POLICE CRACKDOWN PROMPTS COMPLAINTS IN VANCOUVER

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- A police crackdown on drug dealers in
downtown Vancouver is causing more harm than good for the neighborhood's
AIDS and hepatitis epidemic, a Human Rights Watch report says, asserting
addicts are being driven away from needle-exchange programs and other services.

Called Operation Torpedo, the crackdown has gotten some pushers off the
streets, "but at a high cost," said the report issued Wednesday by the New
York-based rights group. Its findings were echoed by health care workers,
activists and addicts in the city, known for its progressive drug policies.

"The flouting of due process in this crackdown is shocking for a country
with Canada's strong commitment to human rights," said Joanne Csete,
director of the HIV/AIDS Program of Human Rights Watch. "Vancouver risks
making its HIV/AIDS crisis much worse and it's already the worst on the
continent."

Illegal searches and arrests, excessive force and other abuses committed by
police on addicts not accused of dealing drugs have worsened the already
dire situation in the 15-block neighborhood on Vancouver's east side, which
is frequented by more than 5,000 addicts, the report said.

"These actions, which violate Canadian and international human rights
guarantees, contributed to driving drug users underground and away from
lifesaving HIV prevention and other health services," it said. Vancouver
police denied officers abuse their power, saying the crackdown is aimed at
dealers, not users, with a goal of ridding the area of pushers while
keeping addicts near the services they need.

"This whole report lacks credibility," Inspector Doug LePard said Wednesday.

"There's no reason for addicts to be worried," he said. "We're focusing on
disorder and we're focusing on traffickers."

Still, health workers fear a new wave of HIV and hepatitis C cases in
Vancouver, which already has the highest infection rate in North America.
The British Colombia Center for Disease Control puts the AIDS rate among
area addicts at more than 30 percent, while well over half the intravenous
drug users are infected with hepatitis C.

The problem seems ironic for Vancouver, a coastal city known for its
magnificent mountain and ocean vistas and laid back West Coast lifestyle,
along with progressive policies for drug addicts.

More than 2.5 million needles are handed out to addicts each year in the
city's east end, a warren of dilapidated buildings and filthy streets
believed to be the stalking ground of a suspected serial killer accused of
murdering at least 15 prostitutes and drug addicts from the area.

Mayor Larry Campbell, a former police officer and coroner, won last year's
election on a platform that included the promise of safe injection sites as
part of a "four pillar" drug policy involving treatment, prevention, harm
reduction and enforcement.

So far, Operation Torpedo is the only visible step taken, with regular
police patrols on foot and in squad cars.

On streets littered with orange needle caps and stinking of urine, users
and those trying to help them complain of police intimidation or worse.

"I've seen a guy down and three cops on top of him with a knee in his
forehead," said Chantal Brunet, 37, who called herself a recovering heroin
addict. "They're abusing their authority."

Addicts fearful of being confronted by police use dirty needles they find
on the ground instead of going to needle exchange sites, she said, while
others may be fleeing the area in violation of bail conditions.

At a corner near a known heroin market called "the shooting gallery" by
locals, two men handed out needles, clean water and condoms for the
Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, a local support group.

"It's going to increase the human tragedy tenfold," the group's president,
Rob Weppler, said of the police operation.

Needle distribution has dropped by half and condom handouts to prostitutes
are down 60 percent since the crackdown began April 7, according to
Weppler. That will fuel the AIDS and hepatitis spread in the area, he said.

The Human Rights Watch report called for a halt to abusive police tactics,
public hearings on abuses and creation of an independent commission to
investigate complaints of police misconduct.

"The system is not conducive to people who file these grievances, and I
don't think we'd have to write this report if it were," said Jonathan
Cohen, a Human Rights Watch HIV/AIDS researcher.

With Vancouver a finalist for the 2010 Olympics, there are fears of a
broader crackdown before the July decision by the International Olympic
Committee. When an IOC evaluation team visited in March, it was kept far
from the downtown east side.