FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
To avert an environmental disaster and free political prisoners, the Canadian Group for Democracy in Ukraine (CG4DU) calls on Prime Minister Trudeau to increase sanctions against Russia prior to the G7 Summit and boycott the World Cup if Russia fails to comply with international laws.
May 18, 2018 OTTAWA.
World peace and the environment are among the key themes in the G7 Leaders’ Summit taking place in Charlevoix, Quebec 8- 9 June. In a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, CG4DU asks Canada to address Russia’s failure to comply with international law, disturbance of the world order and the creation of a potential environmental disaster by harmonizing sanctions against it and; indeed raising them.
“Russia’s global aggression, infiltration of sovereign states and environmental degredation by warfare are of grave concern but to all. If it can happen in Syria or Ukraine without consequence, it can happen anywhere. Canada and our allies are duty-bound to work together to punish the culprit,” says Dr. Ihor Cap, a member from Winnipeg.
The CG4DU asserts that Canada’s strength lies in “doing the right thing and taking the higher moral ground”. As Canada is lagging behind others in leveling sanctions against Russia’s for illegally annexing Crimea, invading Donbas and its ongoing chaos there, the Prime Minister is called to raise the sanctions to the level of our American and British allies. “Failure to maintain this high standard diminishes our stature in the world as well as our influence,” says the letter.
It also warns of a potentially colossal environmental and humanitarian disaster designed by Russia.
Its stockpiles of prohibited heavy weapons brought into war zone poses a high risk of chemical contamination of the water supply. Hundreds of thousand civilians --including women and over 100,000 children-- in the Donbas are facing death. “This is another, premeditated, Kremlin organized genocide waiting to happen. Its Holodomor genocide strategically starved some 7- 10 million Ukrainians. Russia has never been punished. It wants to get away with ethnic cleansing again,” says Dr. Lada Roslycky, a member currently on assignment in Ukraine.
Finally, the CG4DU calls upon Canada to take a “commanding stand” to ensure the release of Ukrainian political prisoners, unjustifiably incarcerated in subhuman conditions in occupied Crimea and Russia. “Canada’s leadership depends on convincing the G7 members that Russia must comply immediately with international law or see a boycott of the World Cup”, says Oksana Bashuk Hepburn, an Ottawa member.
For further information please contact us at
204 254 7054 Ihor Cap
613 293 9121 Oksana Bashuk Hepburn
cgfordu@gmail.com
http://cg4du.blogspot.ca/.
Att. Letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
