COMMUNIQUÉ FROM THE COLLECTIVE OPPOSED TO POLICE BRUTALITY – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Montréal, March 15th, 2009 – The Collective Opposed to Police Brutality (COBP) has rarely been as shocked by the behavior of police officers at an International Day Against Police Brutality demonstration as it was today. Following the campaign of fear orchestrated and carried out by Montreal police (SPVM) since last Tuesday, we prepared ourselves for the storm, but the abuses ended up exceeding even our worst expectations.
It began the Friday night before the demo, when the RCMP “convinced” the café-bar l’Escalier to close its doors to prevent a benefit show for the COBP from taking place. On Sunday the mood of the protest was set before the march had even begun with numerous demonstrators being searched illegally and some even brutalized during the process by police officers whose badge numbers were obscured. At least five people were arrested arbitrarily despite the fact that they had committed no offence. Twenty minutes before the time of the rally at Mont-Royal metro, the orange line of the Montreal metro system was closed between Berri-UQUAM and Beaubien stations, at which point police officers at Sherbrooke metro station proceeded to intimidate and threaten with physical violence anyone planning on attending the demonstration. Despite all of these inconveniences and the demagogic discourse held by those in charge at the SPVM in the week before the demo, it was the largest turnout in the history of the March 15th protest in Montreal, with at least 2,000 people participating.
The SPVM have criticized the COBP for exercising the constitutional right (as many organizations do) to deny the police information about the route of the march. The fact is that our collective could not take the risk of trusting the SPVM with information that would facilitate a mass arrest or brutal dispersal of the march. As it was, the police still did not respect our right to demonstrate freely, seeking from the very beginning to separate the demonstration into three distinct groups in order to prevent us from taking the route we had originally planned and instead redirecting us towards the downtown core, an area that has proven symbolically volatile in the past. Many attempts were made throughout the demonstration to calm tensions and prevent acts of vandalism. A portion of the speeches before the march were dedicated to this subject, as one of the spokespersons said: “We must not give them the excuse they are hoping for to proceed to arrests which will threaten the entire demonstration.” Organizers also made two calls for dispersal which failed due to the fact that police literally stole our megaphone, taking it from the hands of one of the organizers.
We sincerely hope that the media will take the time to seriously discuss the critical issues we have attempted to communicate to the general population today. Fredy Villanueva’s murder is not only truly moving in and of itself, but is also indicative of the larger issue of police impunity. Since 1987, 43 people have been killed by SPVM officers who have yet to see charges brought against them for involuntary manslaughter or murder. Since 2001, we have seen 300 deaths across North-America related to police’s use of Tasers. Last year, the Human Rights and Youth Protection Commission of Quebec found the Montreal police to be guilty of racial profiling. Around the world, the poor, the immigrant populations, the marginalized and protestors are all victims of illegal abuses perpetrated by police on a regular basis. For these reasons, we will continue our year long day to day work keeping an eye on police work and we will be here still on March 15th, 2010 to highlight the 14th annual International Day Against Police Brutality.
The Collective Opposed to Police Brutality