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432-01228 (Foreign affairs)

Petition to the House of Commons

Despite repeated appeal by the international community for the peaceful resolution of the war declared on Tigray and the recent demand by the United States and world governments for the withdrawal of Eritrean, Amhara and other Ethiopian army allied forces from Tigray, there are disturbing reports that PM Abiy Ahmed and Isaias Afwerki have mobilized additional forces and launched waves of new attacks to subdue Tigray and its people.

The aggression by these invading forces is increasingly exacerbating the already dire humanitarian crisis in Tigray. The US government has publicly stated that ethnic cleansing is taking place in Tigray, and many reputable international media such as the NY Times, CNN, BBC and others as well as International organizations such as Amnesty have described the situation as war crimes, crime against humanity leading to genocide. How can democratic governments like Canada fail to take concrete action 5 months into the war, while the people of Tigray suffer from massacres, rape of children and women, and government-induced starvation?

The threat posed by PM Abiy Ahmed and his mentor Isaias Afwerki is an act of extermination and genocide on the people of Tigray and is causing major destabilization in Ethiopia, the Horn of Africa, and the Middle East at large. The world knows how many citizens Rwanda lost between the 7th of April and the 15th of July 1994. In Tigray, it has been 5 months since PM Abiy Ahmed and President Isaias Afwerki of Eritrea waged an all-out war, blocked all necessities, and have passed collective punishment on the people of Tigray through mass starvation. Tigray has no access to water, food, banking, electricity, transportation, telecommunications, medical supplies, and independent media. Reports show that people are already dying of government-induced hunger in Tigray. Once again, the world is witnessing genocide in the making in Tigray.

We ask for an immediate UNSC enforcement of the call for the immediate withdrawal of Eritrean and the brutal Amhara forces.

Contrary to the founding principles of the UNSC, the world is witnessing a genocide in Tigray never seen before. According to some estimates close to 60,000 people have been killed, and millions are displaced.

As Canadians stading for peace and justice, we would like to draw your utmost attention to the following summary of facts that constitute war crimes and genocide on the ground in Tigray and thus call for the immediate and strong collective action by Canada, and the international community,

More than 4.5 million Tigrayans need emergency humanitarian aid as famine has started and people are dying of starvation due to Ethiopia's criminal action that contravenes UN Res. 2417 (2018).

i. Thousands have died by blanket bombing of villages in rural areas for quick military victory by the Eritrean and Ethiopian fighter jets using Soviet era cluster bombs; satellite images show that villages are completely erased and building structures destroyed.

ii. Massacre of innocent civilians in rural and urban areas, has continued unabated with more than 60,000 Ethnic Tigrayans killed due to the genocidal war.

iii. Tens of thousands of women and underage girls are being raped and as a result committing suicide.

iv. Ethnic Tigrayans throughout Ethiopia have been profiled, fired from their jobs (about 100,000 people including more than 17,000 military personnel including those who served in UN peacekeeping operations in Africa) and indiscriminately arrested and jailed for months.

v. More than 75 % of hospitals, health facilities and schools in Tigray have been looted and destroyed.

vi. Almost 100 % of crops in the fields in Tigray burnt to the ground as the timing of the war was preplanned to occur during harvest season; food items and house utensils were looted from households by Eritrean forces supported with caravans of camels to reach inaccessible rural areas.

vii. More than 80 % of livestock in Tigray were killed and/or looted (Tigray's traditional farmers still use oxen to plough their fields and may take at least 10 years to recover).

viii. Private and public factories and enterprises in Tigray have been looted and transferred to Eritrea and Amhara region including thousands of private and public passengers and commercial vehicles.

ix. Villages and small towns were and are still being bombarded with artilleries.

x. Magnificent world heritages in Tigray like Al-Nejashi Mosque, Debredamo and other monasteries were destroyed, and their valuable religious artifacts and manuscripts looted.

xi. More than two and half million people in Tigray are internally displaced; 4.5 million are in urgent need of humanitarian aid while more than 65,000 refugees fled to the Sudan.

  • We ask for an immediate UNSC enforcement of the call for the immediate withdrawal of Eritrean and the brutal Amhara forces.
  • The unfettered access to all humanitarian organizations for the distribution of aid to avoid famine in Tigray.
  • The immediate cessation of hostilities and commitment to finding peaceful political solutions with the participation of all political parties.
  • Unimpeded full access to international media, lift internet blackout and restoration of all communications.
  • The independent investigation of war crimes committed in Tigray by independent organizations that doesn't include the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission.
  • The immediate imposition of travel bans on Eritrean and Ethiopian government authorities and military leaders suspected of committing war crimes and genocide on the people of Tigray. That includes freezing their financial bank accounts abroad.
  • The immediate imposition of an arms embargo on both Eritrea and Ethiopia for committing human rights violations, war crimes and genocide on Tigray and its people.
  • Immediate suspension of the millions of Canadian tax payers' money given to Ethiopia on annual basis until the war stops and the crimes are investigated independently.

Presented to the House of Commons
Laurel Collins (Victoria)
June 22, 2021 (Petition No. 432-01228)
Photo - Laurel Collins
Victoria
New Democratic Party Caucus
British Columbia

Only validated signatures are counted towards the total number of signatures.