This from Holly DeSimone,
Truly was an honour to be interviewed by you Valerie. I hope many individuals will learn from this article today about our justice system and the changes! (Special to the Calgary Herald by Valerie Fortney!)
Thank you for bringing awareness to our advocating!
Valerie is a very dedicated reporter! Special individual who reports on crime with passion, dedication and pride! That is what makes Valerie an award winning jounalist!
Thank you to Ted Rhodes for your photos also...look for Part 2 in Sunday's Calgary Herald!!
On the night she was sexually assaulted by an acquaintance, Holly Desimone became a member of a club no one ever wants to join: that of crime victim.
To read today's story online at the Calgary Herald by Valerie Fortney click on the link below!
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/From+victims+crusaders/1895621/story.html
Story about my journey! From victims to crusaders, By Valerie Fortney, Calgary Herald August 15, 2009
UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman calls for peace and security for the people of eastern DRC
Press release GOMA, DRC, 29 August 2009 – On her second day in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UNICEF Executive Director, Ann M. Veneman visited Mugunga I Camp for Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in Goma, North Kivu.
Due to the recent fighting, thousands of IDPs have fled to Goma with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. The conditions in Mugunga are appalling. As a result of the volcanic eruption in 2002, the entire site is built upon massive rocks of hardened lava making the ground incredibly difficult to walk on, let alone sleep on. Approximately 10,000 IDPs have to call this crumbling, dusty, tent city their home.
“One woman told that when the soldiers came to her village, she took her children and hid them under the bed,” said Veneman. “Then she realized her hut was on fire. She decided to risk death by gunfire, rather than being burned alive. Luckily, she and all but one of her children managed to escape. Sadly, these stories of rebel militias killing innocent civilians, burning down villages, and raping women and children are all too common.”
Another tragic consequence of the conflict is the recruitment of child soldiers. More children in the DRC have been used and recruited by armed forces than anywhere else in the world – a staggering estimate of 33,000 boys and girls since the onslaught of the conflict in 1998.
However, since the beginning of this year, UNICEF has helped facilitate the release of 2,813 children, which represents significant progress. Among the recent releases were 360 girls, a substantial number given that girls tend to fall through the cracks during demobilisation processes. Many of them have been abducted and forced to become sexual slaves, and end up bearing children while in captivity.
Veneman visited CAJED, a rehabilitation center for former child soldiers which provides crucial care to facilitate the transition from their life with an armed group to living back with their families.
“A 14 year-old boy whose name translated from Swahili to Innocent, told me he was forced to commit acts of sexual violence against women,” said Veneman. “Another still believed that he was invincible against bullets, a common belief among the Mayi Mayi traditional armed groups in eastern and central DRC.”
Also in Goma, Veneman visited Heal Africa. a hospital that provides free health and psychosocial services to survivors of sexual violence.
“It is not only women and girls that are being raped,” said Veneman. “I met a 42-year-old man who was beaten and raped simply because he had no money for the soldiers to steal. He showed me his bullet wounds and scars, but the sadness in his eyes is what shocked me the most.”
Attention broadcasters: VNS of Ms. Veneman’s trip to the DRC is available at www.thenewsmarket.com/unicef
UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. www.unicef.org
For more information, please contact:
Gina Dafalia, UNICEF London,
Tel, + 44 7814 549 071
E-mail: ginad@unicef.org,uk
Kate Donovan, UNICEF Media, New York,
Tel + 1 212 326 7452
E-mail: kdonovan@unicef.org
Missing and murdered because their lives are not valued By: Colleen Simard
The province has announced that it is starting up a task force to look into missing and murdered women.
Groundbreaking news, really, but all I can think is, it's about time.
I hate to sound negative because this task force is a good thing, but it just took so long for it to come about. Aboriginal women's groups have been asking for a task force for years. Better late than never, I guess.
Many of those missing and murdered women were young girls, and many of them were aboriginal. Someone needs to be held accountable for the murder of these young women. Why does it seem that when you're aboriginal, justice always comes so slowly?
So many aboriginal families have been hurting for too long. They need answers, just like any other families out there. Finally, they may get them.
Much of it has to do with the fact that the victims are often poor, vulnerable and more easily taken advantage of. If you think about it, racism, classism and apathy killed these girls, too.
If society doesn't value us, then why would a killer?
Although the police have dismissed community fears that there's a serial killer out there stalking these young girls, it is a possibility. I have my doubts, but anything is possible.
People didn't think there was a serial killer in British Columbia, but then there was Robert Pickton. And don't forget serial killer John Crawford, who brutally murdered several aboriginal women in Saskatoon in the 1990s. After a similar task force was launched in Edmonton a few years ago, Thomas Svekla was convicted of murdering a sex trade worker.
Maybe that's the worst part: this is a national crisis that nobody seems to see as one.
I've often seen those pictures of missing girls on posters and in the paper, and wondered what kind of desperate state they had to have been in to get to that point. The last two girls to be found dead -- Cherisse Houle and Hillary Angel Wilson -- were friends. They'd been in the Manitoba Youth Centre together.
These at-risk children grew up to be teenagers whose deaths were marked by their life on the streets, left like garbage in the ditch.
It's a good thing community groups like Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre, Ndinawe and Sage House exist to try to help these girls. But it's not enough. Some girls fall through the cracks.
We all need to do our part. I remember giving a Mohawk man a ride to the airport one evening a few years ago. He remarked at the ages of the young women standing around on Selkirk Avenue as we drove by. And he said a few words about the cruising johns. He said if this happened in his community, there would be men out on the corners bashing in car windows with baseball bats.
I don't support vigilante violence, but more of our men need to stand up and support our women and help keep them safe.
And finally, we need all those people who know something to speak up and tell the police what they know.
The grim reality is aboriginal women are just not as valued as other people. That's what's really got to change. And it's something we can all support and work on.
Colleen Simard is the publisher of Urban NDN
www.urbanndn.com
Colin Thatcher says law on crime profits shouldn't apply to his new book
August 27, 2009, By THE CANADIAN PRESS
MOOSE JAW, Sask. - Convicted wife killer Colin Thatcher says he doesn't think a new Saskatchewan law that prohibits profiting from recounting crimes applies to his new book.
The Saskatchewan government rushed through legislation in May that is meant to stop criminals from keeping the money if they sell their crime stories.
But Thatcher says his new book is different because it's not a recollection or a retelling of the 1983 murder of his ex-wife, JoAnn Wilson.
Thatcher says the book - titled "Final Appeal: Anatomy of a Frame" - is about his arrest and more than two decades spent dealing with the justice system.
The former Saskatchewan cabinet minister who spent 22 years behind bars also says he didn't write the book for profit, but to assert his innocence.
Saskatchewan Justice Minister Don Morgan acknowledged this week that provincial officials have not yet read the book, but said it's his expectation that the law will apply.
From Femagination..video about rape...trigger warning!
This from Holly DeSimone,
This Video/Post from Ellen over at Femagination, "the feminist imagination blog"! http://www.femagination.com/
This YouTube Video called feminism
COURTS will be given new powers to deal with the threat of domestic violence!
From Holly DeSimone,
This story from North West Evening New in UK, Monday, 24 August 2009. PLEASE STOP DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN YOUR AREA! TELL SOMEONE!
IF YOU Take a look at the number of cases of domestic violence! You can see the impact, this is only the one that are reported! IT IS HORRIBLE! THE NUMBERS are growing!
COURTS will be given new powers to deal with the growing threat of domestic violence – as figures reveal a case is reported to Cumbria Police every two hours.
From next month courts can grant restraining orders against suspected stalkers or violent partners – even after they have been acquitted of an offence, if they are still believed to be a threat.
Courts have previously only been able to issue the orders in limited circumstances where the defendant has been convicted of harassment or putting someone in fear of violence.
It has forced many accusers to go through civil courts to acquire an injunction.
Breaking the terms of a restraining order which is designed to prevent people from interfering with a complainant and can ban them from visiting their home or workplace – is a criminal offence punishable by up to five years in prison.
Ministers believe the change will improve the level of protection for all victims of violence and harassment.
Cumbria’s Detective Superintendent of the Public Protection Unit Andrew Slattery said: “Any move which improves outcomes for victims of abuse and harassment is welcomed by Cumbria Constabulary.
