Pubdate: Wed, 14 May 2003
Source: Vancouver Courier (CN BC)
Copyright: 2003 Vancouver Courier
Contact:  http://www.vancourier.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/474
Author:  Mike Howell

MAYOR TO MEET HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP

Former foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy has agreed to facilitate a 
meeting next month between Mayor Larry Campbell and a New York-based human 
rights group that delivered a damning report last week on the police 
department's drug crackdown in the Downtown Eastside.

Campbell asked the members of Human Rights Watch to return to Vancouver 
after he criticized their report for reflecting "only a partial 
understanding of the issues at work" and casting a pall over the 
four-pillar drug strategy and the city's reputation.

"I'm not poo-pooing the report, but I certainly don't think that we have a 
human rights problem here in the city," said Campbell, who sent a letter to 
Human Rights Watch Thursday, requesting their return.

On Monday, he spoke to Axworthy after learning the former minister was a 
member of the Human Rights Watch board. Axworthy agreed to facilitate a 
meeting in Vancouver on June 10. Campbell said he hopes members of Human 
Rights Watch will bring details of the allegations made against the police 
department.

Titled "Abusing the User: Police Misconduct, Harm Reduction and HIV/AIDS in 
Vancouver," the report alleges instances of police "beating and otherwise 
mistreating drug users in custody, conducting public strip searches and 
using petty allegations such as jaywalking to justify stops and searches."

The report also documents a significant reduction in the use of needle 
exchange programs and other life-saving services related to fear of police 
abuse and harassment among drug addicts.

The information was gathered by Human Rights Watch researchers Joanne Csete 
and Jonathan Cohen, who said from New York that their group welcomed the 
opportunity to meet with the mayor.

"We have a reputation for doing very even-handed reporting and by no means 
was the intention to foreclose the possibility of dialogue with the mayor's 
office, which is why we're very happy to meet with him," Cohen said.

Campbell, a former Mountie and current chair of the police board, said he 
was disappointed Human Rights Watch members didn't contact his office 
during their visit. However, councillors Tim Louis and Ellen Woodsworth 
were interviewed.

"Councillors Woodsworth and Louis have really nothing to do with 
policing... I'm not suggesting that I'm the expert on the Downtown 
Eastside. I'm simply saying, you know, as the chair of the police board and 
as the mayor, they could have come to me."

The Vancouver Police Department, meanwhile, says it has not received any 
written complaints against its officers since the crackdown on drug dealers 
began April 7.
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