Charges not enough, complainant says

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The Native man whose complaint started the process that led to an RCMP investigation into the conduct of Saskatoon city police officers, and which then led to charges filed against two police officers on April 12, is worried that the social and legal questions at the centre of the issue will not be confronted during the criminal prosecution process.

Darrell Night alleges that Constables Dan Hatchen and Ken Munson arrested him in the early hours of Jan. 28, drove him to an isolated area on the outskirts of Saskatoon, took his jacket and threw him out of the cruiser while shouting racist remarks at him.

After the RCMP investigation into those allegations was completed on March 20, the prosecutions branch of the Saskatchewan Justice Ministry charged the two officers with unlawful confinement and assault.

Temperatures in the region in January can be cold enough to kill. It was minus 26 celsius on the night in question. In fact, two other Native men - Rodney Naistus and Lawrence Wegner - were found frozen to death during the week following the morning Night alleges he was dropped off by the police officers. Their bodies were found near the area where Night claims he was ejected from the police cruiser.

Three other deaths in similar circumstances are also being investigated by the RCMP.

Cree lawyer Donald Worme of Regina is representing Night and the families of those who froze to death. During an interview on April 13, he told Windspeaker his client is encouraged that the charges have been laid, but he still wants answers to questions that probably won't be raised during the criminal trial.

"I think while there's some sense of relief on his part, there's also a certain apprehension, I suspect, that he's really not going to get the kinds of answers that he's been asking for," Worme said.

"[The charges are] an answer, certainly, but that isn't necessarily the answer to the questions that he wants answered.

"He knows full well what had happened to him and he's quite prepared to speak the truth if he ever gets that opportunity. But I don't think that the criminal process has any ability or is properly equipped to deal with the kinds of issues that are really at the heart of this. Those issues, quite frankly, are human rights issues and hence his question: How could he, as a human being, be treated like this? What could possibly be going on in those officers' minds that they would see fit to treat another human being like this?"

Native leaders in the province have suggested that the answer is simple: racism. Worme thinks it goes further than that. If the process is confined to looking into the actions of just two police officers, then the underlying systemic reasons behind the alleged actions won't be exposed and examined, he believes. He said his client believes this is an opportunity to take a close look at attitudes towards Native people in Saskatchewan.

"I think that to deny that there are underpinnings of ethnicity would be foolish and I'm not doing that, but I'm saying there is nothing here to indicate that that is the sole basis upon which they believed that such conduct was appropriate" Wome said. "It's a little deeper question and I really commend Darrell. He's a very courageous individual, a very thoughtful individual and inasmuch as his confidence in the justice system is shattered, I can also tell you that he distinguishes between that and a respect for the rule of law. He certainly understands that there is law and it needs to be obeyed but what his experience has been is that there are those who are above the law and perceive themselves as above the law. He will undoubtedly continue to do his public duty and testify in a court of law relative to these allegations, if he has to and if he gets that opportunity. He may not. As you know, there are different options that are available to an accused person that could include guilty pleas and so on. We don't know if he's ever going to get that opportunity nd hence his demand for a venue in which to ultimately tell his story and to ask the questions that he's been asking. In our view, only an independent judicial inquiry can provide that. There is no other mechanism at this moment."

Human rights activists who have followed the steady stream of violent encounters with police that led to the deaths of Native people in Canada say it's time for something to be done. Assembly of First Nations Chief Phil Fontaine has called for a contextual review of the attitudes police services have towards Native people. Others have suggested the creation of a national independent body whose only duty would be to investigate police violence involving Native people, saying it's an idea whose time has come when you consider the shooting of Native protestor Dudley George in Ontario and so many other deaths.

Others say the fact that there hasn't been that type of response to a highly visible and serious problem is yet another manifestation of the root causes of the situation. Worme said federal and provincial government officials may be unwilling to consider such a national investigative body, but the First Nation political organization in the province, the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN), is looking at it.

FSIN spokesman Darcy Mackenzie confirmed that it is an option the organization is toying with, adding the FSIN has already hired private investigators to gather information about Night's case and the others.

As Worme and his investigators examine the information and evidence dealing with the deaths, he's also closely watching the way authorities in the province are handling the charges from the Night case. Since the case involves allegations that people in authority abused their public trust, he's watching for signs of a cover-up or any move by government officials to limit the scope of the investigations.

Worme made a point of saying it would be wrong to assume that the deaths are related to the allegations in the ight case without direct evidence.

"I wouldn't want to suggest there's a connection, but we are representing the family of Neil Stonechild who died in November of 1990, froze to death in the north end of Saskatoon. That case was investigated by Saskatoon city police who found no foul play.

On April 18, Worme discovered documents related to the Stonechild case have been destroyed - in December - by the Saskatoon police, who claim it was a routine case of purging old files after a reasonable time period. Worme believes they made the move too soon. The RCMP investigators say they can still continue their investigation without those files, although it will mean re-interviewing witnesses and re-constructing the files.