Pro-Palestinian protesters claim excessive use of force and surveillance by Vancouver police

The Vancouver Police Department has agreed to investigate police surveillance of pro-Palestinian demonstrations after protesters and human rights activists filed complaints about invasion of privacy and excessive use of force.

The complaints followed a May 31 pro-Palestinian demonstration near the CN Rail tracks in East Vancouver, where police arrested more than a dozen protesters.

The group representing the protesters, the Pivot Legal Society, says police used excessive force that day. while the Vancouver Police Department reports those taken into custody initially refused numerous requests to move and resisted arrest, with one person allegedly punching an officer.

On Thursday, human rights activists voiced their concerns at a police board meeting at Vancouver police headquarters.

“We strongly condemn the VPD’s attempts to criminalize and suppress people’s rights to self-expression,” Simone Akianu, a staff attorney at Pivot Legal Society, said before the board meeting.

In a statement released Thursday, the society detailed the alleged use of force.

“Extraordinary use of force included the use of military pepper spray; standing on the backs of handcuffed people and placing knees on their necks (contrary to the VPD’s own restraint policy); and suffocation and suffocation of a person,” the report said.

WATCH | Arrested protesters at a pro-Palestinian rally on May 31

14 arrested during pro-Palestinian protests in East Vancouver

About 100 people blocked traffic and a rail line in East Vancouver, calling for Canada to cut diplomatic ties with Israel. Vancouver police report 14 arrests.

Protesters and human rights activists also claim that demonstrations and individual protesters were monitored.

“Surveillance — via drones, personal cell phones and body-worn cameras — potentially violates Vancouver Police Department policy,” Megan McDermott of the BC Civil Liberties Association said Thursday outside VPD headquarters.

Human rights activists spoke to the Vancouver Police Department, expressing their concerns about the surveillance.

They called for an independent investigation led by someone with expertise in human rights and anti-Palestinian racism.

“The role of police at protests should be to maintain the peace and protect the safety of all,” Meena Dillon, managing attorney at the South Asian Legal Clinic of British Columbia, told the board.

The board agreed to continue the investigation, citing serious privacy concerns.

He recommended Bob Rolls, a retired Vancouver police deputy chief, to lead an investigation into the surveillance allegations.

However, McDermott questioned whether the former high-ranking VPD officer could be impartial.

“You can’t do a proper investigation that way,” she said. “You don’t hire an ex-cop who is so closely associated with the same police department that is doing this.”

The police department postponed consideration of the complaint about excessive force until the conclusion of the criminal proceedings regarding the May 31 protest. Currently, the detainees face criminal liability. Police said at the time that the protesters were arrested for disorderly conduct and obstruction.