Feb. 21, 2002

Paul Smith 

My name is Paul Duncan Smith and I am a volunteer with Global Democracy Ottawa.

I swear that the statements I am making in this submission are the truth. I was involved in organising for the G20 protests from the very beginning. We held a number of organising meetings leading up to the November 17th march. All of these meetings were open to the public and in them we discussed all aspects of the March. It was understood from the very beginning that the march on Nov. 17th would be "non-violent" so as to bring out the largest number of people to raise concerns over the policies of the IMF and World Bank that have caused so much suffering and death throughout the world.

On Saturday, Nov.17th, 2001, I began the day from my house in the west end of Ottawa. I drove downtown to do some photocopying so we had literature to hand out to people during the day. I then went to Le Breton Flats where I heard some of the speeches that were being given. Being one of the organisers, I walked through the crowd of some 1,500 people, seeing who had come out. I also talked to a number of groups there that I thought might be unaware of the principles on which we had organised. After talking to 3 or 4 groups I was satisfied that they understood the principles of the march and that they were in agreement with them.  20 minutes later, I witnessed one of these groups being targeted and attacked by the police .

The march left Le Breton Flats between 10.30 AM and 11 AM and headed south on Booth Ave. towards Albert St.. I was near the end of the march and when I was about 70 metres from Albert St. I noticed a commotion happening near the corner of Booth and Albert. I ran up and saw riot police armed  with guns and with attack dogs arresting a couple of the protesters. At least 2 young protesters were on the ground face down with police over them putting on handcuffs. The police were pushing the crowd around and the dogs were noticeably agitated. I positioned myself in front of a riot officer who had a dog on a leash that was lunging at people. I informed the officer that this was a peaceful march and that he should move back. I felt it was a particularly dangerous situation as there were people with strollers and small children and grandparents in the march. The officer told me to move back, but I stood my ground as I felt the police were not acting with the people's safety in mind. As I was talking to the officer I held my hands in the air to show that I was not making any aggressive moves.

Suddenly the dog, which was on a leash,  jumped at me and bit me on the thigh. After a few seconds it let go. People who had been in the crowd were shocked at this and asked the officer what he was going to do. He just replied that we should all move away. The dog continued to lunge at people and within a minute the dog attacked a woman, grabbing her sweater. Fortunately she was able to get away. At this this time I was facing away from the crowd, trying to position myself in between the protesters and the dog, but occasionally I got a glimpse of the actions of the other officers. They were acting very aggressively, pointing guns at people and pushing others with their shields. This attack by the police on our peaceful protest appeared to me to be unprovoked and in my mind used excessive force. This is the kind of police actions that I imagine are used in repressive countries where any form of dissent is not allowed.

About 30 minutes later when the march was heading east on Laurier Ave. The police again attacked the march. They came in around Bay St.. At this time I was at the front of the march and only witnessed the last few minutes of the police keeping the march separated. Again I witnessed them using  their guns and dogs in a very aggressive and threatening manner and I heard later that more people were bit , arrested and abused.

Later that day, around 4 PM about 150 people gathered at the corner of Sussex and Rideau. We were there to again voice our dissent at the actions of the G-20, World Bank and IMF. There were 4 of us on the east side of the barricades that planned to go over and try to get into the meeting. The plan was to do this in a "non-violent" manner. We climbed the barricades and walked towards the police line with our hands raised in the air. We told the police as we approached that we were peaceful protesters.

When I came to the line of police (they were about 30 m. on the other side of the barricades) the first officer grabbed me by the head and put me in a very rough head lock applying excessive force. My glasses dropped off and I never saw them again, although I asked several times to get them back. At no time did I offer any resistance or act in an aggressive manner. In fact I let my body go limp and offered no resistance or support for what they were doing. I continued to say that I was a peaceful protester. I was carried over to the paddy wagon and placed on the ground face down. I was handcuffed while still lying face down on the ground.

After 5 minutes an officer came asked me to get up and walk the few meters to the back of the paddy wagon. I said I was not complying. The officer took both his hands and stuck his fingers under my chin and jerked me up to my feet (remember I am handcuffed and can do nothing to protect myself). This was very painful, but I refused to comply, kept my body limp and was lowered to the ground.

He then asked me to get up again and I refused again. This time he took his thumb (or finger) and pushed with excessive force just below and in front of my left ear. This was  very painful, but I thought of what it must be like to be in a repressive country where torture and intimidation are common practice in stifling protest. I refused to get up.

This time he took his finger (or thumb) and put it in my left ear and pushed with excessive force. Also very painful.

Then he said that they were going to taser me if I didn't get up. I was a little surprised at this suggestion, as so far the only thing I had done wrong was cross a police barricade in an obvious peaceful civil disobedience action. I have been involved with the activist protest movement for a dozen years and am aware of the risks involved, but I had never heard of such excessive force being used in an attempt to get someone to move. The police in ALL cases I am aware of just pick the protester up and move him. In reaction to the already painful experiences that I had been put through, I told them if they let me go into the meeting, I would get up and walk. I then felt something being pushed against my left leg and a few seconds later I felt an electrical shock explode through my body. I again refused to get up.

At this point they picked me up and roughly pushed me into the back of the paddy wagon where the 3 other people I had crossed over the barricades with, were waiting.

I was held from 4.30PM on Saturday and released on Sunday morning at 4.30AM. At no time was I, or anyone else arrested that day allowed to phone a lawyer, even though on several occasions, we were told that  "it would be later".

Several people, most notably young people, were stripped of their clothes, showered and given a plastic suit to wear, with the reason that they were contaminated with tear gas. This happened to the woman who came over the barricades with us. There was never any tear gas used during the action that we were involved with.

Many people arrested had their possessions not returned or mixed up with other peoples.

Since the events of November 16th and 17th I have been working with the legal collective that is helping to coordinate those who wish to complain about police activities and also to help retrieve property that was seized during the protest.

I have many concerns that come out of the Nov. 16 &17 protests. A few of them are:

* Why were peaceful protesters "picked off" in a commando style operation in which the public was endangered.

* Why did the police use illegal search and seizure to take so much personal property from protesters - these include, cameras, gas masks, sticks used to hold protest signs, medical equipment, watches, pocket knives and other items that could not possibly be construed as weapons.

* Why were arrested protesters  physically harassed and deprived of their right to legal council.

* If the police have nothing to hide, why have we not seen the huge amount of video footage that was taken during the protests by police cameras.
 

Sincerely
 

Paul Smith