Petition

We citizens of Canada are shocked and distressed by reports of indiscriminate bombing, extrajudicial execution, systemic rapes and sexual violence of children and women, destruction and looting of UNESCO Heritage sites, churches, monasteries, Universities, Hospitals, Health Centres and clinics in Tigray (Ethiopia) by the armies of Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia, Isayas Afeworki of Eritrea, Amhara special forces and militias  with the intent of ethnic cleansing, exterminating  and wiping out the people of Tigray.

Ms. Pramila Patten, the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence has raised concerns about high number of rapes in Tigray and many people  have been forced “to rape members of their own family”. According to the UN over 500 women has been exposed to sexual violence including rape. The concern has been reiterated by the U.N. humanitarian chief for East and southern Africa, Ms. Gemma Connell as well as international NGOs such as Doctors without Borders, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Abiy Ahmed has recently admitted the presence of Eritrean Army and sexual violence and rape has taken place in Tigray.

Ethiopian, Eritrean soldiers   and Amhara militia   have given Tigrayan women the choice between rape and murder. Women survivors of rape have identified their rapists as military forces form Ethiopian or Eritrean armies as well as militia forces from Amhara region. The crimes of rape and sexual violence in Tigray have also been committed against vulnerable groups such as refugee and displaced women, in camps and war-ravaged areas, due to their total lack of protection.  The cases of rape are highly under-reported, due to the lack of physical accessibility in many parts of Tigray. Rape has already left its durable impacts on survivors by inflicting them with sexually transmitted infections including AIDS as well as devastative traumas and psychological scars.

  

It is well known fact that the international law has categorized conflict-related rape, enforced prostitution and sexual violence as war crimes and crimes against humanity (Articles 7 and 8 of the Rome Statute for International Criminal Court). Responsibility for crimes of rape and sexual violence in Tigray goes to both the state and the individual perpetrators.

 

In light of the atrocities, war crimes and crimes against humanity against the people of Tigray with tacit support of UAE; and

Whereas these atrocities are being committed under the direction of Abiy Ahmed and Isayas Afework; and

Whereas Abiy Ahmed has been unwilling to stop the war and ask Amhara militia and Eritrean soldiers withdraw from Tigray; and

Whereas Abiy Ahmed’s refusal to provide unrestricted access to international Humanitarian organization to provide support to avoid starvation; and

Whereas Abiy Ahmed is using starvation to annihilate the population; and

We the undersigned Citizens of Canada ask the Canadian government through the Right Honourable Prime Minister Trudeau:

Force the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Eritrean Army and the Amhara militia from Tigray. Whereas the withdrawal should be supervised and verified by independent observers, if the hostile forces (Eritrean and Amhara forces) fail to heed to this ultimatum for the Canada and its allies to take all measures including military action on Eritrean and Amhara forces. 
To invoke the UN Genocide Convention, take Ethiopian and Eritrean governments to the International Court of Justice, and hold the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments accountable for the atrocities they committed including crimes against humanity and genocide;
3.     Allow humanitarian access all over Tigray so that the over 4.5 million people who need food aid can be reached without any blockage or interference of the Eritrean and Ethiopian armies.

 

4.     Reinstate the democratically elected legitimate government of Tigray and starting a dialogue that involves all parties in Ethiopia.

5.   Release all political prisoners in Ethiopia including military personnel and UN peacekeepers of Tigray origin (about 22,000) and more than 90,000 civilians who have been fired from their jobs and detained all over Ethiopia in military camps and prisons.

6.   The investigation of all human rights violations and war crimes to by an independent international team after the immediate withdrawal of the Eritrean Army and Amhara militia as these two forces cannot allow witnesses and victims to come forward and freely tell their stories without any fear and danger to their lives.

7.   Enforce the safe passage and return of the 2.2 million internally displaced people (IDP) to their ancestral lands, villages and towns before the rainy season starts in June 2021 with the assistance of the UN.

8.     The deployment of UN Peacekeepers at the Ethiopia-Eritrea border to monitor peace.

Signatures (in alphabetical order)