“The existing bail legislation ensures that victims are protected by law from abusers to the point of conviction and now the transition from bail conditions to restraining orders will be seamless.
“The criminal burden of proof is very high and some cases will inevitably result in acquittals. However, where a prosecution has failed the victim may now receive robust protection from further harassment or abuse.
“Cumbria Constabulary are committed to tackling domestic violence through partnership working and the courts and Crown Prosecution Service play a vital role in our combined efforts to protect victims from all forms of abuse.”
The move was confirmed after figures released to Parliament revealed there were 4,515 incidents of domestic violence reported to Cumbria Constabulary in 2007/8 – 87 a week, 12 a day or the equivalent of one case every two hours. Of the total 1,577 arrests were made.
Home Office Minister Lord West said: “Domestic violence is a devastating crime which impacts across all communities. The additional powers announced today will also help victims in need of immediate protection and spare them the need to take separate civil action.”
Separate figures showed that in 2008/9 Cumbrian offenders convicted of domestic violence or abuse waited an average of 25 weeks after sentencing before starting domestic abuse programmes aimed at preventing them from reoffending. The new powers will come into force on September 30.
Keegan Spearchief, 23, designated high-risk sex offender has been granted bail in Calgary.
THIS FROM HOLLY DESIMONE,
HOW MANY SEX OFFENDERS THAT ARE HIGH RISK ARE WALKING THE STREETS?
TOO MANY....DO THE WARNINGS MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
High-risk sex offender gets bail, Last Updated: Monday, August 24, 2009, CBC News
Keegan Spearchief, 23, is awaiting trial on accusations of trespassing and breaching his probation. He was arrested July 27 after a complaint about a man lurking outside a bedroom window.
Judge Brian Stevenson ruled Monday that those charges can be heard during the trial and there isn't sufficient grounds to keep Spearchief in jail until then.
Spearchief's lawyer Patrick Flynn successfully argued against the Crown's insistence that the serial sex offender be montiored electronically.
"At the end of the day his honour, again, was very thoughtful and considered all the matters and decided that this man, under the conditions of his release, would not be a threat to the community," Flynn said.
Calgary police have warned in the past that Spearchief "has a history of randomly selecting homes, breaking in and sexually assaulting women due to his uncontrolled sexual deviant behaviour."
In 2003, Spearchief sexually assaulted two women in separate attacks in Calgary. Three months later, he raped a 17-year-old girl at knifepoint while she was alone at home.
Spearchief was released from prison March 7, 2008, after serving four years.
Police error leads to initial bail
In July, a man was seen peering into a bedroom window of a woman's home in the 2000 block of 42nd Street S.E.
The woman's boyfriend went outside to investigate and scared the man away. He discovered a cellphone and wallet on the ground near the bedroom window.
About two hours later, the same man was again seen looking in the window. When the boyfriend returned outside to confront him, the man asked for his phone and wallet back.
Spearchief was arrested that day on charges of tresspassing and breaching his probation by being out passed his curfew, but was granted bail after the court wasn't given any information about his history by the arresting officer.
As he was about to be released on bail, police rearrested Spearchief while he was still at the remand centre, alleging another probation breach — not looking for work.
But Spearchief's lawyer, Flynn, presented paperwork from an employment centre indicating Spearchief had been trying to find work.
Doctor charged with sex assault on disabled patient
This article from TheSpec.com by John Burman..Also accused of stalking McMaster classmate
A doctor who trained and practiced in Hamilton is charged with sexual assault and criminal harassment involving a former patient and a classmate at McMaster University.
Dr. Justin Onzuka, 36, of Mississauga, was arrested without incident while visiting friends in Hamilton Saturday afternoon.
He is in custody and will appear in Hamilton court Thursday for a bail hearing.
Detective Helena Russell, of the Hamilton police sexual assault unit, said Onzuka, whose specialties included emergency room medicine, worked in all emergency wards at Hamilton Health Sciences hospitals as a resident.
He also worked in the Toronto and Mississauga areas.
He is no longer practicing medicine.
Onzuka and his estranged wife have one child.
Russell said the charges followed an intense, week-and-a-half investigation after police received information regarding the historical sexual assaults dating back to 1994.
The investigation is ongoing and police are hoping to hear from any potential victims.
Onzuka is charged with criminal harassment for allegedly stalking a classmate at McMaster.
The remaining charges, which Russell said are allegations of his involvement with a former patient, include sexual assault, administering a noxious substance, sexual exploitation of a person with a disability and breach of trust.
Police have asked anyone with information has been asked to call Detective Helena Russell at 905-540-5544 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 if they wish to remain anonymous.
Commentary: Iran confronts rape, torture allegations
Hamid Dabashi is the author of "Iran: A People Interrupted." He is Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York.
His Web site is http://www.hamiddabashi.com/.
Troubling news of kidnapping, rape, torture, and murder is flooding out of Iran.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/08/22/dabashi.iran.morality/index.html
Lansingburgh man's criminal history includes Rensselaer County case
Life term for area man in Mass. sex case By BOB GARDINIER, Staff writer First published: Saturday, August 22, 2009
A Lansingburgh man this week became the second person in the country sent to prison for the rest of his life because he is sexually dangerous to children.
After a five-day trial before U.S. District Court Judge Joseph L. Tauro in Boston, Wayne Hunt, 63, who has numerous convictions for sexually abusing children, including an extensive case in Rensselaer County, was sent indefinitely to federal prison as a sexually dangerous person Thursday. His case will be reviewed annually.
He is the second person sentenced under the 2006 Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act to combat sexual violence and to protect children, said Christina DiIorio-Sterling, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston.
''Despite serving substantial sentences in federal and state prisons, Wayne Hunt continues to pose a serious threat to young children,'' Acting United States Attorney Michael K. Loucks said in a prepared statement.
At the trial in Boston, two psychologists and one psychiatrist testified that Hunt suffered from pedophilia, a recognized mental disorder, and those three experts further testified that because of his pedophilia, Hunt would have serious difficulty in refraining from future acts of child molestation, DiIorio-Sterling said.
In 1986, Hunt, who lived in Lansingburgh and told authorities he was a member of the North American Man-Boy Love Association, was charged in Rensselaer County Court with 60 separate incidents of sexual abuse, kidnapping and pornography and photographing 14 boys and one girl ranging in age from 7 to 14.
He received a lengthy sentence after a plea three years later and was released from state prison in 2004.
Before the Rensselaer County charges, Hunt served five years of a 10-year sentence for kidnapping a 12-year-old Louisiana boy, according to court records.
Officials have said that after his release from prison in Louisiana, Hunt returned to his native Lansingburgh and operated National Fair Development Inc., a firm that provided carnival rides and shooting galleries at church bazaars and other events that attracted youths.
Law enforcement authorities have said Hunt used the carnival business to meet some of the children he molested. He also has a prior conviction for sexual assaults on two 11-year-old boys in California, authorities said.
Helping women
Arkansas Times
It illustrates the injustices done to women -- bride burnings in India for inadequate dowries; inadequate care of female infants in China; "missing" women ...
http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/2009/08/helping_women.aspx
Racism: Allowed to flourish on YouTube
LONDON, ON, Aug. 22 /CNW/ - Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians -
In light of the growing attention to a recently posted video on "YouTube", that promotes racism and is insulting to First Nation people and persons with special needs, the Grand Chief of the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians has condemned both the maker of the video and YouTube.
Grand Chief Phillips stated, "The enhanced video of the Muncey Delaware Nation Pow Wow is a clear example that racist attitudes and discrimination still exist in Canada and that YouTube provides a forum to allow those attitudes to flourish."
The video in question promotes racist and discriminatory attitudes towards not only First Nation persons but also towards individuals with special needs. The video also portrays Native women as sexual objects, an issue that we all know can lead to more serious crimes, such as the Robert Pickton case in B.C., and does nothing for the plight of the 500 missing or murdered Native women in Canada.
The most disturbing part of the video is the fact that whomever made this video chose to target the most vulnerable segment of our population, our children. It would indeed take a very sick individual with no moral compass to produce a video such as this.
