[asia-apec 767] Van Sun: Spying on anti-APEC protesters

[David Webster]

Last Updated: Wednesday 7 October 1998        TOP STORIES
                  ---------------------------------------------------------
Wide range of protesters assessed
The Vancouver Sun

Jeff Lee Vancouver Sun
Student groups, the          Ian Smith, Vancouver Sun /
Anglican Church of
Canada, unions,           WITNESSES WAIT: Lawyers at the
native Indians,           APEC hearing argue Tuesday over
environmentalists --      calling the witnesses who wait
even the seniors          in the background.
singing protest group
Raging Grannies --
were listed as potential threats to APEC leaders during
last November's summit in Vancouver, military documents
 indicate.

                  Security forces charged with looking after the 18 world
                  leaders concluded that the biggest threat among those
                  assessed was student protester Jaggi Singh, who earned
                  the only "moderate" threat designation because he was
                  "attempting to link APEC to every social cause currently
                  at issue in Canada and the entire world" and had pledged
                  to stop leaders' motorcades, the documents said.

                  The information, made public at the RCMP Public
                  Complaints Commission Tuesday, shows that the Canadian
                  Forces compiled regular "threat assessments" on a
                  variety of domestic and foreign groups who they thought
                  might protest or present security problems at the
                  summit.

                  The commission, which is investigating allegations of
                  excessive police force at the conference, made public
                  thousands of pages of documents from the federal defence
                  department, the RCMP, Prime Minister Jean Chretien's
                  office, the department of foreign affairs, the
                  University of B.C. and the Canadian Security
                  Intelligence Service.

                  The Canadian Labour Congress, the B.C. Federation of
                  Labour and native and human rights groups such as the
                  United Native Nations and Amnesty International were the
                  subject of security concerns.

                  In an assessment dated Oct. 21, the military said
                  potential threats included threats to the Canadian
                  Forces, (Raging Grannies, Nanoose Conversion Campaign
                  and Defenders of Nuclear Disarmament B.C.) and threats
                  to APEC attendees (Amnesty International, Greenpeace,
                  Bear Watch, East Timor Action Network and others).

                  The report also included a list of 21 groups attending
                  the People's Summit, which billed itself as the official
                  opposition to APEC. Among those were the Anglican Church
                  of Canada and the B.C. Teachers Federation.

                  In later assessments, which it code-named Operation
                  Mandible, the Canadian Forces assessed a number of
                  groups on the basis of whether they posed low, moderate
                  or high threats to APEC officials.

                  Low meant that "threat capability exists but currently
                  no evidence [exists] of intent to attack" any APEC
                  members. Moderate was described as "intent to attack a
                  target other than [Canadian Forces], but CF elements
                  could suffer collateral casualties."

                  A high rating -- which was not given to anyone -- would
                  indicate intent to attack the forces. In all cases
                  except one, it concluded that there was a "low" threat
                  level. The exception was Singh, who it noted was the
                  leader or organizer behind a number of groups.

                  Singh is one of more than 40 complainants who have
                  alleged the RCMP were out of line when they arrested and
                  pepper-sprayed protesters.

                  Joanna Nagel, a Raging Grannie, said Tuesday: "That a
                  bunch of old ladies in funny hats could be seen as a
                  threat is a bit silly. I don't know whether to be
                  flattered or afraid."

                  But Kathleen Wallace-Deering, a staff member of the
                  Anglican Church of Canada diocese in Vancouver and an
                  organizer of social-justice events during APEC, said she
                  sees the actions of CSIS as legitimate.

                  "I think it would be naive of me to not expect that
                  those responsible for safeguarding the security of
                  participants would not have to be assessing who might
                  cross the lines of non-violent protest," she said.

 _ _ _
 \   /    "Long words Bother me."
  \ /           -- Winnie the Pooh