Thursday, September 2 -- The Segregation Review Board

"Thank you for My Time"

On Thursday, September 2, the Segregation Review Board had its weekly meeting. Included in its agenda were the cases of Mr. Badari, Mr. Hurst and the three remaining prisoners, Mr. Hanson, Mr. Neufeld and Mr. Lakes, who had been segregated as part of Operation Big Scoop. The initial discussion of the cases and the reaching of a recommendation took place in the absence of the prisoners and it was only at the end of all discussion that prisoners who had requested to see the Board made their appearance.

Mr. Badari was the first case reviewed. Surprisingly, no one at the Segregation Review Board knew whether he had yet been charged with an offence arising from the remarks he had made after Mike Boileau was assaulted. I advised the Board that not only had he been charged but he had also appeared before the Independent Chairperson who had referred the case to minor court. The Board's decision was that Mr. Badari be released from segregation. Mr. Hurst's case was reviewed next and the Board was advised that he had made his appearance in disciplinary court, had been convicted and received a $15 fine. He too was recommended for release from segregation.

In the cases of Mr. Hanson, Mr. Neufeld and Mr. Lakes, decisions were made that all three men should remain in segregation, pending completion of involuntary transfer packages. These decisions having been made, the three prisoners were then seen in turn. Mr. Hanson, when asked what he had to say to the Board, questioned why he was still up in segregation. He stated that he had received a copy of a segregation review notice and had been interviewed by his case management officer. Mr. Hanson then reviewed the several grounds for segregation which were given in the notice and systematically responded to each one of them in a concise and very responsive way. He understood that the IPSOs had reported that the RCMP had contacted the institution regarding their continuing investigation into outstanding charges in Alberta; he insisted that this information was incorrect, and his lawyer had informed him that there was no continuing investigation. As to the allegation that he had threatened to take hostages while in segregation, he responded that he was glad that Mr. Csoka was at this segregation review, because the officer who prepared the incident report had told him, in Mr. Csoka's presence, that although remarks to this effect had been heard, he had not been identified as the prisoner who made them. He stated further that he was not involved in drugs, and was probably one of the few prisoners at Matsqui who had volunteered for, and passed, urinalysis. He concluded his submission by saying that he was fully involved in programs within the institution and there was nothing in his behaviour to warrant transfer. He reminded the Board that a transfer had been prepared on him once before for essentially the same reasons, and this had been rejected at Regional Headquarters. In light of all this, he could not understand why he was still in segregation. The only response Mr. Hanson was given by the Board was that he was still under investigation and that he would remain in segregation until it was completed. There was no attempt to analyse the validity of his rebuttal to the allegations made against him, or to reconsider the decision already made prior to his appearing before the Board. After being summarily told that he would remain in segregation pending the conclusion of the investigation, he quietly left the room with the parting comment, "Thank you for my time."

Mr. Neufeld was seen next and his first statement to the Board was, "I feel this is very unjust." He, too, addressed the allegations made against him and argued they were not well founded. With specific reference to the statement that he was involved in muscling, he had been told that a lot of guys were showing up in health care with black eyes and bruises and that he was the responsible. Yet no one had ever come to see him about such alleged involvement; in particular no one had ever looked at his hands or examined him to see if there were any other signs of his being involved in such assaults. After completing his review of the allegations he concluded by saying "I've already been in the hole almost a week, and one day is a long time to me." No attempt was made by the Board to address his response and, like Mr. Hanson, he was told that he would have to remain in segregation pending the completion of the investigation.

The last prisoner seen was Mr. Lakes. He was told that he was still being investigated and "the rule is that a person stays in segregation until the investigation is completed." Mr. Lakes was visibly angry with this response and wanted to know how was it that he was in segregation when only last week his CO-II had told him that he should apply again for an escorted temporary absence (ETA) to go out on spiritual passes. He asked the Board, "Are you telling me that I haven't improved myself by doing my education programs? I'm talking with the Elders. I feel I'm being used as a scapegoat. How come the drug dealers are still out there in the population?" The stony silence with which his questions were met by the Board was not designed to give Eddy Lakes any confidence in the segregation review process.

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