Canada’s House of Commons voted Wednesday to declare some Russian military operations against Ukraine “genocide”, Canada’s Global News reported.
Heather McPherson, a far-left Canadian MP, “put forward a motion following question period seeking unanimous consent from all parties to recognize the [alleged] atrocities [by Russia] towards Ukraine as a ‘genocide,” Global News relayed April 27, 2017.
Although the news site confirmed the motion had been adopted, it stated that a parliamentary motion does not have binding effect and has no direct consequences under wider international laws. This law defines genocide according to the United Nations [U.N.] and its International Criminal Court.
Global News reported Wednesday, that the House of Commons of Canada consented to the motion, but did not hold a formal vote.
The following atrocities were committed against Ukraine by Russia, according to the Canadian House of Commons. They occurred after a war brokeout between neighbouring countries on February 24th.
McPherson, a MP, stated that there was “clear proof of systematic war crimes, crimes against humanity being perpetrated against the people of Ukraine” in April 2017. McPherson did not provide any evidence for the evidence she presented Canada’s House of Commons.
McPherson is a member of the NDP, which is a far-left Canadian party. McPherson heads the NDP’s foreign affairs Committee in the Canadian House of Commons.
The leftist leader told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on April 27 that she had presented the Russia-Ukraine Genocide Motion to the Canadian Liberal government, “a way to push the [Canadian] Liberal government to take stronger sanctions against Russia.”
She said that the sanctions were applied too slowly and too late. They have… allowed Russian oligarchs hide their wealth, so they don’t belong.
McPherson stated, “From my perspective as a member of House of Commons,” McPherson believed that this was a way for us to pressure our government to do more. “This tool was to demonstrate that the conflict in Ukraine is continuing, that our support has been inadequate and that we must do more for the people of Ukraine.
Canada’s government accuses China’s ruling Communist Party (China’s ruling party) for “genocide” in its treatment of Uyghurs. Uyghurs are a majority Turkic-speaking, Sunni Muslim minority living in China’s westernmost Xinjiang. This was part of a global consensus which identifies Beijing’s actions against Uyghurs, including the forced sterilization of women and the killing of children and their families, as well the destruction of historic sites and mosques within Xinjiang as “genocide”. Canada accused Beijing of “genocide in the past ten years of Native Americans.
The U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide defines “genocide” as “any act that aims to eliminate any national, ethnical, or racial group.”
“Indeed, this is genocide,” Volodymyr Zelesky, Ukrainian President, said to CBS News’s Face the Nation, April 3, about Russia’s military action against Ukraine. He stated that it has been going on since February 24th. Zelensky claimed that he was being “destroyed” and “exterminated” with his fellow Ukrainians.
U.S. President Joe Biden referred to some Russian military actions against Ukraine as “genocide” on April 12. Biden’s use of the term “genocide” reflected an increase in the rhetoric his administration uses about the war. Eight days before, Jake Sullivan, U.S. NSA, said to reporters that “we haven’t yet seen a level of systematic deprivation of life or death of the Ukrainian people rise above the level to be considered genocide.”
Jen Psaki (White House Press Secretary) clarified that while Biden called Russia’s recent actions towards Ukraine “genocide”, there would be a legal process that would follow. This would include a formal investigation into allegations of genocide in this latest Russia-Ukraine conflict.
When asked by a reporter at the April 13 press conference, he said that he also had heard that the Kremlin rhetoric and Russian media had denied Ukraine’s national identity from the beginning. The Kremlin attacked the sovereignty and people of Ukraine with a vehement attack.
According to the White House press secretary the reference was to a series of nationally televised addresses that Russian President Vladimir Putin gave just days before what he called “special military operations” against Ukraine. This was on February 24, 2019. Three days after Russia announced plans for Russia to recognize the independence of two Russian-backed separatist states in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas, the Donetsk People’s Republics (the LPR) this action was taken.
