Mohawks file lawsuit: MNN Newsflash

HAUDENOSAUNEE GRANDMOTHERS FILE “DO IT YOURSELF” LAW SUIT – WATCH OUT CANADA , THE FEDERAL COURT IS BEING PUT TO THE TEST

MNN. Aug. 30, 2008. Canada keeps trying to pretend it’s “open season” on the Kanionkehaka/Mohawk. It’s even okay to assault our elders and grandmothers. No steps have been taken to charge the Canada Border Services Agents CBSA who assaulted Katenies and Kahentinetha on June 14th 2008. Kahentinetha suffered a trauma induced heart attack. They tried to beat Katenies to a pulp. They act like this is “business as usual”. The prosecutors have not done their duty. Because of this there has been no public investigation and the crime has been swept under the carpet.

The two women have no money, but they have found a way that might make rogue crown agents accountable. They have filed an action in Canada ’s Federal Court.

This does not mean they are accepting Canadian jurisdiction over themselves or the Haudenosaunee. Canadian agents have no right to abuse human rights or commit crimes against anyone, including those foreign to Canada . Canada has signed many agreements promising to uphold international human right standards. You don’t have to be a Canadian citizen to sue Canada . Canada ’s courts have an obligation to uphold the law.

The following “Statement of Claim” shows that we can defend ourselves. They two grandmothers filed their complaint in the Federal Court of Canada, under Section 48 of Canada ’s Federal Court Act. [You can find the instructions for filing on the Federal Court website]. To get things going, you pay the filing fee and hand in 5 copies of your “Statement of Claim”. The court clerk puts on a gold stamped seal and signs it to prove it has been filed. They serve it on the government the next day, and the crown has 30 days to answer.

When you draft your claim, just put the facts down. Make sure you don’t include any allegations that you can’t prove. For example, you need a direct witness, documentary evidence or video tapes from CBSA cameras. If you miss a deadline, your case will be finished. The crown has to follow the law too, but it might try to ignore you. Don’t forget to include a demand that federal officials follow the court’s timelines.

September 19, 2008, is the crown’s deadline for answering the two grandmothers. If the crown doesn’t answer, Canada will lose by default. The court should then order Canada to meet the grandmothers’ demands.

MNN Staff

MOHAWK WOMEN FILE ‘DEMAND’. CANADA MUST RESPECT THE “RULE OF LAW”.

MOHAWK WOMEN FILE ‘DEMAND’. CANADA MUST RESPECT THE “RULE OF LAW”.

MNN. Aug. 4, 2008. The following “Letter of Demand” was sent to the Attorney General of Canada. We are reminding them to fulfill their obligation to us as our historic allies to protect our rights. Canada Border Services Agents has illegally erected facilities in the midst of our community of Akwesasne and is illegally interfering with our right to live peacefully among our people. In particular, criminal assaults have been conducted against members of our community, including the assault against Kahentinetha and Katenies on June 14th 2008 at the “Cornwall Ontario” check point. According to the Canadian Constitution Canada is governed by the rule of law and everyone is equal before the law. This means that Canadian officials must obey the law, just like everyone else. When they commit an assault they should be charged with an assault under the Criminal Code just like anyone else who commits an assault. According to Federal Court of Canada rules, the Attorney General must answer this letter by August 22, 2008.

LETTER OF DEMAND

Date: July 23, 2008

WITHOUT PREJUDICE

TO: Hon. Robert Douglas Nicholson
Minister of Justice & Attorney General of Canada
284 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8
613-941-6900 nicholson.r@parl.gc.ca

TAKE NOTICE THAT ON JUNE 14, 2008, KAHENTINETHA AND KATENIES, MEMBERS OF THE KANION’KE:HAKA/MOHAWK NATION, WERE ASSAULTED, BRUTALIZED, ARRESTED AND DETAINED ILLEGALLY AT THE CORNWALL BORDER.

The following are the facts giving rise to this incident.

1. On June 14, 2008 Sakowaiaks and Kahentinetha went to Akwesasne to pick up Katenies. Kahentinetha is a 68 year old grandmother. Katenies is 43 years old and also a grandmother.

2. At approximately 2:00 pm they were passing through the Canadian border control on the Cornwall portion. Akwesasne is a small community. The Canada-U.S. border has been placed in the middle of the Mohawk community. The people have to cross the border many times a day for groceries or to visit relatives.

