of organizations are repeatedly invited to give testimony on the humanitarian situation and human rights in Cuba, when the focus must be on the United States as the human rights violator and oppressor of the Cuban people.

This year, since the implementation of the near total economic siege of Cuba by the U.S. via a fuel blockade and even more comprehensive extraterritorial measures, our material aid to Cuba has significantly increased. As a civil society organization with no paid resources or government assistance, we've sent aid valuing over $8 million, such as medical supplies, food, and energy supplies. This work is ongoing. Unfortunately, right now, we have containers of aid sitting in Cuba at the ports in Mariel and Santiago de Cuba stranded because there is no fuel to distribute it.

There is no logical or honest argument that can be made that U.S. sanctions against Cuba are not the sole direct cause of the humanitarian crisis that Cuba is facing right now. This has been completely engineered by the United States, which has totally weaponized energy against Cuba to lay the groundwork for what it admits would be a takeover of Cuba.

The U.S. fuel blockade means that food cannot be brought to market. People are not receiving life-saving—