Achi news desk-
OTTAWA –
Members of diaspora communities told a federal inquiry on Wednesday about the ways in which authoritarian governments make life extremely difficult for families when members dare to question the regimes.
The federal commission of inquiry into foreign intervention heard from a panel of representatives from different communities about the human intervention it can take.
Many Russians who settled in Canada have parents or other relatives who stayed behind, said Yuriy Novodvorskiy of the Russian Democratic Alliance of Canada.
Russian diplomats in Canada are using video surveillance and social media to identify people taking part in an anti-Moscow protest, he said.
“We’ve had cases where Russian operatives have been identified here in Canada, and then the police initiate some sort of harassment action against their family back home.”
In other cases, members of the Russian community may be denied access to consular services, meaning they cannot renew travel documents or ensure they still have valid status as visitors to Canada, he said.
Human rights activist Hamed Esmaeilion said that members of the Iranian community in Canada wear masks, sunglasses and hats at rallies so that they cannot be identified.
“There are reports that when they travel to Iran, mobile phones are confiscated, they are persecuted, interrogated, their family members in Iran are under pressure,” he said.
“We’ve had members who met with members of the Canadian Parliament here, and their family members in Iran have been under pressure or have been questioned,” added Esmaeilion, a representative of the PS752 Flight Families Association, a jetliner shot down by Iranian officials. shortly after take off. from Tehran in 2020.
The majority of the passengers were bound for Canada, including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Parliament in September that there were “credible allegations” of Indians killing Sikh independence activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who had been wanted by India for years and was shot dead in June. out to the BC temple he was leading.
Canada subsequently expelled an Indian diplomat, and India followed suit by kicking out a Canadian representative.
India is a hostile state, and the Sikh community faces the most of the hostility, said Jaskaran Sandhu, who appears on behalf of the Sikh Coalition.
Mehmet Tohti of the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project noted that Beijing’s repression of members of the community occurs regularly.
Tohti said Uyghur Canadians told him not to share news of a joyous event with family back home because communication was blocked.
“You can’t text them, you can’t call them and you can’t share photos,” Tohti said, adding that some Uyghurs in Canada don’t know if family members are alive or dead.
He talked about the Chinese government making arrests for communicating with people abroad or suspending travel documents.
Ottawa has said there are credible reports of human rights violations against Uyghurs and others in the Xinjiang region, including mass arbitrary detention, forced separation of children from their parents, and suppression of religious and cultural practices.
The head of the investigation into foreign interference stressed on Wednesday that the need for secrecy about the sensitive subject has not hindered her work so far.
Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue, however, warned that the investigation must follow the right path in balancing confidentiality and the desire for transparency.
The latest hearings, which run through April 10, will focus on possible interference by China, Russia, India and others in the last two general elections.
The inquiry expects to hear from dozens of people, including Trudeau and members of his cabinet, political party representatives and federal election officials.
The inquiry held an initial set of hearings in late January and early February to seek ideas on how to publicly disclose as much information as possible.
However, Hogue recently said she agreed to a federal request to present some evidence in the absence of other participants and the public.
In her comments on Wednesday, Hogue emphasized that secrecy surrounding national security matters has in no way impaired her ability to seek the truth.
The commission has been given access to a large number of classified documents in their entirety, meaning they were not redacted to protect national security, Hogue said.
“In fact, confidentiality orders have not so far prevented us from doing the work we have been tasked with doing,” he said.
“But they cause real difficulties as I strive to keep the process transparent and open. The commission must follow the right path in its work.”
People often react with suspicion when secrecy overshadows government-held information, Hogue said in French. “Yet there is undeniably a strong public interest in maintaining at least some forms of government secrecy.”
The initial hearings showed that withholding certain types of information may be essential for Canada to carry out activities essential to national security and international commitments, Hogue added.
The preliminary hearings also revealed that that is especially true in the area of ​​foreign interference, as “sophisticated foreign state actors” could be involved in gathering information about Canada and its citizens, he said.
“In this context, information that could reveal intelligence sources, collection methods or targets of investigations is particularly sensitive,” said Hogue.
“The disclosure of such information to hostile actors could cause serious harm, both to Canadian citizens and to Canada as a whole.”
This report was first published by The Canadian Press on March 27, 2024.
This is a corrected story. An earlier version misspelled Hamed Esmaeilion’s name.