3. Katenies, Kahentinetha and Sakowaiaks went through the border and were told to wait under the canopy. They sat there peacefully for an hour surrounded by guards. Some Mohawk elders showed up to witness. Several other vehicles were searched and released. Only Indigenous people were stopped. Eventually a platoon of about a dozen guards marched towards the car, all wearing leather gloves, flack jackets and all kinds of equipment hanging about their waist. One officer, Maurice Saucier [Badge #16121], was on the cell phone throughout directing operations during the attack on Kahentinetha and Katenies.

4. At approximately 3:00 pm Katenies was dragged violently from the back seat of the car by a gang of hefty young men and women. They knocked her down, pinned her to the ground, and forced their knees into her head and back. They handcuffed her and smashed and rubbed her face into the pavement. Sakowaiaks still remembers the sound of flesh hitting the pavement. She received bleeding scrapes and bruises on her face, shoulders, arms and legs. Katenies’ was taken into the customs building and later to Ottawa. She was not given any medical attention. She was not allowed to call her mother and her mother was not permitted to see her or speak to her. Katenies was held incommunicado for three days until she appeared in Cornwall court on June 17, 2008.

5. There were no warrants or charges out for Kahentinetha. Her ID and car keys had already been taken. Katenies’ has not been returned. Also missing are documents that were in the trunk and the shoes taken from Kahentinetha’s feet.

6. It was only after the assault on Katenies began that Kahentinetha was ordered to get out of the car. She saw what they were planning to do to her. Kahentinetha heard Maurice Saucier tell the other agents to “Take her out”. On June 14th 2008 she was afraid for her life if she got out of the car. She was right and continues to be afraid.

7. She was handcuffed, assaulted and imprisoned. Once in the cell, the attack continued. Some of the officers deliberately tightened the handcuffs she was wearing several times. This cut the circulation to her hands. The pain shot up her arms and she experienced flashes of light and pains in the middle of her chest and back. She cried for help. The guards ignored her and tightened the handcuffs more. They yelled threats at her and kept ordering her to bend down. A man stood behind her and had his hands on her pants. She received scrapes and bruises on her arms and legs.

8. Frank Horn, a Cornwall lawyer, and his son Kanatase, happened to be waiting in the line at the border. [613-935-8882]. They wouldn’t let him see his sister, Kahentinetha, until they took off the cuffs and gave her a chair to sit on. When he saw her, he immediately insisted on calling an ambulance. The Akwesasne Police stood and watched in silence. The ambulance took her to Cornwall Community Hospital and the Ottawa Ontario Heart Institute. She remained in hospital for 5 days in the trauma unit and intensive care unit. Since that time she had a relapse and was hospitalized at the Anna Laberge Hospital in Chateauguay Quebec.

9. The medical record confirms that despite excellent physical condition Kahentinetha had a trauma induced heart attack. Her recovery will take a long time. Part of her heart was killed. Her health will never be the same. Both women are now recuperating in the company of their children and grandchildren.

10. None of these women is associated with any kind of criminal activity.

11. The video footage of the assaults on Kahentinetha and Katenies on June 14th 2008 have been confiscated by Canada‘s Department of “National Defense”. We are informed the only way to obtain these videos is to “waive our rights”. .

12. Some of the CBSA officers had the following badge numbers: 17012; 16320; 16511; 16121; and 16275; Some of those involved and responsible for border issues are Alain Jolicoeur, President of CBSA 613-952-3200; Lance Markel, District Director CBSA 613-930-3234; Hon. Stockwell Day, Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness 613-995-1703 day.s@parl.gc.ca; Dave MacKenzie, Parliamentary Secretary, Public Safety, 613-995-4432 mackenzie.d@parl.gc.ca; Akwesasne Mohawk Police 613-575-2250 ext. 2400; and Louis Mitchell, Mohawk Security 613-932-5183, 613-575-2340;

13. We have reason to believe that the Canadian “state” conspired to kill us. These assaults appear to have been carried out by the Canada Border Security Agency, Canada Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, Akwesasne Mohawk Police Services and Mohawk Security Officers, all agencies of the Canadian government. The courts of “Canada” are presently issuing false charges and attempting to serve warrants on Kahentinetha and Katenies.

DEMAND FOR RELEASE:

14. The individuals who assaulted the three women must be charged, tried and punished.
15. Full and complete undoctored copies of the video footage of this event.
16. Full disclosure of all files and official communications concerning the cases of Kahentinetha and Katenies.
17. $10 million for physical, psychological and punitive damages and such other relief as this court may deem fit.

Deadline for settlement:

18. An order that all Canadian government agencies will respect the time delays set out in the rules of court.

From:
Kahentinetha, Bear Clan __________________ kahentinetha2@yahoo.comj
Katenies, Bear Clan ______________________ katenies20@yahoo.com

% Box 991, Kahnawake, Quebec, Canada J0L 1B0, 450-635-9345

Address for service: for the purposes of this proceeding only, service to be made % Julio Peris, 625 Rene-Levesque West, Suite 900, Montreal Quebec H3B 1R2 – 514-933-4656 Fax 514-933-9587.

