Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 07, 2008, Winnipeg, Manitoba C m y k Page a11 Winnipeg free press tuesday october 7, 2008 View from the West and beyond comment editor Gerald flood 697 7269 Gerald. Flood free press. M. Ca Winnipeg repress. Com a 11 t Al Aviv despite the unprecedented International monetary crisis the european Union is debating ways to push the next u. S. President to immediately restart the stalled israeli palestinian peace process. At a time when the entire american economic system is in turmoil nobody expects the palestinian problem to top the International political Agenda. Yet All Arab countries were shocked when in his opening remarks to the in general Assembly last month Secretary general ban i Moon did not mention the palestinian problem As deserving immediate attention. The ongoing crisis with Iran Over its nuclear program the prospects of a successful solution of the syrian lebanese crisis internal palestinian divisions and the political instability in Israel have All pushed the israeli palestinian peace process on to the sidelines. Nevertheless unwilling to let Russia become the sole actor in the Middle East during this presidential transition the u. S. Reversed its previous position and started a direct dialogue with both Iran and Syria. U. S. Secretary of state condole Ezza Rice suggested opening a diplomatic interest Section in Tehran but president George w. Bush vetoed the suggestion. Instead the White House allowed the american iranian Council a private research and policy thin tank to open a Branch in Tehran. This is the first american Ngo to operate in Iran and is seen As a first step towards making Normal the relationship Between the u. S. And Iran. Several years ago i made several visits to the Aichs offices in new York. This organization was founded by iranian royalist exiles and a few american scholars who dreamed about restoring the Shah is Rule in Iran. Once i even participated in a symposium and shared the podium with the exiled Shah is son who was being groomed by the Cia As a future King of Iran should the Khomeini regime be overthrown. Our subject of debate at that time was who lost Iran to Khomeini the unanimous View was that former president Jimmy Carter was to blame for the Shah is downfall. The fact that the Bush administration has allowed the air to open an office in Tehran might indicate that the u. S. Finally has accepted the obvious that the islamic revolution in Iran is a fait a comply. The same goes for Syria. Rice met in new York for the first time for 10 minutes with syrian foreign minister Waleed Muallem and discussed briefly All subjects of disagreement Between the two countries. Later rices Deputy David Welch discussed at More length All these subjects with Muallem. Both moves were encouraged by French president Nicolas Sarkozy. The French president convinced Bush that without a formal dialogue with these two countries there is no Chance to moderate Iranus nuclear ambitions and to facilitate a normalization of relations Between Syria and Lebanon. Both presidential candidates in the u. S. Election share this View. In line with this direction of Active diplomacy French foreign minister Bernard Bouchner ended a two Day visit to Jerusalem and Ramallal on sunday. Accompanied by palestinian prime minister Salam Fayad Bouchner visited a Hospital in Jenin which was financed by France. He also watched a Parade of palestinian police officers who were trained by France. In discussions with palestinian authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas Bouchner pressured him to continue his dialogue with Israel despite Little Progress so far. Abbas said that he has had a Good dialogue with outgoing israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and he promised to continue the dialogue with Tripi Livni should she form a new government. Abbas told Bouchner that he intends to Convene the palestinian National Congress which has not been convened since 1988, in an Effort to receive a new mandate for his presidency from this body. Bouchner conveyed the same message to both foreign and defence ministers Tripi Livni and Ehud Barak. Sources familiar with these discussions said that like president Bush Sarkozy wants to finish his term As the rotating president of the eur with some kind of achievement. Sar Kozys term ends on dec. 31. In his discussions with Livni and Barak Bouchner expressed the fear that Israel will be tempted to Advance the talks with Syria Over the talks with the palestinians. France still believes that the palestinian problem is the key to peace in the Region. Therefore Sarkozy intends to submit a paper later this month to a european Summit in Brussels that outlines moves to be taken if Progress with the palestinians is to be achieved. Once approved this paper will serve As a guideline to the future rotating president of the eur the czech president on Jan. 1, 2009, and before the new u. S. President occupies the White House. We will have to wait and see whether Sar Kozys paper will be in line with the quartets Road map and whether it will be accepted by the parties. Samuel Segev is the Winnipeg free press Middle East correspondent. He is based in Tel Aviv. Pressure on to restart israeli palestinian peace talks Samuel Segev excerpts from the report of the Taman inquiry dealing with the Quality of the investigation undertaken by the Winnipeg police services professional standards unit and commissioner Roger Sal Hanys reasons for recommending Why it be scrapped so that police no longer investigate themselves. Ellipses indicate Points at which this Section of the report was abridged. T he professional standards unit is a separate Branch of the Winnipeg police service. Members of the unit Are senior members of the was who asked to serve on the unit for a specified period of time. They have two investigative roles. The first and most important is the