MAYOR TO MEET HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP

Former foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy has agreed to facilitate a
meeting next month between Mayor Larry Campbell and a New York-based human
rights group that delivered a damning report last week on the police
department's drug crackdown in the Downtown Eastside.

Campbell asked the members of Human Rights Watch to return to Vancouver
after he criticized their report for reflecting "only a partial
understanding of the issues at work" and casting a pall over the
four-pillar drug strategy and the city's reputation.

"I'm not poo-pooing the report, but I certainly don't think that we have a
human rights problem here in the city," said Campbell, who sent a letter to
Human Rights Watch Thursday, requesting their return.

On Monday, he spoke to Axworthy after learning the former minister was a
member of the Human Rights Watch board. Axworthy agreed to facilitate a
meeting in Vancouver on June 10. Campbell said he hopes members of Human
Rights Watch will bring details of the allegations made against the police
department.

Titled "Abusing the User: Police Misconduct, Harm Reduction and HIV/AIDS in
Vancouver," the report alleges instances of police "beating and otherwise
mistreating drug users in custody, conducting public strip searches and
using petty allegations such as jaywalking to justify stops and searches."

The report also documents a significant reduction in the use of needle
exchange programs and other life-saving services related to fear of police
abuse and harassment among drug addicts.

The information was gathered by Human Rights Watch researchers Joanne Csete
and Jonathan Cohen, who said from New York that their group welcomed the
opportunity to meet with the mayor.

"We have a reputation for doing very even-handed reporting and by no means
was the intention to foreclose the possibility of dialogue with the mayor's
office, which is why we're very happy to meet with him," Cohen said.

Campbell, a former Mountie and current chair of the police board, said he
was disappointed Human Rights Watch members didn't contact his office
during their visit. However, councillors Tim Louis and Ellen Woodsworth
were interviewed.

"Councillors Woodsworth and Louis have really nothing to do with
policing... I'm not suggesting that I'm the expert on the Downtown
Eastside. I'm simply saying, you know, as the chair of the police board and
as the mayor, they could have come to me."

The Vancouver Police Department, meanwhile, says it has not received any
written complaints against its officers since the crackdown on drug dealers
began April 7.