Justice for Victims sanctions

AI summary

Petitioners ask Canada to apply the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act to sanction individuals responsible for human‑rights abuses in Ethiopia, demand an immediate ceasefire and release of political prisoners, and press for transparent June 2026 election results.

AI summaries describe petitioners’ requests and claims. Consult the official record for the full text.

Official petition

Petition to the Government of Canada Since early 2023 armed conflict in the Amhara region of Ethiopia has involved Ethiopian government forces carrying out indiscriminate violence and SGBV against civilian populations and infrastructure including through use of aerial strikes leaving more than 4.4 million children out of school and hundreds of thousands displaced; The Ethiopian government has carried out arbitrary detentions and torture of Amhara journalists, civil society leaders, members of parliament and opposition figures; The incumbent Prosperity Party administration won 90% of federal parliament seats in the June 2026 general election despite ongoing armed conflict, mass civilian displacement, suppression of civil society and opposition, and exclusion of major ethnic communities, making conditions for a free and inclusive vote impossible; and Canada provided over $147 million in 2024-2025 in development assistance to Ethiopia and maintains significant diplomatic, commercial, and humanitarian interests in the country and the Horn of Africa. We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to: 1. Consider the application of the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act to impose targeted sanctions on individuals credibly identified as responsible for grave human rights violations in Ethiopia; 2. Publicly demand an immediate ceasefire in the Amhara region and the unconditional release of all political prisoners, and prisoners of conscience held by the Ethiopian government; and 3. Publicly call on the Government of Ethiopia for strengthened transparency around the June 2026 general election results towards an inclusive democratic process.

Government response

No government response is available yet.