B. C. Civil Liberties Association

BCCLA Supports RCMP Complaints Body That RCMP Not Self-Investigate

The BCCLA endorsed a key recommendation that the RCMP no longer investigate itself in today’s report by the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP into the death of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport.

BCCLA Endorses Report, Says Olympic Police Can Do Better

The BCCLA announced its general support for a series of recommendations issued today by the 2010 Olympic Civil Liberties Advisory Committee today, but added that the recommendations ought to go further to ensure free speech and free assembly rights are protected in and around the Winter Games venues and corridors between them.

BCCLA demands Coroner call inquest into Boyd death

The BCCLA is demanding that the Coroner call an inquest into the death of Paul Boyd at the hands of the Vancouver Police Department. Recent media reports have suggested that the Coroner is not certain whether or not Paul Boyd was in police custody or not, and therefore whether or not a coroner’s inquest is required.

BCCLA Helps Activists Sue City Over Olympic Gag Law

The BCCLA is supporting two activists in challenging the constitutionality of the City of Vancouver’s recently passed Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games By-law.

Police Chiefs and BCCLA Agree That Police Accountability System Broken, Call on Solicitor General for Action

In a surprising about face yesterday, B.C.’s municipal police chiefs along with representatives from the RCMP joined in a press conference to declare that the current system for investigating criminal allegations against police officers, and in custody deaths, is broken and needs provincial intervention to restore public confidence in the police.

Library Agrees to Re-Examine Decision Barring Suicide Discussion From Meeting Rooms

Following a presentation from the BCCLA last night, the Vancouver Public Library Board has agreed to revisit a decision by VPL management to bar the pro-choice group Exit International from presenting in library meeting rooms.

RCMP Witness Endorses Civilian Investigation Model

RCMP Superintendent Wayne Rideout, a key witness in the inquiry into the death of Robert Dziekanski, became the latest high profile individual to endorse civilian investigation of police involved deaths for policy violations or criminal issues.

BCCLA to Present to Vancouver Library Board Tonight on Pro Choice Group Presentation

The BC Civil Liberties Association will be presenting to the Vancouver Public Library Board this evening on the issue of Exit International wishing to hold a workshop in the library’s meeting rooms based on Exit’s Peaceful Pill Handbook. The BCCLA will be asking the Library Board to overturn the Chief Librarian’s decision not to permit the room booking.

Housing Minister Reverses Plan to Arrest Homeless

According to recent media reports, B.C. Housing Minister Rich Coleman is reversing plans that he endorsed as recently as Monday to arrest homeless people who refuse to report to the nearest homeless shelter during inclement weather.

BCCLA Asks Vancouver Public Library to Overturn Right to Die Presentation Ban

The Vancouver Public Library is inappropriately restricting free speech by preventing a right to die group from discussing suicide methods with members of the public says the BCCLA.

BCCLA Uncovers Plan to Turn Homeless Shelters Into Jails

The BCCLA has uncovered four documents that suggest the provincial government is in the final stages of preparing legislation to compel the homeless to remain in homeless shelters during the 2010 Olympics.

“New” Police Act Still Has Police Investigating Themselves

B.C.’s new Solicitor General has introduced proposed changes to B.C.’s police act that, disappointingly, still have the police investigating themselves, even in cases of in custody deaths.

Legal Observer Teams Trained to Hit the Streets in 2010

If the BCCLA and Pivot get their way, more than 100 pairs of eyeballs will be on the streets of Vancouver during the 2010 Olympics watching for rights violations by the more than 7,000 police officers, 5,000 private security guards and 4,500 members of the Canadian armed forces.

Commission to resume inquiry into transfer to torture

The Military Police Complaints Commission is set to resume its inquiry into the conduct of the military police in transferring detainees captured by Canadian forces into Afghan custody in the face of reported risks of torture in Afghan prisons. The Commission was adjourned earlier this year while it awaited further production of documents from the Canadian government.

Categories: Rights and Liberties News

BCCLA calls for independent review of three police deaths in ten months

The BCCLA is seeking an independent review into how three men could die in a period of just ten months in police cells in Saskatoon, a city of 257,000 residents. In comparison, Vancouver, which is twice as large as Saskatoon, has had no deaths in its cells to the knowledge of the Association since the death of Daniel Serbeh on December 7, 2007.

Categories: Rights and Liberties News

RCMP must fix women’s rights violations in Kamloops jail

Following news of allegations of voyeuristic activities by male RCMP and civilian guards at the RCMP lockup in Kamloops, the BCCLA is calling for improved conditions in the women’s cells in the city, including basic things like female guards for female prisoners, running water and access to showers.

Categories: Rights and Liberties News

BCCLA Demands Inquest into Curtis Brick’s Death

The BCCLA joins the Union of BC Indian Chiefs and several other aboriginal organizations in demanding a coroner’s inquest into the death of homeless aboriginal man Curtis Brick. Witnesses alleged improper and degrading treatment of Brick by emergency first responders.

Omar Khadr

BCCLA seeks compliance with order of the Federal Court directing the federal government to seek the repatriation of Omar Khadr to Canada.

Canada must ensure that rights of migrants are protected

With a boatload of up to 500 Tamil migrants expected to land in British Columbia, the BCCLA is calling on the Canadian government to ensure that their fundamental human rights are respected.

Categories: Rights and Liberties News

Don’t tie drunk people to chairs, BCCLA tells RCMP

The BCCLA is asking the Williams Lake detachment of the RCMP to stop tying intoxicated prisoners to chairs when those prisoners don’t follow directions. The organization is questioning why when Williams Lake resident Lloyd Gilbert was arrested for being drunk, he was tied to a chair for three hours and twenty minutes, was forced to urinate on himself, was only checked twice, and why officers at the detachment did not have access to a bare sobering cell for him. Gilbert was tied to a chair after he defied officer directions not to climb on a sink in the cell.

Categories: Rights and Liberties News