Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you so much. Thank you, Mr. Chairperson and honourable members of Parliament, for inviting me to appear before this subcommittee. I'll start my remarks today by addressing Afghanistan, a situation that is devastatingly grim, especially for women and girls. Severe food in

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you. While protests began as a response to Mahsa Amini's death and the oppressive hijab laws, they've transformed into broad-based grievances against repressive, unrepresentative and corrupt ruling authorities. Iranian authorities have ruthlessly cracked down on these p

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you so much for the question. What we're seeing in terms of trends, while we're not documenting it very closely, is that the more there is a sort of rapprochement with repressive states—whether that is Saudi Arabia, like we've seen just recently with the Biden administrati

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes, that's been an issue that we've been concerned about, as well, at Human Rights Watch.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I think for civil society organizations in Afghanistan, women's NGOs in Afghanistan, the situation is incredibly bleak, so it's really important for states to remove any types of additional obstacles that they may face.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  The situation of the Hazara minority is something that is very concerning to Human Rights Watch. We've documented a number of abuses. As you've seen in September, there was a suicide attack on ethnic Hazara students in Kabul that sparked protests by women and girls across the pro

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you for that question. I know Ambassador O'Neill mentioned the “Voices at Risk” guidelines, which are meant to be implemented by Canadian missions all over the world. They have very clear recommendations around ambassadors requesting prison visits with human rights defende

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I think that was adequately covered by the ambassador. Thank you.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes, thank you. Loujain al-Hathloul was one of the three Saudi women's rights activists I mentioned in my earlier remarks. While released from detention, she continues to face a travel ban, so she can't leave the country. Those types of travel bans are often used. What govern

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes, we've also heard those kinds of concerning reports in terms of lashings and other really abusive types of actions by the Taliban, who have become increasingly emboldened to do this.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  It's a very large question. Yes, certainly there is very strong messaging on a feminist foreign policy, on a rules-based international order and on prioritizing human rights, but we do see that there is often a disconnect in terms of actions on the ground, particularly with state

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  No, it doesn't. We've said repeatedly that Canada should no longer sell arms to Saudi Arabia and that there should be a total boycott, given the level of humanitarian law violations committed by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and honourable members of Parliament, for inviting me to appear before this committee. My name is Farida Deif. I'm the Canada director at Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch, as you know, is an independent international human rights organization that moni

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you. We don't actively research money-laundering issues in Canada, but we certainly share many of the concerns that were raised by Mr. Browder, earlier, around the lack of transparency and accountability in the current sanctions system in place in Canada, and the challenge

Foreign Affairs committee  Our position has always been the same from the time we testified around the cluster munitions bill when it was being drafted nine years ago to today. Our belief is that Canada should ensure that there is a clear, categorical prohibition on assistance, foreign stockpiling, transit