Tuesday, September 28,
1999 Mounties may sue over allegations of
abuse Officers want refugee lawyers,
advocates to retract charges
Adrienne Tanner National
Post
RCMP officers guarding the Chinese migrants in Esquimalt, B.C.,
have hired a lawyer to take action over what they say are unfounded
allegations of abuse by Victoria immigration lawyers and the
Canadian Council for Refugees.
The national refugee advocacy group and the lawyers complained
publicly this summer that some of the more than 600 boat people were
physically abused and verbally intimidated during interviews with
RCMP officers.
Staff Sergeant Hugh Stewart said the allegations are completely
unfounded.
"We don't know what our best course of action will be but we
intend to be tireless in our efforts to cause these persons to
retract their statements," he said.
"We may well sue them in the process, but that will be up to our
counsel."
The allegations did not single out any police officer by name and
when the RCMP appointed an investigator, lawyers refused to release
the names of migrants who made the complaints. Without names, the
investigation had to be abandoned, said Superintendent Jim Good.
Staff-Sgt. Stewart said the group of about 100 officers applied
to their legal defence fund for money to hire a lawyer to counter
the charges. The fund is made up of donations from officers.
Staff-Sgt. Stewart said the officers are providing Patrick Sweeney,
their Victoria lawyer, with information about the case.
Staff-Sgt. Stewart said the officers were hurt by the
allegations. "They say, 'Yes, you've done all these terrible things,
although we're not going to tell you who did it, when it was done
and who it was done to.'
"You're just tarred with this brush based on the allegations of
these lawyers."
Kevin Doyle, one of the Victoria lawyers who made the allegations
against the police, said he and his colleagues carefully documented
every incident of abuse before going public with their concerns.
He could not be reached for comment yesterday but in earlier
interviews said solicitor-client confidentiality prevented him and
other lawyers from releasing names without permission from their
clients.
Until their refugee claims have been heard, most clients are
reluctant to complain publicly for fear it would jeopardize their
cases, Mr. Doyle said.
Janet Dench, executive director of the Canadian Council for
Refugees, said the migrants have good reason to be suspicious of an
investigation launched by the very police force they are accusing of
mistreatment.
"We called for an independent investigation," she said.
Sergeant Ian Ferguson, who headed the night guard shift at the
makeshift migrant camp, said: "They can chuck all kinds of crap
towards us and we sit mute and don't take any action. And our senior
management doesn't want to take action on our behalf," he said.
Sgt. Ferguson said RCMP officers guarding the migrants did what
they could to make the experience less traumatic for the people who
had travelled thousands of miles on unseaworthy boats. "I'm the guy
who went out and got Timbits for the fourth vessel."
Other officers used their own money to pay for sporting equipment
for the boat people, he said.
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