CBC "The Fifth Estate" program examines police brutality at Toronto G20 (45 min)

[JohnyCanuck]

Run time: 45:09 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXQ06Q55u1k   Posted on YouTube: February 26, 2011 By YouTube Member: ttswakingminds Views on YouTube: 915   Posted on DU: February 27, 2011 By DU Member: JohnyCanuck Views on DU: 799

 

[Marcel]

1. K&R

Disgusting. I guess that fascism is spreading.

[JohnyCanuck]

2. Another longer documentary on this topic is also available on Youtube

This one is 2hr 14min long:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZxkAn-g4Xo&feature=player_embedded

[JohnyCanuck]

3. A little blurb about this documentary that appeared in the right-wing Toronto Sun

Like you would expect in North Korea, it doesn’t look like we are going to get a federal inquiry into what the hell happened during the G20.

But thanks to independent documentary filmmaker Derek Soberal we do have a comprehensive record they can’t quash.

It’s called Toronto G20 Exposed and it’s an A to Z video rundown of all that occurred — from Officer Bubbles, to the overlooking of the real criminals, to disgraceful torching of police cruisers, to the embarrassing arrest (assault?) of a peaceful one-legged protester, to the rubber bullets and covered name tags, to alleged beatings and the disgraceful kettling exercise at Spadina and Queen.

It’s disturbing but a mustwatch. You can find it on line at www.TorontoG20Exposed. ca and you can also order a DVD hard copy for your collection.

“I made up 1,000 of them,” Derek said this week of the endeavour paid for with his own money and not from the billion-dollar taxpayer slush fund that fuelled the whole debacle.

And guess who has been his biggest customers so far?

“The police,” he said laughing of their souvenir purchases.

I am probably naive but am still hoping somebody in power cares enough about this country and its citizens to answer the following questions: How much did it cost the taxpayers? Who got that money? Who made the decision to stand down and let the anarchists run wild but then later condoned the arrest more than 1,000 innocent people for no reason?

The tax collectors at the helm, who are playing the time game and are hoping it will all go away, still don’t seem to realize they work for us and it will only go away when we say it does.

It won’t go away for a lot of people until somebody explains how it is in a country with a Charter of Rights there could be martial law without going through Parliament?

http://www.pressdisplay.com/pressdisplay/viewer.aspx

[JohnyCanuck]

4. G20 public inquiry needed: report

A full-scale public inquiry is needed in light of the widespread and violent trampling of civil rights by police at last summer's G20 summit in Toronto, a report concludes.

The call for an inquiry is among recommendations in the report — by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and National Union of Public and General Employees — which is aimed at holding governments accountable and avoiding a recurrence.

"The many violations of civil liberties that occurred during the summit, such as illegal detentions and searches and excessive uses of force, cannot have simply been the actions of a few bad apples," the report states.

"Rather, given the scope and severity of the violations of rights that occurred during the G20, it is difficult to view this situation as anything other than a failure of policy and training."

The 59-page report — slated for release Monday — is the result of three days of public hearings in Toronto and Montreal in November.

Dozens of people caught up in the weekend mayhem last June — 1,105 people were arrested — spoke up, as did lawyers and academics.

Police refused to take part.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/02/27/g20-report.html

[JohnyCanuck]

5. Medics at G20 protests speak out against police brutality

We gave out water and sunscreen, but we also dealt with severe injuries. All of the serious injuries we treated were inflicted by the police. While violence against property received a great deal of coverage, violence against people -- broken bones, cracked heads and eyes filled with pepper spray - has yet to feature prominently in any mainstream media. Our teams of medics witnessed and treated people who had been struck in the head by police batons, had lacerations from police shields and had been trampled by police horses (See examples here, here, here and here).

Medics escorted several victims to nearby hospitals who were later diagnosed with concussions and fractures. Many others provided first aid, beyond the Toronto Street Medics; hence these reports are only a part of the bigger picture.

Street Medics faced barriers in many instances. We witnessed people being seriously injured behind police lines who could not be assisted. Our concern for these individuals is immense. Several medics were detained by police and intimidated, despite identifying themselves. Medical equipment, such as gauze, band aids and gloves, was confiscated. We were intimidated and made to feel that what we were doing was illegal. In fact, we were simply providing first-aid.

Further violence occurred in detention. We assisted a number of people upon their release who shared their experiences with us. People were denied basic necessities, including water, food and appropriate toilet facilities. Rights were denied, including prompt access to legal services. Access to health services, including to personal medications for chronic diseases, was curtailed. For the people we assisted, medications were not returned upon their release. People were forced to frantically seek new prescriptions and purchase medications, with at least one case of withdrawal from a medication occurring. Some experienced sexual violence while in detention and many have reported symptoms of anxiety and trauma (See here and here).

http://rabble.ca/news/2010/07/medics-g20-protests-speak-out-against-police-brutality-0