Witness Group to hold public meeting on G-8 activities in Ottawa

Ottawa, June 28, 2002 . . . The Witness Group, a local volunteer collective concerned with protecting the right to protest, released its initial impressions of the policing of G-8 protests in that city this week.

The Witness Group came together in early June out of concern over police behaviour during the November G-20 demonstrations in Ottawa in November 2001.  The Witness Group observed and recorded police interactions with marchers during G-8 protests in Ottawa this week as a way to ensure police accountability during these events. Witnesses acted as observers and had a strict mandate not to interpose themselves or interfere in interactions between police and protestors.

"Generally police interaction with marchers was professional. It helped that police adhered to policy and used regular uniformed officers rather than riot police. We believe the police have learned some important lessons since the G-20 demonstrations in Ottawa. In particular, we would like to recognize the work of Ottawa Police Deputy Chief Larry Hill and the Major Events Liaison Team as a positive contribution to the policing of these events," stated Witness Group spokesperson Aileen Leo.

"Having said this, we have three main concerns with regards to the policing of G-8 events in Ottawa:

1. "While the majority of officers had clear identification, we estimate that between 10 to 30 percent of police officers either had no ID or ID that wasn't readily visible. This appears to have been a problem for officers belonging to forces other than the Ottawa-Carleton police. We believe that all police involved in major events in Ottawa must have ID that is readily visible. The police have indicated they will investigate this.

2. "We regard the presence of police videotape teams to be provocative and unnecessary, particularly when they wade into large crowds. There should be a way for police to observe crowds without provocation or intrusion into personal privacy.

3. "We received individual reports of some police harassment of particular groups participating in the march."

"We hope all police involved in this week's G-8 protest will take these observations as constructive criticism so that further improvements will inform the policing of future major events in Ottawa which will uphold democratic rights to freedom of speech and freedom of expression," Ms. Leo added.

The Witness Group will hold a public meeting within the first two weeks of July to brief the community further on its observations of police interactions with marchers during G-8 protests in Ottawa. The exact date, time and location of the meeting will be announced soon. All members of the community will be welcome to attend the meeting.

For further information, contact: Aileen Leo, telephone: (613) 237-3092; e-mail: akleo@eisa.ca, or witnessgroup@rogers.ca; http://members.rogers.com/witnessgroup.