By IPS Correspondents
OTTAWA, Dec 16 2003 (IPS)

A civilian watchdog appointed by the federal government to probe complaints against the national police force has denounced the way police handled security at the 2001 Summit of the Americas in Quebec City.

The meeting was held to discuss the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).

The report damns the “O” division riot squad of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for using excessive force and for denying medical aid to protesters injured by police.

In a brief 15 pages the report paints a picture of riot police who used high-voltage Tasers to subdue non-violent demonstrators, goaded protesters, and used excessive force against them.

Shirley Heafey, chairwoman of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, wrote the paper after a complaint was filed by New Democratic Party Member of Parliament Svend Robinson.

“RCMP members used excessive and unjustified force in releasing tear gas to move the protesters when a more measured response could have been attempted first,” Heafey says in her report.

Robinson says he was shot at with a runner bullet that ripped his pants before being arrested. He is suing the RCMP in a separate legal action.

The RCMP is studying the report and refused to say whether any officers will face disciplinary measures.

A senior Canadian government official said the administration did change its policy on the use of force after the summit.

“There has never been anything like that in Canada since 2001. We now want to bring dissent into the process and embed journalists into the security apparatus, rather than have them as adversaries, as they were in Quebec,” said the official, who works in Canada’s policy-setting Privy Council (cabinet) Office.

The commission’s report concludes that police failed to follow appropriate procedures, breaching the protesters’ constitutional rights. It says they mocked demonstrators and gave them no chance to escape from 50,000-volt Tasers, flash grenades and tear gas.

Police built a high chain-link fence around the centre of the city, which is the capital of the Province of Quebec. Heads of government and trade ministers met inside the perimeter to negotiate the free trade agreement for the western hemisphere.

But when police moved on protesters, says the report, “the members did not issue a proper warning, and clearly failed, given the size of the crowd and the confined space in which they were gathered, to allow the crowd sufficient time to disperse”.

Protesters were only 10-15 metres away from the riot officers’ lines when police opened fire with rubber bullets.

According to the report, the officers teased four men for not speaking English, though they were in Quebec City, where French is by far the predominant language.

“Without any warning in French or English, three (RCMP) members equipped with what appeared to be (rubber-bullet guns) raced forward, chased the civilians down the street and fired approximately four rounds directly at them,” it says.

The police then “laughed, joked and continually marked (one of the civilian’s) crotch with multiple laser-range finders. This conduct was inappropriate and oppressive,” the report says.

A high-voltage Taser was used to stun a protester who was on his knees and waiting to be arrested, the report adds. “The protester was not struggling and represented no threats to the members, to himself, to the public or to property.”

“In issuing an inadequate and improper warning to the protesters before releasing tear gas, the members contributed to unnecessary injury to members of the public, including Mr. Robinson.”

Inspector Robert Lanthier, a troop commander and co-ordinator of tactical teams at the summit, and Inspector Ronald Allen, ranking officer of the “O” division troop, are blamed in the report for the “oppressive” conduct of the tactical division.

The document has been forwarded to RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli. Heafey will incorporate his comments into her final report. No date has been set for its release.

Robinson released a statement last month calling for action from Solicitor-General Wayne Easter, the minister responsible for the RCMP. Robinson wants several of the commanding officers to be fired.

“This report is a damning indictment of the gross abuse of power by the RCMP “O” division tactical troop in attacking peaceful protesters in total contempt of the law and their own procedures,” Robinson said.

“Such abuse of police power in a democracy is an outrage. In response to the initial RCMP whitewash of my complaint, the commission has issued a powerful rebuke to the RCMP.

“I would encourage anyone illegally attacked by the RCMP to take the action I have taken and launch legal proceedings against the RCMP for assault.”

Mary Ellen Davis, a Montreal-based filmmaker who was arrested at the Quebec summit just minutes after arriving, applauded the report.

“The police were way out of control,” she told IPS. “They obviously did not want any kind of dissent in Quebec City and they didn’t want a record of it.”

Davis says she was arrested before any protest had started.

“I was two blocks away from the wall that they built around the summit. I wasn’t a threat to anyone, but they treated me like a criminal or a terrorist.”

(* This story corrects the identity of the filmmaker quoted in the original version Nov. 14.)

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