The video is shot at a Pow Wow, which is a celebration of culture and diversity, and promotes unity not only amongst First Nations but all races. It seems obvious that this individual had one purpose in mind for his or her attendance at the Muncey Pow Wow, and that was to promote hate and discrimination.
The Grand Chief further stated, "To take a celebration such as the Pow Wow and turn it into a script of insults and racism is disrespectful and certainly not humorous."
The Grand Chief also says, "We certainly cannot and should not censor individual thought or expression, but when thought turns into a video such as this, then that is racism and is against the law."
The Grand Chief also suggested that there should be serious consideration given by the authorities to have the video investigated and possible charges laid under Canada's hate crimes laws.
Grand Chief Phillips feels that the monitoring and the regulatory controls over companies such as YouTube need to be examined when it continues to allow discriminatory and racist videos such as this one to remain posted on their site, especially when they are generating profits for the number of people visiting their site and viewing the videos. For this reason YouTube needs to take some of the responsibility for promoting racism and hate.
For further information: Grand Chief Randall Phillips, or Geoff
Stonefish at the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians, (519) 434-2761
Albuquerque's largest criminal case....one step closer!
Mesa bones may yield needed answers...Four of 11 victims still unidentified Updated: Tuesday, 18 Aug 2009 Reporter: Maria Medina
ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Investigators hope to be one step closer to solving Albuquerque's largest criminal case when laboratory results are received on five sets of bones unearthed from the city's West Mesa.
An investigator with Office of the Medical Investigator said she expects lab results from five sets of bones to return within the next few days or weeks.
They are the last of the skeletal remains of 11 bodies to be sent to a north Texas lab.
The case, which has garnered national attention, opened in February when a woman walking her dog found a bone in a subdivision development near 118th Street and Sen. Dennis Chavez Boulevard SW. Investigators working a 100-acre crime scene eventually unearthed the remains of 11 adults and an unborn fetus.
Autopsy reports of the identified women said they were victims of undetermined "homicidal violence."
The bones of the first identified woman, Victoria Chavez, and the four unidentified remains were sent to the lab in July. The others had already been sent to the lab and had been returned to their families for burial.
OMI hopes the Texas lab, which helps solve cold cases across the country, comes back with results they've been waiting for.
"Hopefully that will lead to finding out who this offender or offenders are," Albuquerque Police Department Officer Nadine Hamby told KRQE News 13 last month.
As investigators combed the mesa forensic specialists set out to identify the victims eventually identifying seven women who disappeared from Albuquerque early in the decade. A few months ago, OMI asked dentists statewide to compare records to a list of missing women in hopes of identifying the four unidentified sets of remains.
They've said all along giving them names could be the key to solving the case.
"That should help us in putting the timeline together," Hamby has said. "Seeing if there is still something that's common between all of our victims."
Amy Boule of OMI said testing at the Texas lab takes an average of about six weeks. Boule said the lab will "finalize the work that our anthropologists have done."
The lab was to attempt toxicology tests on all sets of bones, determine cause of death and attempt to extract DNA.
Everything will then be entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.
An OMI investigator said that system may comes back with a DNA match to a missing person or possibly a relative of a missing person will discover the information.
The investigator said anything found on or around the bodies will be listed on the site.
Once the results come back so will the bones, this time hopefully not to OMI but to their families.
APD is still soliciting tips in the case at 1-877-SOLV-APD (1-877-765-8273).
Revamp laws so fraud victims can recoup cash: ombudsman
OTTAWA — The federal government should revamp laws to help Canadians recoup cash lost through financial scams and investment schemes, says the federal ombudsman for victims of crime.
Steve Sullivan said weak existing restitution policies allow white collar criminals to keep or hide money gained through fraud — and they aren’t always forced to forfeit future earnings to make amends.
“These individuals actually have more resources than the average criminal like the young offender who is breaking in to someone’s property, and in the future will have potential to have money as well,” he said. “No one is expecting them to pay up $130 million on the spot, but going forward if there’s money available I think that’s something that victims could benefit from.”
Changes to federal law could allow garnishing offenders’ prison pay, tougher measures to track enforcement orders and changes to the court process to give victims more time to analyze and report their losses, Sullivan said. Often cases are dealt with quickly through plea bargains and victims miss an opportunity to report the full financial impact to the court.
In the wake of the high-profile Earl Jones case, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson pledged tougher measures to crack down on white collar criminals last week. The disgraced Montreal financial adviser, accused of bilking investors out of millions of dollars, has been declared personally bankrupt.
Sullivan said it’s common for victims of fraud never to see their money back, as perpetrators spend or hide their illicit stash. Often, the offender is not forced to pay restitution through future earnings.
“The people who we’ve heard from, whether it’s fraud or investment schemes, they’re not getting their money back. What happened to the money, I’m not sure,” Sullivan said. “The government is looking at appropriate sentences and those kinds of things ... I think the victims would be more interested in getting some of their resources and their retirement funds back in addition to seeing more appropriate sentences.”
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Lawyer for woman back from Kenya demands return of passport at centre of saga
August 18, 2009, By Diana Mehta, THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO - The passport which stranded a Toronto woman in Kenya for months is now at the centre of a standoff between the federal government and the lawyer representing Suaad Hagi Mohamud.
Raoul Boulakia is taking his demands that the government immediately turn over Mohamud's passport and case file to Federal Court while officials in Ottawa remain vague on the whereabouts of the crucial piece of ID.
The demand is the latest twist in the debacle that has become Mohamud's life as her government first branded her an impostor, then consented to test her DNA and eventually repatriated her back to Canada.
"(The government is) trying to pretend there were complications in this case," said Boulakia. "It was all nonsense."
Somali-born Mohamud was stranded in Nairobi for almost three months after authorities said her lips did not match her four-year-old passport photo. When she turned to Canadian consular officials for help, they doubted her citizenship, voided her passport and turned her case over to Kenya for prosecution.
Mohamud returned to Canada on Saturday after the charges laid against her due to her citizenship being questioned were dropped.
Boulakia said he wants to get his hands on Mohamud's passport to see if consular officials were justified in doubting his client's identity. Mohamud's passport had been loaned to Kenyan authorities as her case was being prosecuted, but ought to be back in Canadian hands by now, he said.
"I want that passport back."
The Department of Foreign Affairs was tight-lipped on the matter, deferring inquiries about Mohamud's passport and case file to Passport Canada.
Passport Canada spokesman Sebastien Bois said anyone who has their passport seized by authorities for prosecution will have to apply for a new one.
Although he would not speak to the specifics of Mohamud's case, Bois said when Passport Canada is advised a passport is out of its control, it is immediately cancelled.
In such cases passports are eventually returned to Passport Canada or to the nearest Canadian government office.
"Applicants do not have the option of having the passport returned to them," Bois said. "The Canadian passport remains at all times the property of the government of Canada."
The Canadian Border Services Agency is probing how Mohamud's case was handled, and spokeswoman Patrizia Giolti said details of the investigation could not be made public at present.
Meanwhile, Boulakia has asked the Federal Court to order the government to release Mohamud's case file and passport. In the process, Boulakia said a judge will have to comment on the government's conduct in Mohamud's case.
The legal proceedings are expected to take place in September.
When asked about a lawsuit Boulakia remained vague on whether Mohamud would be taking the government to court over her ordeal.
"I'd like to see her get compensation, she deserves it," said Boulakia. "But I'd rather see her not go to court."
Mohamud's identity-battle saga has also generated a swirl of confusion over just who speaks on the woman's behalf.
Boulakia has tossed out claims made by a Nairobi lawyer assisting on the case who had earlier said Mohamud planned to sue the Kenyan and Canadian governments.
Boulakia said Lucas Naikuni was making unauthorized statements which had never been discussed with Mohamud.
"Her only concern when in Kenya was to get out," Boulakia said. "I guess he had his own ideas."
Boulakia said he was now waiting to see how the government planned to respond to Mohamud's case, adding that he wouldn't touch a penny of compensation cash if any were offered at present.
Another element adding to the fracas around Mohamud's story was the designation and subsequent ousting of a family spokesman earlier this week.
Abdi Warsame, the first person to greet Mohamud as she emerged at Pearson International Airport, had apparently been speaking on the family's behalf.
A mass email sent out Monday by Boulakia however said Mohamud was not familiar with Warsame, whose comments were not to be taken as the family's words.
