March 25, 2021

TORONTO – The CEE Council in Canada, representing the interests of 4.5 million Canadians of Central and Eastern European Heritage stands with the people of Belarus on the nation’s March 25 Freedom Day, and urges Canada to expand Magnitsky sanctions against the illegitimate and repressive regime of Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

The people of Belarus and Canadians of Central and Eastern European heritage have been calling for fair elections, freedom and human rights for the past eight months where thousands of Belarusians have been violently arrested, beaten and detained. We call on the Canadian government to monitor upcoming protests and to hold regime officials who engage in human rights abuses to account.

The CEEC thanks the Government of Canada for pledging $2.25 million to support the development of Belarusian civil society organizations and independent media, earlier this year.

The CEEC calls on the Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Foreign Affairs Canada, to work with the U.S. and other international partners to facilitate a mediation and negotiation process led by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the United Nations. 

According to The Belarusian Canadian Alliance and Belarusian opposition leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, 32,000 Belarusians have been detained, 2,500 criminal cases have been initiated, 1,000 cases of torture have been documented by human rights NGOs, and 290 people are currently being held as political prisoners. At least eight protesters have been killed, and no government officials have been held accountable for the violence.

For more information ceecouncilincanada@gmail.com

March 14, 2021

TORONTO – The Central and Eastern European Council in Canada, representing the interests of 4.5 million Canadians of Central and Eastern European heritage, condemns the arrest of Russian pro-democracy and human rights activist Vladimir Kara-Murza and over 200 of his colleagues in Moscow today.

Vladimir Kara-Murza has twice been targeted for assassination by the FSB for his activism. A recent report by Bellingcat exposed the Russian government’s involvement through the same FSB assassination team, that poisoned Alexey Navalny in August 2020. Vladimir Kara-Murza has testified in Canada’s Parliament about the human rights situation in Russia on numerous occasions and screened his documentary film about his colleague and friend, assassinated Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov.

The government of Canada must reverse its failure to join our allies in applying Magnitsky sanctions on Russian officials responsible for the poisoning of Navalny. By failing to apply sanctions, Canada implicitly enables human rights abuse and political repression by regimes like that of Vladimir Putin.

The Kremlin’s actions are not limited to the repression of Russian activists. The Globe and Mail reported that Putin associate and oligarch, Yevgeni Prigozhin has used his Internet Research Agency – the same group responsible for interference in the 2016 US Presidential elections-  to target issues of Canadian national interest. Prigozhin is on the UK, US, EU sanctions lists and the FBI most wanted list, but not on Canada’s sanction list. Russian state media and Putin aligned oligarchs and proxies have actively sought to discredit and intimidate critics of the Kremlin in Canada over the past years.

The CEEC reiterates its calls on the Canadian government to join our allies to place Magnitsky sanctions on members of the Putin regime who are responsible for the poisoning of Russian anti-corruption activist Alexey Navalny in August 2020, his incarceration on January 18, 2021 and the detention and poisoning of Vladimir Kara-Murza.

“Canada is a nation that believes in the need to defend global human rights, which is why we led among our allies in adopting the Sergei Magnitsky Law in 2017,” said CEEC President Marcus Kolga. “By failing to use it to protect activists like Vladimir Kara-Murza and Alexey Navalny, we fail them, our allies and our sacred commitment to defending human rights.”

For more information: ceecouncilincanada@gmail.com

TORONTO – The Central and Eastern European Council in Canada, representing the interests of 4.5 million Canadians of Central and Eastern European heritage, supports the IIHF’s decision to move the 2021 World Hockey Championship tournament away from Belarus.

The CEEC condemns the ongoing violent crackdown on peaceful protestors in Belarus and the mass electoral fraud committed by the Lukashenka regime in August 2020. 

Over the past 6 months, thousands of brave Belarusian protestors have been detained, many viciously beaten, tortured and even killed. 

Regimes that engage in widespread human rights abuses should never be legitimized or their behavior normalized by being allowed to host important international sporting events like the IIHF world championships. 

“As a nation that supports international human rights and holds the sport of hockey as an important part of our national identity, the 4.5 million Canadians of Central and Eastern European heritage applaud the IIHF and Hockey Canada, for putting human rights first,” said CEEC President Marcus Kolga.

The CEEC urges the Government of Canada to: 

• Continue calling out and hold the Lukashenka regime to account for its mass repression of protestors, opposition leaders and media;
• Work with our allies to apply coordinated Magnitsky sanctions against corrupt Belarusian officials who have abused the rights of their people beginning with Lidia Yarmoshyna, the head of Belarus’ Central Election Commission;
• Work with our allies to support Belarusians and civil society groups who seek change, freedom and democracy for their people.

TORONTO – The Central and Eastern European Council in Canada, representing the interests of 4.5 million Canadians of Central and Eastern European heritage, strongly condemns the violent widespread crackdown on peaceful protests in Russia, during which thousands of protestors have been detained.

The CEEC welcomes the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marc Garneau’s condemnation of Alexey Navalny’s arrest and the expression of concern published by Global Affairs Canada about the safety of Russian protestors, however, Canada must start taking concrete action to defend global human rights and hold the abusers to account.

The nearly 200,000 Russian people who bravely took to streets across Russia, despite freezing temperatures, and the threat of arrest and violence, deserve a free, democratically elected government and an end to the corrupt Putin regime. 

The CEEC calls on the Canadian government to coordinate sanctions against members of the Putin regime who are responsible for the poisoning of Russian anti-corruption activist Alexey Navalny in August 2020, and his incarceration on January 18, 2021. 

We encourage the Canadian government to help lead the creation of a coalition of liberal western democracies along with our allies and the Biden administration to support those who courageously advocate for human rights and hold to account those who violate  human  rights.

“The Canadian government adopted the Sergei Magnitsky Law in 2018, which allows us to hold officials who engage in human rights abuse and corruption to account by placing sanctions on them,” said CEEC president Marcus Kolga. “This includes the corrupt oligarchs supporting the Putin regime,  that Alexey Navalny has asked Western leaders to include on their Magnitsky sanctions lists.”

September 24, 2020 

TORONTO – The Central and Eastern European Council in Canada, representing the interests of 4.5 million Canadians of Central and Eastern European heritage, would like to thank the Government of Canada and Ministers Champagne and Gould for their commitment to support Belarusian civil society and independent media with $600,000 in funding.

The CEEC applauds Minister Champagne’s strong statement condemning the illegitimate inauguration of Aleksander Lukashenka, who proclaimed himself President of Belarus after a fraudulent election in August and has engaged in six weeks of brutal violence against peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators. 

The CEEC reiterates its call for the Lukashenka regime to step aside after 26 years and finally give the Belarusian people the opportunity to grow and prosper in a democratic society free of repression, corruption and fear.

Thousands of brace Belarusian protestors have been detained, many viciously beaten and at least one protester has been killed. Riot police using water cannons, rubber bullets and stun grenades have been used to suppress protestors in at least a dozen Belarusian cities.

“The Central and Eastern European communities in Canada stand with all Belarusian Canadians and the people of Belarus in their struggle for freedom and democracy,” said CEEC President, Marcus Kolga. “We are thankful that Canada is working with our allies to hold Lukashenka and his officials to account for their abuse of human rights, and hope that sanctions will soon be applied to the regime and those carrying out violent repression on its behalf.”