OTTAWA (CU)_Russia’s military assault against its neighbour now enters its third month. With more than 2,700 civilians killed and over 3,100 injured, Canada’s New Democratic Party did not hold back in recognising Moscow’s mass atrocities in Ukraine.
A motion to pronounce Russia’s war on Ukraine as a genocide was unanimously adopted by Canada’s House of Commons on Wednesday. The motion, which was sponsored by NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson, cited Moscow’s brutal acts against civilians, including physical harm, mental harm and rape. “[…] there is clear and ample evidence of systematic and massive war crimes and crimes against humanity being committed against the people of Ukraine by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, directed by President Vladimir Putin and others within the Russian Parliament,” it said. The motion concludes by saying the House recognizes “the Russian Federation is committing acts of genocide against the Ukrainian people.”
According to the United Nations’ Genocide Convention adopted in 1948, genocide is identified as acts done with the intent to “destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group”. It includes killing or causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, or the imposition of living conditions aimed at destroying the group, such as preventing births and forcibly transferring children out of the group.
According to Minster McPherson, members of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party tried to convince her to soften her motion, but she declined. “They asked us to water it down. I said no,” she said.
Meanwhile, Russia’s ambassador to Canada dismissed the declaration of genocide as a “Russophobic gesture”. “We deplore the motion and reject the allegations,” Ambassador Oleg Stepanov said in a statement. “Such labelling makes no sense, carries no weight. So it’s just a politically-empty Russophobic gesture.”