"He meant well and what he said was nice, but he's not a spokesperson," said Boulakia. "She doesn't know him."
Warsame had said he thought Mohamud should consider taking the government to court.
When asked about his role as a spokesman Warsame said he was not close to Mohamud but good friends with her ex-husband and had no qualms about stepping back as a public voice.
"All I was trying to do was trying to help Suaad any way possible that I can," he said.
As the spotlight continued to shine on her case, Mohamud lay low with her son at her Toronto apartment.
The 31-year-old is receiving medical treatment for a persistent cough and weight loss as doctors try to figure out what she might have caught during an eight-day stint in a Nairobi jail.
"She's extremely relieved to be in Canada and to be with her son," said Boulakia.
"She's going through a lot right now."
Task force on missing women urged...Vancouver activist dismisses RCMP plan..
By: Arielle Godbout and Gabrielle Giroday, 17/08/2009
A Vancouver-based activist is calling on Manitoba to establish a task force to investigate missing women in the province, dismissing a recent review announced by Mounties as a public relations move.
Angela Marie MacDougall, executive director of the Battered Women's Support Services in Vancouver, was in Winnipeg recently to gain support for her coalition for missing and murdered women. She said the Mounties' review into unsolved homicides or suspicious deaths of women where foul play is suspected will do little since it hasn't assigned additional police resources to the task.
"Basically it's going to be business as usual, but it's a good headline," she said.
MacDougall dropped into Winnipeg last week and met with a number of support services for women and missing women's families, along with about 40 sex workers.
While MacDougall said she was impressed by the work being done on the grassroots level in Manitoba, she said she's skeptical about the RCMP's recent announcement that it would review unsolved homicides -- some dating back to the 1960s -- where women were the victims. The review will use existing resources, including four officers and one criminal analyst from its historical case unit, RCMP D Division spokeswoman Sgt. Line Karpish said. The RCMP has not released the number of cases officers will be reviewing.
"When it's available, I will make it public," said Karpish.
Karpish said allegations about the RCMP not doing enough are not accurate. "We take that stuff to heart," she said.
Activists like MacDougall would like to see a formalized group set up specifically to deal with cases of both murdered and missing women, similar to the Joint Missing Women Task Force in British Columbia.
That unit, comprised of both RCMP members and Vancouver police officers, was established to look into the high number of women who disappeared from Vancouver's Lower East Side between 1978 and 2001. Their investigation led to Robert Pickton, who has been convicted in the murder of six women, with another 20 murder charges outstanding.
According to the Free Press archives, advocacy groups in Manitoba have said there may be at least 75 unsolved cases of missing and murdered women in the province. Karpish doesn't agree with some statistics being used in public discussion.
"They are coming up with numbers that have people here rolling their eyes," said Karpish.
"We don't know where they're getting those numbers from. We know our numbers."
In 2007, the Mounties helped launch a website called Project Disappear to highlight missing persons cases which required a review of each case. Karpish said a completion date for the unsolved murders review hasn't been determined.
"We will cover the homicides off to reassure ourselves, the management, and the public that everything that can be done can be done," Karpish said. The review does not apply to cases of missing women, she said.
The decision to dig deep into old files came after police met with members of the community and Justice Minister Dave Chomiak, Karpish said.
The Manitoba Association of Chiefs of Police, which includes RCMP D Division and other policing agencies, operate a website where 164 cases involving both missing women and men are listed.
Some cases say foul play is suspected.
MacDougall said public pressure on Mounties about unsolved deaths arose from two separate events: the one-year anniversary of 21-year-old Claudette Osborne's disappearance, and the death of Cherisse Houle, 17, who was found in a ditch outside the city limits on Canada Day.
Tammy Reimer, program manager of women's outreach centre Sage House, echoed MacDougall's concerns with the RCMP's review.
While Reimer said Sage House applauded the intention behind the review, staff and clients "would much rather see it attached to a task force."
Find this article at:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/task-force-on-missing-women-urged-53396212.html
Community Justice Initiatives helps male sex abuse survivors, and offenders
TheRecord.com - Local By Johanna Weidner, Record staff
KITCHENER — Just like female victims, male victims of sexual trauma struggle to heal, but there are many more barriers for men to get the help they need.
For people who have perpetrated sexual crimes, finding help is perhaps even more difficult.
Supporting those people who are overlooked, and often condemned, is a mission at Community Justice Initiatives.
The non-profit organization offers peer support groups to men and women who suffered sexual trauma, as well as groups for people who offend sexually.
“To not address both sides of a social problem means it won’t end,” said Iliana Pressman, service co-ordinator.
The organization began its first victim support group in the mid-70s with the founding of the organization, based on the principles of restorative justice, which addresses conflict and crime by engaging people causing the harm and affected by it, with the community.
By the early ‘80s, they added the first male survivor group, and then one for sexual offenders.
Now every year Community Justice Initiatives supports about 70 people who have committed sexual offences, about double the number of survivors.
Although there’s much more awareness now about sexual trauma, there are far more groups for women than men. Many men come to the Kitchener office from far afield because there are so few places to go.
What that tells male victims, Pressman said, is “there’s not really a place for you to talk about this.”
And that’s just one barrier. First, men have trouble even accepting the idea they’ve been victimized because they’re supposed to be strong. And men worry they won’t be believed, especially if the offender was a woman.
During the weekly peer support sessions, male survivors deal with pretty much the same issues as female victims — “with the exception of how difficult it was to get there,” said Jennifer Davies, manager of programs and services.
She said many misconceptions linger around sexual abuse, which puts up many hurdles to recovery.
“We are still working with a lot of gender-based assumptions,” Davies said.
Peer support groups are run by two facilitators who are trained volunteers. Group members, however, lead the meeting.
“They decide what they need and the facilitators are there to guide the process,” Pressman said.
Community Justice Initiatives also runs a facilitated dialogue program, which helps anyone affected by sexual trauma communicate with people when talking is difficult.
For example, a person who discovers in adulthood about childhood abuse may want to talk to family about it, but feel uncomfortable.
“We try to build a rapport with both sides separately,” Davies said. “Then we will bring the parties together.”
That’s often invaluable for people who have offended, since so many relationships are affected in their lives.
Many people may hesitate to think a person who offended should get any help, but isolation only compounds the problem.
“Alienation means people aren’t getting help,” Davies said. “Alienation means there will continue to be more victims.”
That does not excuse or lessen the crime and how people were hurt, both women stressed.
“We treat people here like humans beings, no matter what they have done,” Pressman said.
And the focus is on accountability to push people to face what they did, then begin to move forward.
“We offer safe space for people to be accountable without judgment,” Pressman said.
Find out more about Community Justice Initiatives’ programs at www.cjiwr.com or call 519-744-6549.
Part 2 of a two-part series on the victims' rights movement By Valerie Fortney, Calgary Herald August 16, 2009
Two-and-a-half years after Pam Novak's daughter stephanie was strangled by her former minor league soccer coach, the grieving mother hopes that further along in her recovery she will join the ranks of the victims' rights movement.
Photograph by: Leah Hennel, Calgary Herald, Calgary Herald
By society's standards, Pam Novak should be a satisfied woman. In a justice system with only a 60 per cent conviction rate after initial criminal charge, her daughter's murderer will spend at least the next 10 years behind bars. Justice, in the eyes of our courts, has been served.
TO READ ENTIRE STORY BY VALERIE FORTNEY GO TO THE FOLLOWING LINK! http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Grieving+loved+ones+turn+pain+into+action/1898249/story.html
Doctor accused of assaulting teen boy disappears
By Mike McIntyre, Winnipeg Free Press, August 12, 2009
WINNIPEG -- A foreign doctor accused of sexually assaulting a teenage boy at Health Sciences Centre has gone missing only weeks after a judge agreed to release him on bail despite fears he may flee the country, the Winnipeg Free Press has learned.
Two Canada-wide warrants have now been issued for the arrest of Walid Abdelhamid. One stems from his failure to report for bail supervision on July 29, the other for failing to show for his court appearance Tuesday afternoon.
Justice sources believe Mr. Abdelhamid, 29, may have found a way to sneak out of Canada and, perhaps, even return to his native Libya — despite the fact he had to turn over his passport after getting bail on June 18.
