The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada

We, the undersigned Canadian citizens and residents, have been deeply troubled by the horrifying images of police killings of peaceful demonstrators in Egypt over the past week.

The Egyptian people - undivided by religion, ideology, or social status - have peacefully assembled in the streets of Egypt since Jan 25, 2011 to express their frustration with the current government. They have been protesting the absence of basic human rights, freedom, and dignity, and demanding political reform that first ends the rule of Hosni Mubarak and the state of emergency laws, second cancels the most recent Parliamentary elections, and third refines the constitution.

Despite the peaceful assembly of Egyptian citizens, the police have acted violently with protestors using live ammunition and rubber bullets, which are illegal according to international law. Furthermore, the Police have freed suspects and criminals from the prisons of Cairo, Alexandria, Suez, Mansoura and other Egyptian cities in order to create street chaos and anarchy. Informal sources estimate up to 200 civilian casualties and thousands of injured citizens. The Egyptian government on the other hand have cut all forms of internet communication with Egypt to censor the coverage of the protest, out of fear of the international community’s resentment to the government’s handling of the situation.

The Canadian government and its people have historically striven in the cause of democracy and human rights. Canada’s worldwide leadership in democracy and human rights calls upon us Canadians to stand by the Egyptian people in their right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression. The stability of the Middle East will be dependent on respecting the will of the Egyptian people and their interests which lie in forming a freely elected government.

We therefore call upon the Canadian government to recognize the Egyptian people’s struggle to reinstate their basic right to a representative government; to demand the Egyptian government to protect peaceful protests and refrain from the use of any form of force or violence against protesters; and to demand the restoration of all communication means to and from Egypt.

Sincerely,

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