Correctional ministry won’t release video of inmate’s last hours
Province cites labour relations in decision that points to trend of secrecy, experts say
Ontario’s Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services is keeping secret the video detailing the last moments of a man who died in solitary confinement at a Lindsay jail after a three-hour confrontation with guards.
The family of Soleiman Faqiri, a 30year-old mentally ill man who died in the Central East Correctional Centre on Dec. 15, 2016, and the Star separately submitted freedom of information requests for video of the events leading to his death. Both requests were denied under Section 65 (6) of Ontario’s privacy law, which refers to labour relations.
Two privacy law experts told the Star the use of that section is unclear and may be a broad interpretation meant to protect the correctional officers who appear in the video.
Several other experts said the denial is part of a trend of secrecy at the ministry.
Faqiri, who had schizophrenia, died after guards at the provincial facility pepper-sprayed and beat him after he refused to get out of the shower, according to a 2017 internal report by the Kawartha Lakes Police Service that refers to surveillance video.
The report, which was obtained by the Star in February, describes how officers forced handcuffs and leg shackles on Faqiri as they returned him to a segregation cell. Video then shows 20 to 30 officers entering his cell, the report says.
Faqiri was in jail awaiting a mental health assessment. A 2017 coroner’s report found the cause of his death to be “unascertained.”
The Kawartha Lakes police investigation found “no grounds exist to process criminal charges against anyone who was involved with (Faqiri) prior to his death.”
“It feels like keeping us in the dark has become more important than finding out what happened to my brother,” Yusuf Faqiri, Soleiman’s older brother, told the Star on Monday. “It means more sleepless nights for my family.”
Section 65 (6) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act refers to records “collected, prepared, main- tained or used by or on behalf of a ministry or agency in relation to” either:
“Proceedings or anticipated proceedings before a court, tribunal or other entity relating to labour relations or to the employment of a person by the institution.”
“Negotiations or anticipated negotiations relating to labour relations or to the employment of a person by the institution between the institution and a person, bargaining agent or party to a proceeding or an anticipated proceeding.”
“Meetings, consultations, discussions or communications about labour relations or employment-related matters in which the institution has an interest.”
Last week, both the ministry and the Lindsay jail guards’ union refused to say if a labour relations matter was underway.
“It would be inappropriate for the ministry to provide comment due to the confidential human resources matters involved,” Brent Ross, a ministry spokesperson, wrote in an email to the Star.
“I will not be commenting,” said Chris Butsh, president of Local 368.
Ryder Gilliland, a Toronto litigation lawyer with an expertise in privacy law, said the denial is “a misuse” of Section 65 (6) because the video was created independent of any labour issue.
“If you’re creating records for a labour relations matter then it would be properly invoked, but to say any record that exists ends up being part of the matter is an overly broad interpretation,” he said.
Mark Hayes, a privacy lawyer, told the Star that the lack of clarity in the letter is the red flag.
“All we know is they’re claiming these three sections, which can be applied to a very wide variety of labour actions.”
“One has to wonder if there’s not a level of secrecy if red tape is being thrown up so easily,” Shane Martinez, a human rights lawyer, said.
Martinez, who frequently sees his requests for records denied, said secrecy is “part of the min- istry’s MO.”
“It makes it so difficult for families to get answers for loved ones who have died in jails.”
Andrew Langille, a Toronto employment lawyer familiar with privacy law, agrees. The use of labour relations exemptions “is concerning because of vast potential to cover up serious misconduct in Ontario jails,” he said.
Mustafa Sheikh, a Toronto criminal defence lawyer, has been denied access to video relating to altercations between officers and his clients at least five times in the past two years.
Correctional centres are under 24-hour surveillance, he noted, with cameras posted in most areas of the jail. Video, Sheikh said, “provides an unbiased perspective of what actually happened.”
“No one ‘wants’ to see the violence likely contained within that footage,” Fathima Cader, a Toronto labour lawyer, said, “but Soleiman’s family loved him, and they are entitled to see how he was treated in the last minutes of his life.”
The Faqiri family and their lawyers, Nader Hasan and Edward Marrocco, say they are dismayed and angry they can’t get an answer to their only question: “Why?”
The family waited almost a year to see the results of the police investigation. Their previous request to see records of the investigation was also denied. They are still waiting on the findings of an ongoing coroner’s inquest.
“There has been enough waiting,” Hasan said. “All we’re asking for is for transparency and accountability.”
Marrocco added that the ministry’s response to the freedom of information request makes it clear that there is an inconsistency to what the police found seven months ago.
“It looks like the ministry has investigated for a few months and found enough to take action against the guards involved in Soleiman’s death,” he said. “The only thing remaining is to release the ministry’s investigative findings so the truth can finally come out.”