On Tuesday night, a relative of the young victim refused to comment, but did say the family was told of Mr. Abdelhamid’s disappearance earlier in the day.
The Crown opposed letting Mr. Abdelhamid out on bail, in large part because they feared he might try to flee. Provincial court Judge Patti Umpherville agreed with defence lawyer Marty Minuk’s claim several conditions could be ordered to ensure compliance.
“I have to remember at this point you are still presumed innocent,” Judge Umpherville said at the time.
Mr. Abdelhamid was also ordered to be at his apartment from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. for curfew checks, have no contact with the alleged victim or any children under the age of 16 and stay away from all medical facilities or clinics, playgrounds, school areas and public swimming areas.
Last month, Mr. Abdelhamid returned to court seeking to change some of his conditions. A Court of Queen’s Bench judge refused a request to return his passport but did relax his nightly curfew.
Mr. Abdelhamid was working at HSC on a training visa when he allegedly attacked the youth June 15 on two occasions in a private hospital area. He was charged with sexual interference, sexual exploitation and sexual assault and spent two nights in custody at the remand centre before being released.
“The patient was not physically injured as a result of the sexual assaults, but the emotional ramifications, as you can imagine, are quite substantial,” said Const. Jackie Chaput at the time of the arrest. Police asked media not to release the boy’s age for fear of identifying him. A court-ordered ban prevents specific details of the bail hearing from being published.
A Winnipeg Regional Health Authority official confirmed Mr. Abdelhamid was a postgraduate medical resident at the University of Manitoba who worked at the hospital for the past two years. There were no prior complaints of abuse against the him, said the WRHA official.
“At this point, we have no reason to believe this is anything other than an isolated incident,” Heidi Graham, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority spokeswoman, said following the arrest.
Woman detained in Kenya for months over identity dispute back in Canada
August 15, 2009, By THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO - A Canadian woman detained for almost three months in Kenya over an identity dispute has arrived in Toronto.
Suaad Hagi Mohamud's plane landed in Toronto today and an official told her family and reporters who are gathered at the airport that he saw her in the customs area of the airport.
Mohamud, who was visiting her mother, was unable to leave the country after authorities said her lips did not match her four-year-old passport photo.
Canadian consular officials called the 31-year-old an impostor, voided her passport and turned her case over to Kenya for prosecution.
Other pieces of ID and fingerprints were handed over, but there was little movement until DNA tests - paid for by the Canadian government - validated her identity on Monday.
A judge in a Nairobi court dropped charges against Mohamud on Friday, and she boarded a plane later in the day bound for Toronto.
Mohamud has said she just wants to see her family - including her 12-year-old son who lives in Toronto - and tell them she loves them.
Justice must be blind....
This from Holly/Admin,
To read this entire story click the link below:
The TV series Law & Order opens with the lines, "In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police who investigate crime and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories."
The commission concluded that the practise of allowing the RCMP to investigate itself undermines public confidence in the transparency and integrity of criminal investigations. In Canada, the phrase could read: "...the police who investigate crime, including those committed by themselves, and the Crown prosecution who never convict the offenders."
http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/opinion/article/758945
UBC developing historic DNA analysis technology..
Tue Aug. 11 2009, ctvbc.ca
Researchers at the University of British Columbia are hard at work developing a breakthrough technology that could change the way DNA is analyzed.
Biophysics professor Andre Marziali and his team have been working for five years on a device they hope will make crime scene samples much easier to extract.
http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090811/bc_dna_090811/20090811/?hub=BritishColumbiaHome
For Your Information!
This from Holly/Admin,
A couple of years ago there was a book (Sex Workers in the Maritimes Talk Back) published after the authors had interviewed 60 sex workers in Eastern Canada.
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=45d5038e-09a5-4dad-bd2c-1ad9718dcbd6
A university-conducted survey of nearly 250 sex workers in the Australian state of Queensland (where they have legal brothels, like most of the larger Australian states and in New Zealand) found the same level of job satisfaction as other professions.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,,21306832-5005961,00.html
Extensive research for the New Zealand government may not have specifically asked if sex workers liked their jobs or customers, but attempted to count the approximate total number existing in the country, and found most of the few thousand counted worked indoors, not on the street. It's probably the same in Canada, or perhaps a higher percentage because of the climate.
http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/act+helps+health+and+safety+sex+workers+report+says
http://www.justice.govt.nz/prostitution-law-review-committee/publications/plrc-report/chapter-2.html
http://www.canada.com/vancouvercourier/news/story.html?id=b9bda27f-22e4-463f-8293-59e646c911c7
Sex trade workers push for decriminalization and a national union, but meet stiff opposition..
Published August 13, 2009 by Angela Brunschot in News & Views
High-profile murders of sex trade workers have put a spotlight on the problem. In British Columbia, pig farmer Robert Pickton was convicted of six counts of second-degree murder in December 2007. In Edmonton, Matthew Barrett was convicted of killing escort Chantel Robertson in 2008, and Thomas Svekla was found guilty of the murder of sex-worker Theresa Innes the same year. (Further back, a report by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics shows that between 1991 and 1995, 63 prostitutes were murdered in Canada, a number which represents five per cent of the women killed during that period.)
http://www.seemagazine.com/article/news/news-main/working0813/
State hires monitor for private Ky. women's prison where sex assaults reported
By Associated Press, August 11, 2009
WHEELWRIGHT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Department of Corrections has hired a monitor for a private prison in eastern Kentucky where female inmates have reported sexual assaults by staff.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that Gary M. Beckstrom will monitor the Otter Creek Correctional Complex in Wheelwright. Beckstorm is a former warden at Little Sandy Correctional Complex.
Jennifer Brislin, a spokeswoman for the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, told the Lexington newspaper that the action resulted from the sex-assault allegations.
Corrections Corporation of America, a Nashville, Tenn.-based company that runs the prison, has agreed to reimburse the state for the $42,000 contract.
CCA has contracts with Kentucky and Hawaii to house prisoners at Otter Creek. Both states are investigating the allegations of sexual assaults.
Child porn and sex crimes cases go before judges BY Andrew Denney, Cheston McGuire
COLUMBIA — Four men had court appearances Monday for cases involving child pornography or sex crimes against children.
All four cases were the result of investigations by the Mid-Missouri Internet Crimes Task Force, a 2-year-old unit made up of two officers from the Columbia Police Department, two deputies from the Boone County Sheriff's Department and one officer from the MU Police Department.
In one case, Trevor S. Dunn, 22, was sentenced to four years in prison for possession of child pornography.
Surrounded by what Dunn's attorney, Kay Evans, called a large and supportive family, he was sentenced by Boone County Circuit Judge Gary Oxenhandler. When Oxenhandler handed down the sentence, he said the case was not just "about our community" but was also "concerned with the world," because the programs that Dunn was using allowed people on the Internet everywhere to access the pornography.
Dunn's family reacted with gasps and tears to the sentence.
Evans had argued for probation for her client because she said he had shown remorse, owned up to what he had done and had a supportive family. Evans also pointed out that doctors who had evaluated Dunn said he was not a threat or a pedophile.
But Boone County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Merilee Crockett painted another picture of Dunn, arguing that he was aware of the "danger" of child pornography. She told Oxenhandler that even after the Mid-Missouri Internet Crimes Task Force seized his computer in the investigation, which yielded more than 400 videos of child pornography that had been watched, he showed no remorse until after he was caught.
She said that after the investigation began in February 2008 and his computer was seized, Dunn obtained another computer and continued to watch child pornography. He was arrested on Nov. 11, 2008.
Oxenhandler concluded his sentencing by telling Dunn that the punishment wasn't "a slap in the face of the family," but it was because "after being caught he went back and did it again."
Dunn will be admitted into the sex offender assessment unit in prison where he will be observed. After 120 days, Oxenhandler can choose to release him. But, the judge warned, "if I perceive that you are still a threat, you won't come out."
Also on Monday, Eric Joseph Hall, 23, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and not guilty to a charge of promotion of child pornography, for which he could receive a sentence from five to 15 years in prison.
Crockett recommended that Hall not be sentenced to probation but serve seven years in prison. Hall's attorney, Gregory Robinson of Fayette, asked Circuit Judge Jodie Asel to consider probation for his client.
