Oct 15/98: APEC protester on "double standard" of inquiries

"A DOUBLE STANDARD THAT'S DISGUSTING":

APEC PROTESTER ON GUSTAFSEN LAKE

Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty (S.I.S.I.S.)
SISIS@envirolink.org
October 15, 1998

Following is an excerpt from the September 14, 1998 transcript of the RCMP Public Complaints Commission hearings, ongoing in Vancouver, into the allegations of excessive force by the RCMP during the 1997 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum protests. For full transcripts, see http://www.canuck.com/rose/trans.


[page 46 of the testimony]

MR. JAGGI SINGH:

  6     And I'd like to make a final point,
  7     which is just a point of irony, I guess.
  8     Students and other people protesters
  9     were pepper sprayed at UBC in November of 1997, and
 10     we've gotten a lot of attention and what happened there
 11     was wrong.  Nobody denies that.
 12     But, I'd like to point out that in 1995
 13     indigenous people in this province had bullets aimed at
 14     them, and there's been no inquiry into that, at
 15     Gustafson Lake.
 16     Moreover, a lot of the same officers who
 17     were responsible for that -- that incident, are
 18     involved in this, specifically Peter Montague, who made
 19     the quote "smear campaigns are our specialty."
 20     And I certainly will be trying, along
 21     with others, to try to bring some focus to the fact
 22     that there's a -- there's a double standard at work
 23     here that's disgusting.
 24     Thank you.
Information on RCMP Public Complaints Commission Apec hearings: http://www.cs.ubc.ca/spider/fuller/apec_alert


"Is there anyone who can help us with a disinformation or smear campaign?"..."Smear campaigns are our specialty."

- Gustafsen Crisis Management Team members, RCMP negotiator Dennis Ryan & BC media liaison Peter Montague, September 1995, on RCMP videotape disclosed at trial

"It was necessary that the public perceived a continued threat from the people in the camp."

- RCMP Sup't Len Olfert, court testimony Jan. 6, 1997


WE DEMAND A PUBLIC INQUIRY INTO ACTIONS BY YOUR GOVERNMENTS AT GUSTAFSEN LAKE!

Prime Minister of Canada, Jean Chretien
Fax by email: remote-printer.Jean_Chretien@16139416900.iddd.tpc.int
Email: pm@pm.gc.ca

BC Premier Glen Clark
Email: premier@gov.bc.ca


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