PLEASE NOTE : As can be seen, it’s becoming critical for legal actions to be taken to protect our rights. We have no funds. Canada is hiring costly law firms to suppress our rights. If you can donate anything to our cause, it will be greatly appreciated. Donate to: PayPal, www.mohawknationnews.com, or “MNN Mohawk Nation News”, Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0. Nia:en/Thank you very much.

CBC News: U.S. officials won't enforce new border ID rules

A U.S. law requiring Canadians to show proof of citizenship when crossing the border by land or sea takes effect Thursday, but to appease some politicians, American customs officials say it won't be enforced for at least another 18 months.

For months, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had said that as of Thursday, Canadian and U.S. citizens entering the United States by land and sea would have to show ID, such as a passport, or birth certificate combined with photo ID, proving their nationality, under rules adopted in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

A passport or special travel card will be required for all trips to the U.S. starting in June 2009, but for now, Canadians entering by land or sea can get in without any proof of citizenship.
(Tom Hanson/Canadian Press)

Air travellers have had to show proof of citizenship since January 2007.

But U.S. border officials now say travellers without proper documentation will be allowed into the U.S. until June 2009, and will receive an educational flyer instead of being turned away.

"What we will do is briefly explain to them that they're not in compliance," said Kevin Corsaro, a supervisory officer in the Buffalo, N.Y., field office of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

"We'll give them a tear sheet that explains how to become compliant, and they'll be able to proceed on with their trip.

"This is an educational process," said Corsaro. "We will not refuse a Canadian citizen entry into this country, into the United States, if their only violation is that they do not have proof of citizenship."

Asking for reprieve

The move to relax ID requirements comes after a group of 19 U.S. senators wrote Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

Their letter asks Chertoff to continue the system of allowing Canadians and Americans to cross land and sea borders by presenting any government-issued photo ID, such as a driver's licence, and making an oral declaration of citizenship.

The senators — led by Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Ted Stevens of Alaska and Charles Schumer of New York — said Homeland Security should hold off on any changes until June 2009, when the U.S. Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative goes into full effect and passports will be required to cross all U.S. borders.

"We have the longest, most peaceful, friendliest border in the world. We gotta be cherishing that instead of trying to make that border look like a security threat," Leahy told CBC News.

"These new ideas are not going to make either Canada or the United States more secure. We will end up losing hundreds of billions of dollars worth of jobs."

More than 800,000 people enter the U.S. through land and sea ports each day. Between October and December, agents say, they caught more than 1,500 people making false oral declarations.

This morning's FIRST taZer report ..

Well, it's the Globe and Mail and you really can't expect much from them on this issue; they think The Harper is a CENTRIST afterall.

I really wonder how many were actually there - note how we get a highly contrived photo of the demo that gives you absolutely no way to know what happened, or how many people attended ..

People CHEERED for Paul Pritchard for obviously having the grit to get his video back from the RCMP.

Rally calls for suspension of taser use

CAMILLE BAINS

THE CANADIAN PRESS

November 24, 2007 at 7:12 PM EST

VANCOUVER — A man who shot a video of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski being zapped by an RCMP taser before he died received a hero's welcome at a memorial rally in Vancouver.

A crowd of over 1,000 people chanted “Thank you, Paul,” as Paul Pritchard spoke Saturday about how he fell asleep before boarding a connecting flight from San Francisco, where he'd waited five hours after a 12-hour trip from China.

He then got the last seat on another flight and ended up at Vancouver International Airport on the evening of Oct. 13, where he recorded the last moments of Mr. Dziekanski's life.

Mr. Pritchard told the crowd that despite any statements by the Mounties, he saw Mr. Dziekanski, 40, being jolted with a taser in the early-morning hours of Oct. 14.

Enlarge Image

A demonstrator attends a rally in memory of Robert Dziekanski in Vancouver on Saturday. (LYLE STAFFORD/REUTERS)

“I saw what happened with my own eyes,” Mr. Pritchard said. “I saw the life drain out of a man's face. I heard the blood-curdling screams.”

He said scenes from the “horrific and terrible and tragic event” he recorded on a video that has been seen around the world are forever burned in his brain.

Mr. Pritchard said he met Mr. Dziekanski's mother, Zofia Cisowski, before arriving at the rally.

“It was a meeting of few words and many tears,” he said. “There was a look in this woman's face, in her eyes, of emptiness.”