Hall's next sentencing hearing is Sept. 16. The charges stem from a period between April and November 2008, when investigators discovered child pornography on peer-to-peer file-sharing programs and traced some of the material to Hall's Internet Protocol address.
On Nov. 6, 2008, investigators obtained Hall's computer through a court-ordered search warrant. While being questioned by investigators, Hall admitted that he had intentionally downloaded child pornography. On Hall's hard drive, investigators found more than 80 videos and more than 100 photographs depicting the sexual molestation of children.
In another case that came before Oxenhandler on Monday, Jeremy Albert Breedlove applied for permission to use a Macintosh computer to complete a college course. Breedlove pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and was sentenced to five years supervised probation in January 2009. He was issued a computer by the court that has security software preventing him from accessing pornography.
Breedlove's attorney, Timothy Gerding, argued that Breedlove needed a new computer for a course in graphic design and that Breedlove's mother had already purchased the necessary software to prevent him from accessing inappropriate materials. Gerding said Breedlove's mother was prepared for the burden of supervising his activities on the computer.
Crockett argued against the request because computers were used in Breedlove's initial crime. The use of a computer to complete high school was necessary she argued but not for an optional course in graphic design.
Oxenhandler ruled against the request.
The court granted a continuance in the case of Daniel Mauchenheimer, 42, who was charged with attempted sexual misconduct involving a child by indecent exposure.
Crockett said the prosecutor's office learned Friday of another charge against Mauchenheimer in St. Clair County, where he has been charged with enticement of a child under age 15. A warrant for Mauchenheimer's arrest was issued that day.
Crockett said the incident in St. Clair County occurred around October 2008, which is about the same time of the incident that occurred in Boone County in which the prosecutor's office is bringing charges.
According to court documents related to that incident, Mauchenheimer made contact with a member of the Mid-Missouri Internet Crimes Task Force posing as a 14-year-old girl. Over the course of conversations over six days, Mauchenheimer engaged in sexually graphic conversations with the decoy and exposed his genitalia to the decoy using a Web camera, according to the probable cause statement.
The defense asked for a continuance in order to learn more about the St. Clair County charge against Mauchenheimer, who lives in St. Louis.
RCMP shouldn't investigate itself in serious cases: watchdog..NO KIDDING!
August 11, 2009, By Jim Bronskill, THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA - The RCMP watchdog says the Mounties should not investigate their own members in the most serious cases - especially when someone has died - due to conflict of interest.
In a new report, the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP recommends sexual assault and serious injury cases involving Mounties sometimes be turned over to outside investigators to ensure independence.
The commission, which spent 19 months studying the controversial issue of the RCMP investigating itself, calls for several policy and legislative changes to avoid actual or perceived conflicts. Currently, the national police force has discretion to decide how such investigations will unfold.
"Overall, it is the CPC's contention that criminal investigations into members should not be treated the same way as any other criminal investigation," says the commission's report released Tuesday.
"As the seriousness of the offence alleged against a member rises, the discretion for the RCMP to respond as it deems appropriate must be removed and mandatory requirements should be inserted in its place."
Several recent incidents have highlighted the thorny subject of police investigating police, including the case of Robert Dziekanski, who died at the Vancouver Airport in 2007 after being hit with an RCMP Taser, and that of Ian Bush, shot and killed by a Mountie in B.C. four years ago.
In November 2007, complaints commission chairman Paul Kennedy began looking into the practice of the RCMP investigating itself in cases involving serious injury or death.
He examined 28 cases from a five-year period, including six deaths.
"We sought to answer the following question: Can the current process of the RCMP investigating itself legitimately engender confidence in the transparency and integrity of the criminal investigation and its outcome?
"Based on the results of our research and analysis, the informed commission answer is that it cannot."
He told reporters the force does not track investigations against its own and has no understanding of the scope of the problem.
"There is currently no national, centralized co-ordination of member investigations," he said. "That means that no member of the RCMP, including the RCMP commissioner, can tell you how many criminal investigations have been undertaken into its own members.
"More serious is that no one can tell you how many members have been investigated for serious injury, sexual assault or death nor can they identify how many charges have been laid against their members nor what the outcome was."
Kennedy's research found the RCMP investigators were "free of bias" and approached their assignments in a professional and conscientious manner.
However, he identified several "inappropriate" patterns in the case files:
-One-quarter of primary investigators personally knew the member under scrutiny;
-In 60 per cent of cases, a single investigator was assigned, placing the investigation at risk for potential conflict of interest or perception of bias;
-In almost one-third of cases, the primary investigator was of the same or lower rank as the subject member, creating potential for intimidation.
In general, Kennedy found nothing in policy or legislation to guide the appropriate handling of a member investigation.
The report calls for national standardization of policy on criminal investigations involving RCMP members so they are conducted in the same way across Canada.
Kennedy urges legislative changes that would give the complaints commission authority to refer an RCMP member investigation to another criminal investigative body. This would automatically happen in cases involving death.
In cases involving serious injury and sexual assault, the complaints commission and a new national registrar for member investigations would decide whether to refer the case to another police service or hand the investigation to a mobile RCMP critical incident team.
In less serious criminal matters, the new national registrar would have discretion to decide the best option.
The registrar would also manage, track, train and advise on all issues related to member investigations.
The RCMP greeted the recommendations coolly last month in a reply to Kennedy's interim report.
RCMP Commissioner William Elliott said in a letter the report's language was "unduly negative" and that a complete overhaul and expansion of the investigative model "may not be warranted."
Elliott said, however, that a forthcoming RCMP policy on member investigations would address a number of Kennedy's concerns.
"Those concerns and your recommendations will be considered as we finalize our policy."
NDP says BC drug trafficker should be transferred from US to Canadian prison..
August 11, 2009, By Steve Mertl, THE CANADIAN PRESS
VANCOUVER, B.C. - Ottawa's refusal to allow a Canadian serving a U.S. prison term for drug trafficking to transfer to a Canadian prison suggests the Conservatives' law-and-order stance is affecting its decisions, the NDP claim.
The New Democrats are supporting efforts by the family of B.C. resident Perley Holmes to get Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan to reconsider his transfer denial.
Public safety critic Don Davies says statistics suggest the number of transfers approved under federal legislation has declined since the Tories took power in 2006.
"I think the minister is reading into this act ideological considerations that are not present in the legislation," said Davies, MP for Vancouver Kingsway.
It's part of the Tories' philosophy to leave Canadians caught up on a foreign justice system to deal with it on their own, he said.
"You can see that all over the place, whether it's the Omar Khadr case or their approach to any kind of incarceration issue," Davies argued.
The Corrections Service of Canada report on international transfers, ending with fiscal 2006-07, says 39.4 per cent of applications in the last five years were denied, while 27.9 per cent were approved.
Davies said while the number of applications between 2003-04 and 2006-07 ranged in the mid-to-high 200s, approvals dropped sharply to 53 in 2006-07, from 90 in 2005-06.
"I see a precipitous drop on approvals in the first year of the Conservatives taking power," he said.
However, the statistics aren't so clear cut.
Months can go by between applications and decisions so there's no correlation by year. Many are also denied by the country - most often the U.S. - where the offender is imprisoned.
Van Loan's press secretary, Christopher McCluskey, wouldn't comment on the Holmes case, citing privacy concerns.
"What I can tell you is each application for transfer back to Canada is carefully considered and decisions on transfer cases are made in accordance with the terms of the International Transfer of Offenders Act," he said in an email.
"This government is committed to the safety and security of Canadians, and Canadians who commit crimes abroad should know that they run the risk of facing justice in the other countries criminal and correctional system."
Holmes, a former union executive, was sentenced to eight years in a U.S. federal prison after pleading guilty to helping smuggle 61 kilograms of cocaine across the border from his property on the Canada-U.S. border near near Osoyoos, B.C. in January 2007.
Holmes was caught but a second man escaped back into Canada.
Holmes drew a lengthy sentence in July 2007 because he would not identify his accomplice.
A month after being jailed in the privately run Moshannon Valley Correctional Center in Pennslyvania, Holmes, 53, applied to serve his term in Canada under the International Transfer of Offenders Act.