investigation of members of the was who Are alleged to have breached a regulation of the service. The second role is the investigation of criminal offences allegedly committed by a member of the was. The investigation of a regulatory complaint or a criminal offence is instituted by a 24 hour notice to the member to appear for questioning by an investigator with the Psi. The members must be interviewed during one of their shifts. They Are required to attend and answer the questions put to them. They Are also entitled to consult with their Union representative and counsel before they Are interviewed. I am of the View that the investigation conducted by the Psi was doomed to failure from the very beginning. The manner in which the interviews were conducted was bound to leave the impression that the investigation of the was officers at bran igans where officers went for drinks after their shift ended and later at const. Sean Blacks residence where they continued to drink was not being pursued with the kind of Vigour and expertise expected of the police when interviewing a civilian witness who May have witnessed criminal conduct. In making that comment i make no criticism of the integrity or competence of the officers who conducted their interviews. Det. Sgt. Roger Girard was forthright in his evidence and candidly accepted the criticisms levelled at the manner in which he and his colleagues conducted their interviews of the was members. My criticism is levelled at the constraints under which the Psi investigators were forced to operate in conducting their investigation. Girard was of the View that when conducting an investigation there had to be a balance in the Way witnesses were questioned. He testified in professional standards it has to be a balance. Because one of the things that i was told that we Are not let me just think about the right Way to word this. In order we basically had four stakeholders that we were serving in the sense of our duties that being the citizens of Winnipeg the City the service and our members. So we had to make sure that there was a balance that we did things the right Way to maintain credibility with All those groups. It is difficult to do the work if you dont have credibility. With respect there can be no successful investigation if an investigator is required to balance several interests when questioning witnesses. Although Girard was not prepared to accept that his investigation was an exercise in Compromise As suggested to him by commission counsel David Paciocco it is Clear from his evidence that it was in fact an exercise in Compromise. There can be no Compromise when a witness is questioned by an investigator. The goal of the investigator must be to obtain the truth. The Only restriction upon the investigator is to ensure that the constitutional rights of the witnesses Are not jeopardized. A successful investigator can never be a prisoner of Compromise that is not imposed As a matter of Law. Moreover there can be no successful investigation where an investigator approaches an interview of a witness with the Assumption that the witness will be nothing less than truthful and will be forthcoming in the information he or she gives to the interviewer. Here such Assumption was naive particularly when it was known that some of the officers were anxious to come Forward and set the record straight. It was naive when one considers that sgt. Chris Humiski and sgt. James Anderson who had been drinking with Derek Harvey Zenk had an interest in the outcome because it would reflect badly on them and their careers and it would reflect badly on the members of the platoon generally. It was naive to assume that Black the officer who hosted the drinking party for Harvey Zenk and other police officers would be forthcoming in his answers considering that he might be concerned about his civil liability and the implications the Accident would have for him. It was also naive considering that there had been a prior platoon briefing during which there had been a discussion of some of the questions that Anderson and Humiski expected the Psi would ask. It was not Only naive but As Girard also admitted strange that although the was members could understandably not be Able to give a precise drink count they were unable to say whether any of their associates were drinking lightly moderately or heavily in the confined space at bran igans or at Blacks residence. Finally it was naive not to consider the kind of pressure that would be placed on a was member by the very dynamics of being a member of a platoon to come Forward and say that he or she saw a colleague drinking heavily. Surely the interviewers must have been a Little suspicious when each was member interviewed gave the same Story that they did not see what Zenk was drinking and everyone was perfectly sober with the exception of const. Chris Harding. Another concern about the method of questioning police officers arose during the testimony of Girard. He said that police officers should not be pressed too hard when being interviewed. Another valid criticism levelled at the methods used was that some interviewers made comments that telegraphed the answers that the witnesses should give. For example while questioning Black sgt. Con Pearson suggested that Zenk was fatigued due to overtime even though the was records showed that Zenk had not worked overtime. With respect an experienced and effective interviewer would never suggest to a witness an answer that would effectively neutralize the witnesses potential usefulness. Another justifiable criticism was that the 24 hour notice period to the was members gave them the Opportunity to consult with counsel or other witnesses before they were interviewed. Girard agreed but justified the notice on the basis that a civilian witness does not have to co operate and be interviewed whereas a was member is required by regulations to do so. It was also