Mr. Pritchard said that although he's received tremendous support for fighting to get the video recording back from the RCMP and release it to the public, there has been some negative reaction.

“Some people have told me that I'm an embarrassment to Canada,” he said.

“But I'll tell you what, being there that night I'm embarrassed and I'm ashamed of what happened.”

Several people at the rally held banners reading “Charge RCMP with murder,” “Serve and protect: Do not kill, lie and cover up,” and “Stop the abuse of force.”

Speakers from the Polish community, the federal and provincial NDP and a civil rights group called for the suspension of police taser use until various investigations into Mr. Dziekanski's death have been concluded.

Many protesters carried flags bearing a white eagle, the national symbol of Poland, which also adorned hats and scarves, one of which was draped around Mr. Pritchard, who left the stage in tears after receiving flowers.

Organizers were also passing around donation cans in an attempt to raise $20,000 for Mr. Dziekanski's mother, partly so she could take her son's ashes to Poland.

Psychiatric nurse Tania Lukasiewicz said she often deals with people who are unstable but doesn't use any kind of force to subdue them.

Ms. Lukasiewicz called on the four Mounties who dealt with Mr. Dziekanski to be charged, for the RCMP to improve training and for free translation services to be available at Vancouver International Airport for non-English-speaking travellers.

Diem Franke, who helped organize the rally, said the Vancouver Airport Authority has agreed to either a plaque or a welcoming centre in memory of Mr. Dziekanski.

*snip*

Earlier this week, Premier Gordon Campbell phoned Ms. Cisowski, to apologize for what happened to her son.

The B.C. government has also ordered a public inquiry into the matter.

On Monday, the Canada Border Services Agency, which has been criticized for its silence on the taser incident, will release an internal report outlining the actions it will take to better deal with immigration incidents.

Ms. Cisowski has said she spent more than six hours in the international arrivals lounge trying frantically to persuade airport officials to help her find her son, who didn't speak English and had never been to Canada.

She said workers in a Canada Border Services Agency office checked a computer but told her there was no sign of him. However, he was later processed as a landed immigrant.

The furor over Mr. Dziekanski's death has prompted several memorial services and plenty of questions about why no one helped a man who'd been wandering around the international arrivals hall for so long that he became panic-stricken and tried to barricade himself in the area. (See! I told ya! The truth will out!)

Last week, a memorial service for Mr. Dziekanski in Kamloops drew hundreds of people who heard he was a geography buff who'd sent postcards from every trip he went on.

A large crowd also showed up at a simultaneous candlelight vigil at Vancouver International Airport.

In a statement from RCMP Commissioner William Elliott, the force has said it remains behind the use of the taser but also agrees further research is needed into its impact on people suffering from a medical condition called excited delirium.

Some have speculated that was Mr. Dziekanski's state when police encountered him, although the video shows he had calmed down considerably from the minutes before where he was throwing small pieces of furniture at the glass wall in the airport.

Philadelphia Inquirer

Rallies For Robert Dziekanski CKNW, Canada - 4 hours ago VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980) - Hundreds of people wearing red and white gathered outside the Vancouver Art Gallery to remember Robert Dziekanski, ... Tears and anger at rally for Tasered man CTV.ca BC man who shot video of Polish immigrant jolted with Taser gets ... The Canadian Press BC man injured during altercation with police dies Globe and Mail Canada.com all 309 news articles »

Ottawa Citizen

Fourth Taser gun death in Canada: police AFP - 9 hours ago In October, Robert Dziekanski, 40, died after being shocked repeatedly by policemen with a Taser gun only 60 seconds after they first approached him at the ... Taser use proliferating Canada.com Stun-Guns are Safe: Taser International 580 CFRA Radio Taser Terror Torontoist Melbourne Herald Sun - Malaysia Sun all 35 news articles »

CTV.ca

Dziekanski tributes still flowing in The Province, Canada - 5 hours ago A week ago The Province set up an online condolence book at www.legacy.com for people to send condolences to the family of Robert Dziekanski. ... Polish TV crew in BC to probe Dziekanski's death CTV.ca ON CANOE.CA London Free Press CALL FROM CAMPBELL Globe and Mail Globe and Mail all 5 news articles » Philadelphia Inquirer BC man who shot video of Polish immigrant jolted with Taser gets ... The Canadian Press - 8 hours ago Over 1000 people chanted "Thank you, Paul," as Paul Pritchard spoke Saturday about how he fell asleep before boarding a connecting flight from San Francisco ... BC man hit by Taser, batons dies Toronto Star Tears and anger at rally for Tasered man CTV.ca Mourners demand answers The Province all 309 news articles »