Sask. police accused of indigenous mistreatment

Indigenous women in Saskatchewan have been subjected to violence, invasive strip searches and other mistreatment by police, says a report from a human rights watchdog that was quickly criticized by some police agencies.

The report from New-Yorkbased Human Rights Watch said the group documented 64 cases of alleged violent abuse during a visit last year to the province that included talks with indigenous women and social workers.

“Human Rights Watch found evidence of a fractured relationship between law enforcement and indigenous communities,” the report states.

“The legacy of settler colonialism and racist assimilation policies — particularly the residential school system — still overshadow the present-day dynamics between police and indigenous communities.”

The treatment of indigenous people by police in Saskatchewan has been the subject of highprofile legal proceedings. The 1990 death of Neil Stonechild, who was found frozen to death in a field outside Saskatoon, led to an inquiry and the firing of two Saskatoon police officers.

In 2001, two other Saskatoon officers were fired after being convicted of unlawful confinement for leaving Darrell Night on the outskirts of the city the previous year in -22 C weather.

The report documents more recent allegations of police abuse from indigenous women whose names were not revealed, including, a Prince Albert woman who said an officer at a traffic stop in 2014 grabbed her ear and started hitting her because she didn’t want to leave her car with her child in it.