justified on the basis that it gave the was members the Opportunity to consider what had happened and that they were now going to be a witness to it. Girard described this As time to let things soak in re interviews. This rationale fails to recognize that a better investigative technique is to interview a witness As soon As possible. It is True that a civilian witness does not have to co operate with the police but it is much better to have a witness who is prepared to co operate with the police and provide relevant and timely information than a reluctant witness who is compelled by regulation to be interviewed and has had the Opportunity to consult with others before giving his or her information to the interviewer. For some unexplained reason the Psi chose to interview a key witness like Darcey Gerardy assistant night manager at bran igans in the presence of his employer Rodrigo Bravo. It was naive for Psi investigators not to note that Bravo who faced potential civil liability would have had a motive to downplay the importance of the records or the amount of alcohol consumed. Another valid criticism was that there were no follow up interviews if additional or conflicting information was obtained from a witness. For example Girard received information from Gerardy that was different from what he had been receiving from the was members. Gerardy expressed to him some concern about a few people having too much to drink to drive and that he wanted to make sure they were taken care of. However Girard did not follow that up. In particular he did not have Gerardy describe who those people were. In her interview with Girard server Chelsea Ohalloran said that a couple of the was members had More than others and when asked How much she answered probably about eight Beers. He said that he did not follow it up because she was asked and said that nobody was intoxicated when they left the restaurant although he conceded that he would be concerned that somebody who had eight Beers to drink would get in and drive a vehicle. Girard also agreed that they should have pursued More vigorously the records of bran igans to determine How much alcohol was actually consumed that evening. Although Ohalloran had told him that she gave All of her receipts at the end of the evening to the general manager he asked Bravo for the receipts and not Gerardy. He also accepted uncritically bravos excuse that he was unable to provide the receipts or records of transactions and his assertion that any records would not in any event be Able to establish How much alcohol was consumed. Finally it is Clear that the interviews were conducted in a cursory fashion with Little intensity. Fourteen interviews were conducted in approximately 225 minutes an average of 15 minutes an individual. This included Reading to each officer a three Page protocol. Recommendations i have outlined my reasons for my conclusion that the investigation conducted by the Psi was doomed to failure from the beginning in my View it is unlikely that an investigation can Ever be successful where the investigators approach their task with the Assumption that they must conduct it with balance assume that the witnesses Are telling the truth allow time to soak in before the witnesses Are questioned not push the witnesses and Telegraph to the witnesses what their answers should be. These self imposed constraints on Psi investigators Are less Likely to achieve a successful investigation than an unrestrained investigation conducted of civilian witnesses. In my View it is unlikely that an investigation can Ever be successful where police officers Are allowed special treatment before they Are interviewed such As the right to consult with their police association the right to have interviews during shift hours or the right to be warned about criminal civil or administrative implications of the statements they give. Police officers who Are witnesses to criminal activity Are not entitled to be treated with kid gloves simply because they Are police officers As the was members were treated in this Case. Commission counsel made the following recommendations. The first is that the minister of Justice should cause a study to be commissioned to identify suitable alternatives to having the Winnipeg police professional standards unit investigate criminal allegations against Winnipeg police officers whether the allegations being investigated fall within the jurisdiction of the Winnipeg police service. Or not. I would go further and recommend to the minister of Justice that he give consideration to creating a provincial special investigative unit Independent of All police enforcement agencies in Manitoba for the purpose of investigating any alleged criminal activity of a member of a police service. The second recommendation made by commission counsel is that i should recommend to the minister of Justice that he should cause appropriate measures to be taken to prevent police investigators in the province from giving police witnesses special procedural concessions in criminal investigations before they Are interviewed including the right to consult with their police association the right to have interviews scheduled during shift hours or the right to be warned about the criminal civil or administrative implications of the statements they give. I agree with and concur in that recommendation. In my View regardless of what form that Independent investigative Agency takes it should avoid adopting any procedures that would involve treating police witnesses any differently from the Way Lay witnesses Are treated in criminal investigations. For a Complete report go to Winnipeg repress. Com doomed to failure rules by which police investigated themselves were naive by Roger Salhany Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg free press author of the Taman report commissioner Roger Salhany. A 11_ oct 07 08. Ind a11 10/ 6/ 08 8 52 45 pm ;