Almost a year since Robert Dzienkanski’s death at the Vancouver airport and citizens still reeling from the police-riot at the RNC, the National Post chimes in on the RCMP taser report:
Canadians shouldn’t have had to wait for an Access to Information Request to drag an RCMP investigation on the force’s use of Tasers into the public eye. The Mounties should have released the report themselves, without prompting, when they received it in June. And they should make public now the 18 pages they have censored, including the investigators’ recommendations on when and how Tasers should be used.
Since Mr. Dzienkanski’s death, at least five other Canadians have died after being tasered in police custody. Responding to these deaths — or perhaps more appropriately to the public outcry over these deaths — many traditional taser apologists have adjusted their white-knuckled brochure-marketing-inspired defense. Even former RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli has wised up.
So, what could be hidden in those secret redacted pages? Canadians just really shouldn’t know, so says your RCMP.
In recent electro-shock history, the United Nations has identified tasers as a form of torture. Admittedly, the criminal permissiveness of torture by Canadians has never been a problem before.
Amnesty International specifically reprimanded Canada in Spring 2007 in their report, “Canada: Inappropriate and Excessive Use of Tasers” [PDF].
If the RCMP are unable to fulfill their mandate without extra fatalities, and are unable to correct their “accidentally killing people” problem while maintaining openness and the trust of the Canadian people… well, then… I might just have to sit here quietly in case they electrocute and kill me.
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