[news] Fw: [mobglob-discuss] RCMP rapped for excessive force at Quebec protest

[Paul Browning]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gordon Flett" <gflett1 at shaw.ca>
To: "MobGlob Discuss" <mobglob-discuss at resist.ca>
Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2003 2:49 PM
Subject: [mobglob-discuss] RCMP rapped for excessive force at Quebec protest


> Report rips RCMP brutality
> 'Excessive, unjustified force' used on Quebec protesters
>
> Peter O'Neil
> The Vancouver Sun
> Thursday, November 13, 2003
>
> The RCMP abused its power while using "oppressive" force against
> protesters at the 2001 Summit of the Americas in Quebec City, resulting
> in a violation of both the Criminal Code and the Charter of Rights,
> according to the RCMP Public Complaints Commission.
>
> "RCMP members used excessive and unjustified force," chief commissioner
> Shirley Heafey concluded in her scathing report, obtained yesterday by
> CanWest News.
>
> The report said the Mounties had the right to disperse protesters near a
> gathering of leaders from North and South America, including U.S.
> President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.
>
> But the RCMP's tactical squad violated its own procedures by giving
> inadequate warning and then using tear gas, rubber bullets, a "flash
> bang" grenade and a Taser gun to scatter crowds during a day of protest.
>
> She recommended that the two senior RCMP inspectors responsible for
> crowd control be "dealt with accordingly" and that individual officers
> who "abused their power and authority" be subjected to "appropriate
> sanctions."
>
> Ms. Heafey also said the RCMP should apologize to New Democratic Party
> MP Svend Robinson, who received a letter from the Mounties in February
> that dismissed his complaints and blamed the MP and other protesters for
> the violence.
>
> Ms. Heafey, in supporting Mr. Robinson's appeal to the Public Complaints
> Commission, outlined in graphic detail two examples of police brutality.
>
> In one instance, an officer shot 50,000 volts of electricity from a
> Taser gun into a protester who was lying face-down on the pavement,
> waiting to be arrested, with one arm held up for a handcuff and the
> other over his head flashing the peace sign.
>
> The gun, according to the manufacturer's website, "is solely designed to
> stop the most hardened of targets: extremely violent, aggressive,
> goal-oriented and drug-induced suspects."
>
> In another instance, officers fired rubber bullets at a group of
> well-dressed, adult men who had simply gathered 10 to 15 metres from an
> RCMP post and shook hands.
>
> The laughing officers aimed their multiple laser range finders at the
> crotch of one man, who appeared to be hit in the buttocks and was hiding
> behind a tree.
>
> "One member clearly said: 'These guys don't speak a word of English,
> boys,' to the laughter of others. The struck civilian switched to
> English, pleading to speak with the 'officer in charge.' He was laughed
> at by unknown members and told to 'go home' in English," Ms. Heafey
> wrote.
>
> "This conduct was inappropriate and oppressive. The four civilians were
> not aggressive and posed no threat."
>
> The circumstances surrounding both the Taser and the rubber bullet
> incidents, according to Ms. Heafey, "could not have remotely called for
> such disgraceful conduct."
>
> Ms. Heafey will deliver her final report, which is not binding on the
> force, after the RCMP has an opportunity to comment on her interim
> decision. Mr. Robinson, meanwhile, is continuing his own lawsuit against
> the RCMP.
>
> RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli received the report yesterday and
> will review the findings and recommendations before responding, said
> Staff-Sgt. Paul Marsh.
>
> Mr. Robinson, who will make the report public today, said he ask
> Solicitor General Wayne Easter to call in Commissioner Zaccardelli to
> explain both the brutality and the RCMP's subsequent "whitewash"
> investigation.
>
> "People just dismiss (protesters) as a bunch of radical young people
> protesting against (free trade)," Mr. Robinson said.
>
> "These were a group of young people whose most basic rights were
> trampled on and who were subject to breaches of the Criminal Code."
>
> Ms. Heafey's report says the RCMP failed to follow its own operational
> policy.
>
> The RCMP, while having the right to disperse crowds in order to protect
> foreign leaders, must follow their own rules which require officers to
> give protesters sufficient time to act on those orders.
>
> She wrote that the RCMP must clearly tell protesters that they could be
> arrested and charged if they don't disperse, and that they could also be
> subjected to forceful measures such as the use of tear gas and rubber
> bullets.
>
> Instead, the Mounties moved in only two minutes after the first verbal
> order to disperse was given.
>
> "None of this tactical operational procedure was followed," she wrote.
>
> The report says the use of tear gas and other instruments of force were
> likely counterproductive, including the tossing of an "incendiary and
> disorienting device known as a 'flash bang,' which made a large
> explosive 'flash' in the air followed by a loud 'bang' noise to 'scare
> and confuse the crowd,' as described in the investigation report.
>
> "Under the circumstances at the time," wrote Ms. Heafey, "this may not
> have been needed or helpful in dispersing the crowd in an orderly and
> controlled fashion. The resultant fright and confusion was immediate and
> plainly evident on both (RCMP) tapes."
>
> © Copyright  2003 The Ottawa Citizen
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