McLeod Group blog, March 11, 2021
This is the second half of an interview with Ketty Nivyabandi, Amnesty International Canada’s new Secretary General. The first half is available here.
The McLeod Group: Have you collaborated with Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise? Do you believe it is an effective instrument to make Canadian companies responsible?
Ketty Nivyabandi: It is not an effective instrument yet. We are really disappointed so far. When it was announced – and Amnesty played a big role in pushing for an Ombudsperson – there was great excitement and hope for that position. Unfortunately, it is not effective because it does not have the power to be able to investigate and prosecute. We see that as a great impediment. We have been very strong in voicing that. It is not enough to have a structure in place if it does not have the power to do its work. We have engaged in the past with the Office of the Ombudsperson, but it is unfortunately obvious that it lacks the power to do what it is supposed to do.
The McLeod Group: What is your perspective on Global Affairs Canada’s Voices at Risk guidelines?
Ketty Nivyabandi: The Voices at Risk guidelines written by Global Affairs are supposed to guide what Canada is doing to protect human rights globally. We find that there is so much more that can be done to protect human rights defenders, especially in times of crisis. The call is always to support local human rights organizations.
A little less obvious, when human rights defenders are at risk, is what happens next and how Canada can support them. We are pushing the Canadian government to have mechanisms to support them. For instance, there are no visas that enable human rights defenders who are at risk and who would like to relocate for a short period of time to do so. There is no such visa. They have to go through a regular visa process or apply for asylum and be part of a refugee stream which does not respond to the needs of human rights defenders. In such cases, there is no strong program in place to support them after they come to Canada. One of the things that is not well known is how much human rights defenders who are currently in Canada need support, in particular women human rights defenders who have left their country and have come to Canada. We talk a lot about those who are in other countries and yet we have no structure in place to support those who are in Canada.
Beyond that, what we are seeing more and more is countries who are increasingly tracking these human rights defenders, even when they are in Canada. There are major security risks for human rights activists who are here in Canada and that needs to be a priority. It needs to be addressed. There is a variety of ways in which Canada can definitively play a stronger and a bolder role. For instance, the European Union has really strong guidelines for activists who are at risk.
The McLeod Group: How should Canada’s international response to COVID-19 respect human rights?
Ketty Nivyabandi: What we are really pushing for internationally is free and universal access to the vaccine and being able to have the vaccine available to all. The fact that some countries are able to purchase vaccines when others are not is a violation of the rights of so many. And the thought that some countries could vaccinate their own populations when others would be at risk and not understanding that none of us will be safe until all of us are vaccinated is absolutely absurd. We are really calling for a people’s vaccine and for countries to back this call, instead of just seeking vaccines for their country alone.
COVID has impacted human rights in a lot of ways. We see that it is much harder to access those who are in prison, and we want to ensure that security measures are not used as a pretext to crack down on human rights defenders and further violate human rights. There is certainly a big role that needs to be played there.
This interview has been edited slightly to enhance readability. Photo by Khalid Skaik.