The law allows for transfers on humanitarian, compassionate or rehabilitative grounds.
In his April 2 letter rejecting the application, Van Loan said Holmes could be paroled after serving five years of his U.S. sentence and should be on supervised release there.
"This part of his sentence and its important rehabilitative purpose will not be served if he is transferred to Canada," Van Loan writes.
Holmes's file also indicated links to organized crime, including allegations he received $20,000 cash each time his residence was used as a smuggling base, the minister writes.
"It is neither acceptable in the general context of the administration of justice nor (the act) to allow a transfer of such an offender," Van Loan's letter says.
The government has tabled tough new legislation to crack down on gang activity and drug dealing.
Sheila Holmes denied her husband had a gang connection or that he received multiple payments. He admitted getting $10,000 for a one-time smuggling venture, she said.
RCMP raided the Holmes property after his arrest and found no evidence of drugs or trafficking paraphernalia, but did seize six handguns and an assault rifle.
Holmes's MP, New Democrat Alex Atamanenko said he is paying for his mistake. But it's a hardship on his family, including his eight children and 87-year-old mother, to have him in a prison across the country.
Sheila Holmes is preparing to travel to Pennslyvania for the first time to visit her husband. Their contact up to now has been by phone and mail.
"It's almost like he's dead because he's out of the picture and yet you can still talk to him," she said in an interview.
"It's been hard any everybody. It's served to break up the family. Everybody has mixed feelings and they're always changing."
The conditions at low-security Moshannon Valley are "abhorrent," she said.
"They have beans and rice, beans and rice and beans and rice, and maybe once a week they might get some shredded cabbage," she said.
"Anything else they want they have to buy in the commissary ... The prices are highly inflated."
Moshannon Valley, houses about 1,300 inmates, many of them foreigners.
At one time they included David Radler, the former Hollinger International executive convicted of fleecing the newspaper chain's investors. He was later transferred to a Canadian prison, then paroled.
Davies said the Holmes file is a classic case for using the transfer agreement.
"Holmes was convicted of a relatively serious offence, nobody's disputing that," he said.
"He's got eight kids. He's apparently well regarded in his community; he's not like a hardened criminal."
Davies said he is puzzled by Van Loan's contention Holmes should get supervised release in the United States.
"What I find most disturbing about that is the implicit suggestion that the Canadian correctional system is not capable of rehabilitation programs," he said.
"He's suggesting the American correction system can provide rehabilitative programs that ours can't?"
Threat Management Conference
This from Holly/Admin,
WE have friends attending this conference!
http://www.atapworldwide.org/index.cfm
Annual Threat Management Conference
August 11-14, 2009
Disneyland Hotel, Anaheim, CA
The purpose of this conference is to:
Educate you regarding the nature of stalking and threatening behavior
Provide you with practical methods for managing threatening situations
Provide current research data
http://atapworldwide.org/associations/8976/files/documents/09_ATAP_conference.pdf
In Beijing to seek justice, girl is raped in 'jail'
BEIJING: The 20-year-old student spoke softly but firmly as she described how a dispute over grades led to her rape at an unofficial jail. She had been expelled from college over poor exam scores, so she went to the capital to petition the government to reinstate her. Thousands of Chinese travel to Beijing to air complaints ignored by officials, ranging from real estate scams to wrongful death cases.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/world/china/In-Beijing-to-seek-justice-girl-is-raped-in-jail/articleshow/4879267.cms
Police failed to warn women about sex assaults: Lise Gotell, women's studies professor!
Police failed to warn women about sex assaults: professor, Last Updated: Wednesday, August 5, 2009 CBC News
A women's studies professor is criticizing police for not warning women in Edmonton about a man who allegedly sexually assaulted four women within a week after luring them on a social networking site.
'It's quite possible had they alerted women that some of these assaults could have been prevented.'—Lise Gotell, women's studies professor" The police could have warned women using social networking sites or dating sites to be specifically careful of someone doing this particular thing," Lise Gotell from the University of Alberta said Tuesday.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2009/08/05/edmonton-police-criticized-millwoods-assaults.html
Mackenzie (Max) Setter, 30, was released from a B.C. prison Feb. 16 after serving nine years!
Scary details about a recently released sex offender now living in Edmonton whom city police today issued a public warning on – have been discovered by Sun Media.
Mackenzie (Max) Setter, 30, was released from a B.C. prison Feb. 16 after serving nine years for sexually assaulting and nearly bludgeoning to death a seven-year-old girl.
Setter appeared in court today as city police try to get the violent, high-risk ex-convict to voluntarily agree to a Sec. 810 recognizance, allowing authorities to keep tabs on him for a year by imposing strict conditions on him.
According to National Parole Board documents obtained by Sun Media, Setter was released to a B.C. residential facility in October 2007, but was suspended the following spring for multiple breaches of his release plan.
Those breaches include having a relationship with a woman, despite being forbidden from doing so without permission, wearing a jacket belonging to the woman that contained a crack pipe, being deceptive with staff and not participating in a sexual offender maintenance program.
The documents also reveal Setter had been hanging out with other sex offenders and was spotted walking by two playgrounds while carrying two teddy bears.
The parole board documents also show Setter was kept detained in prison following his statutory release date because officials believed he was likely to commit an offence causing serious bodily harm to another person.
At the time of the 1995 attack on the seven-year-old girl, the then-16-year-old Setter had been investigated for making sexually aggressive calls to a family, threatening the rape of all family members, including their pet animals.
He had also harassed several young girls on the street, waved a knife in front of one of them and was suspected of trying to push the one he threatened into some bushes.
File information reveals Setter’s elementary school years were characterized by fights, mischief, thefts and vandalism and he once slapped and punched his babysitter and was physically abusive to a younger brother to the point where medical treatment was required.
He was also reported to have taken part in dismembering animals as a revenge method while a member of a satanic group and writing notes to girls at school about rapes, murder and suicide.
Psychiatric reports prepared on Setter state he demonstrates sexual deviant tendencies and sexual sadism and has issues with abandonment and betrayal by females.
He has also been classified as being a high risk to re-offend both sexually and violently.
In 1999, Setter was convicted of attempted murder and aggravated sexual assault for the brutal June 14, 1995, attack on a seven-year-old girl in Tumbler Ridge, B.C.
The victim, now 21, was left permanently brain-damaged with the mental capacity of a five-year-old child.
Court heard the victim had gone to a neighbourhood park after school and was last seen with Setter while playing hide-and-seek with him and other young girls.
She was found unconscious and partially hidden by a fallen tree and had been bludgeoned by a rock.
The Criminalization of Homelessness in U.S. Cities!
This from Holly/Admin,
Unique report done by The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty and The National Coalition for the Homeless, July 2009. The report is called Homes Not Handcuffs: The Criminalization of Homelessness in U.S. Cities!
VERY interesting to read!
ABOUT THE NATIONAL LAW CENTER ON HOMELESSNESS & POVERTY
The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty is a 501(c)3 nonprofit
organization based in Washington, DC and founded in 1989 to serve as the legal arm of the national movement to end and prevent homelessness. To carry out this mission, the Law Center focuses on the root causes of homelessness and poverty and seeks to meet both the immediate and long-term needs of homeless and poor people. The Law Center addresses the multifaceted nature of homelessness by: identifying effective model laws and policies, supporting state and local efforts to promote such policies, and helping grassroots groups and service providers use, enforce and improve existing laws to protect homeless people’s rights and prevent even more vulnerable families, children, and adults from losing their homes. By providing outreach, training, and legal and technical support,the Law Center enhances the capacity of local groups to become more effective in their work. The Law Center’s new Homelessness Wiki website also provides an interactive space for advocates, attorneys, and homeless people across the country to access and contribute materials, resources, and expertise about issues affecting homeless and low income families and individuals.
You are invited to join the network of attorneys, students, advocates, activists, and committed individuals who make up NLCHP’s membership network. Our network provides a forum for individuals, non-profits, and corporations to participate and learn more about using the law to advocate for solutions to homelessness. For more information about our organization, membership, and access to publications such as this report, please visit our website at www.nlchp.org.
http://nlchp.org/content/pubs/2009HomesNotHandcuffs1.pdf
Specialist team supports victims of sex crime in Plymount, UK!
