Amnesty International Calls for Public Inquiry into Alleged Police Brutality.

Canada, May 5, 2001: In the aftermath of the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City, Amnesty International is calling for a public inquiry to investigate police tactics and behavior in handling the demonstrations which surrounded the meeting and conditions for people detained at Orsainville prison.

"Eye witness accounts--including from our own observer--point to the excessive use of tear gas by police against peaceful demonstrators and the use of plastic bullets," the organization said. Figures announced by the authorities, including the use of around 800 rubber and plastic bullets and over 4,000 gas and smoke canisters, would seem to bear this out.

Amnesty International has written to the Quebec Minister for Public Security and the Solicitor General of Canada expressing concern about the following violations of protesters' rights during and after the demonstrations:

* The excessive use of tear gas on protesters not involved in violent behavior or posing any threat to property or the police, including the firing of tear gas directly at individuals and directly into private property for no apparent reason.

* The use of plastic bullets in situations where the safety of police officers and the integrity of the summit were not threatened.

* The use of an electro-shock device on a peaceful demonstrator who had refused police instructions to move, which is tantamount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.

* The denim of prompt legal representation to those arrested.

* The overcrowding of cells containing those arrested, including the holding of up to five persons in cells designed for one, for prolonged periods.

Amnesty International is reiterating its call, made before the summit, that policing must be carried out in such a way as to protect the rights of peaceful demonstrators.

The organization is also increasingly concerned about the judicial system's treatment of political activist Jaggi Singh, who may have been punished for his activism. Amnesty International fears that the charges against him could be politically motivated and is concerned at the reported lack of evidence of his involvement in any recognizably illegal activity. "We will shortly be writing to the authorities to obtain explanations of what appeared to be Jaggi Singh's prolonged incarceration following his arrest during the Quebec summit, and details of the charges laid against him," the organization said.

For more information please contact Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London, United Kingdom WC1X 0DW; www.amnesty.org; [phone]