This from Holly/Admin,
PLYMOUTH now has its own dedicated 'rape' team where specially-trained detectives investigate sexual offences...GREAT NEWS!
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
PLYMOUTH now has its own dedicated 'rape' team where specially-trained detectives investigate sexual offences.
The Sexual Offences Investigation Team (SOIT) was instigated eight months ago by former Plymouth police Chief Supt Jim Webster as a pilot programme. The aim was to mirror the Metropolitan Police's own specialist rape team, codenamed Project Sapphire, in an effort both to increase reporting of sex offences and secure more convictions.
In addition the new SOIT unit would ensure victims got a better deal from police and the legal system and the right support from partner agencies.
Det Insp Charlie Pitman, who heads the now permanent team, said police needed to recognise that by selecting appropriately-trained specialist staff, there was a chance to build up local expertise.
By having a dedicated team, he said, there would be greater continuity and officers would be able to develop wider relationships not only with other parts of the justice system, but also with the many local partner groups which helped victims and perpetrators.
"The biggest issue for us is the victim's willingness to stay with us," said DI Pitman.
"Nobody can say it's a nice process to go through, but we will aim to give victims the confidence to stay with us through to conviction."
Police also had to challenge and change public perceptions of rape and the myths that surrounded it, he said, including what constituted rape.
"The question for us is, 'Can we convince 12 ordinary people that an incident was rape?' If they come into court with misconceptions about what rape is, then it's an uphill struggle.
"The issue is simply of consent. People have a perception about what rape is, where it can occur, how it can occur. There are debates in court but we need a cultural change in recognising and questioning the myth of rape.
"It's extremely rare that a victim is bundled off into the bushes by their attacker. They don't need to when they can get some vulnerable person in Union Street.
"It happens between two people, where there are no witnesses, and may well occur in a domestic setting."
The team, which consists of eight Detective Constables and two Detective Sergeants, is based at Charles Cross police station and works very closely with a range of partner agencies including Victim Support, the Witness Service and Twelve's Company, where the city's much-praised Sexual Assault Referral Centre is based.
"The team was set up to develop a level of expertise and professionalism which will deliver quality service," said DI Pitman.
"I'm confident we'll get positive results for victims in terms of what happens to them on a personal level, but I also hope we can lock up some rapists."
Man arrested over alleged internet grooming offences – Sex Crimes Squad
This from Holly/Admin,
Great advice from Detective Superintendent Kerlatec,
“We strongly encourage all parents to take the time to sit down with their children and to discuss the dangers of internet use in order to arm children with the knowledge and skills of how to stay safe."
Tips for parents:
· Be aware of how much time your child spends on the internet.
· Spend time talking to your child about the dangers associated with online conversations.
· Spend time exploring the internet with your children and let them teach you about their favourite websites.
· Keep the computer in a room the whole family can access; not in your child's bedroom.
· Consider installing filtering and/or computer blocking software provided by your Internet Service Provider. The Netalert web page provides information on a number of
commercially-available products at www.netalert.net.au.
· Ensure you are able to access your child's email and randomly check the contents.
· Check your phone bill for unusual outgoing calls, or consider using a 'caller ID' device to identify incoming calls.
· Consult your telephone company for options designed to ensure privacy and security.
· Inquire with your child's school, public library, and places they frequent, to ascertain what Internet safety measures they have in place.
· Information on how internet safety is available on the NSW Police website at:
http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/community_issues/children/child_exploitation
Tips for children:
· Do not send a picture of yourself to anyone you don't know and never place a full profile and picture anywhere on the Internet.
· Never give out your personal information including name, home address, phone number or school, over the internet.
· Never arrange a face-to-face meeting with someone you have chatted with on the
Internet.
· Tell your parents or another adult of any contact that makes you feel uncomfortable.
Sex Crimes Squad detectives have arrested a man who will face court today, over alleged internet grooming offences.
Investigators from the State Crime Command’s Child Exploitation Internet Unit posed as a 13-year-old girl and communicated with the 45-year-old West Pymble man over an internet chat site between May and August this year.
Montreal teacher gets 14 years in U.S. prison for sex crimes!
This from Holly/Admin,
Read the entire story at http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2009/08/03/us-montreal-teacher.html
A former teacher at an elite Montreal prep school was sentenced Monday to 14 years in a U.S. prison for sex crimes involving children.
Richard Doucet, 37, was arrested by Virginia police in May 2008 at a hotel where he was expecting to meet a teenage boy.
Domestic violence victims told they need to 'reach out'
By MICHELLE THOMPSON, SUN MEDIA, Last Updated: 29th July 2009
The leader of a local women's shelter is urging domestic violence victims to reach out for support as a northern Alberta community mourns another murder-suicide.
"Domestic homicides really should be preventable," said Sister Lucinda May Patterson, executive director of the Lurana Shelter. "If something seems to be wrong I think people need to trust there is something (untoward) happening."
Patterson's comments yesterday came after she opened the paper to learn of an apparent triple murder-suicide near Smith, about 205 km north of Edmonton.
Early Sunday, Slave Lake RCMP found the bodies of nine-year-old Misty Eliuk, her mom Jolene Eliuk, and grandparents Ian and Joan Paget inside a rural home. The case is being treated as a murder suicide.
Community members and family have told Sun Media the grandfather, who was under financial stress, killed his family before taking his own life.
"Obviously, I'm really saddened," said Patterson. "It just saddens me when people don't reach out for support."
This was the fourth time since May that northern Alberta has had ties to domestic homicides.
In early May, terminally ill Grande Cache dad Kerry Saltel gunned down his wife and teen daughter before turning the weapon on himself.
Later that month, a former Cold Lake woman was found dead with her baby near Ottawa. Kerry Walters and her husband, Lennox, had been growing apart before the young woman's body was discovered with her baby inside an Ontario home. Lennox later jumped to his death off the roof of a Montreal hotel.
And in early July, Tesfai Negasi, 52, was charged with second-degree murder and committing an indignity to a body after police found his wife slain inside their 732 164 Ave. home the day prior.
"Let us use these tragedies to bring domestic abuse to the forefront and start talking about it," Patterson said.
The Calgary Domestic Violence Committee has also expressed concern about the most recent case.
"Relatives of the Pagets cannot imagine that a family member would commit such a violent act and neighbours are in shock that such a thing could happen in what they consider a safe community," reads a statement released by the organization.
"But domestic violence knows no boundaries; family and sexual violence is not limited to large cities with transient populations. It occurs in every age, economic, religious, social and cultural group."
Public concern prompts RCMP to re-examine files on unsolved homicides..
August 1, 2009, By Sandra Ferias, THE CANADIAN PRESS
WINNIPEG - RCMP in Manitoba have launched an investigation to re-examine unsolved homicides where the victims were women, a spokeswoman said Saturday.
There are reports that the families of missing and murdered women, and community groups, are wondering whether a serial killer could be preying on women - many of them aboriginal.
Sgt. Line Karpish, an RCMP spokeswoman, said Saturday there's no indication at this point that the unsolved deaths could be linked.
"Based on the information that we have today we don't have any supporting information that these cases are directly related," she said.
Karpish said police decided to review the files, some of them dating back to the 1960s, after meetings with members of the community and Justice Minister Dave Chomiak.
"It will be a time-consuming review in light of public concerns," she said.
The investigation is expected to take several months.
"(It) is largely driven by our desire to ensure to the public that they are safe, and that we are doing our job when missing people are reported (or) when foul play is suspected," Karpish said.
A national advocacy group, the Native Women's Association of Canada, has said there are hundreds of unsolved cases of missing and murdered woman across the country and authorities need to do more to solve them.
In Manitoba, advocacy groups have said there may be at least 75 such cases.
The public would be notified if this latest review yields any new or important information on unsolved homicides involving women, Karpish said.
"If there are any links to any of these homicides where we feel public safety is at issue we will notify the public immediately," Karpish said.
"We are going to look at every piece of paper and photos to see if there were any gaps in the investigations."
In 2006, Manitoba RCMP reviewed a number of cold cases as part of its missing persons website.
But this latest investigation will focus on homicides, not on unsolved missing persons cases, Karpish said.
At this stage, police investigators have yet to determine how many cases may have to be reviewed.
