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Health Care Professionals Demand Justice for Mohamed Anas Bennis!

Medical Doctors from the Cote-des-Neiges neighborhood call upon Public Security Minister to uncover mystery surrounding death of young man killed by Montreal police

Montreal, July 17th 2007

Physicians from the Cote-des-Neiges community have called upon Minister of Public Security and Justice Jacques Dupuis to release all information surrounding the death of Mohamed Anas Bennis, a 25 year-old Canadian of Moroccan heritage, shot by Montreal police on December 1st 2005 in Cote-des-Neiges, just minutes from his home.

In an open letter to Quebec Minister of Public Security and Justice Jacques Dupuis, the group of nineteen medical doctors working in the Cote-des-Neiges neighborhood demanded that all the evidence and reports surrounding the death of Anas Bennis be released to the family and the public while calling for a public inquiry into the events leading to Anas’ death.

The open letter declares : “The lack of transparency and suppression of information in this case does not inspire confidence and can only increase the sense of stigmatization felt by local Muslims and other minority groups. We also believe that the Bennis family is entitled to an open and complete investigation into the circumstances leading to the death of their son and brother.”

The police claim that Anas had attacked them with a kitchen knife, but over a year later, they have failed to produce either the knife, the security video which filmed the events leading to Anas' death, or proof of the injuries that the officer supposedly sustained. Despite their efforts, the Bennis family has not been able to see this evidence or to receive copies of the prosecutor's report or the police report regarding Anas' death.

As Minister of Public Security and Minister of Justice, Jacques Dupuis has the power to release the police and prosecutor's reports to the Bennis family and to the public. The Bennis family and their supporters have made numerous attempts to meet with Mr. Dupuis about this case, but so far the Minister has ignored them.

The three demands of the Coalition Justice for Anas, created to support the Bennis family in December 2006, have already been endorsed by over 35 community organizations, including several groups in Cote-des-Neiges. Their voices are joined by those of health care providers in the neighborhood today, reinforcing the call for:

1) the immediate release of all reports, evidence and information concerning the death of Anas Bennis to the Bennis family and to the public;
2) a full, public and independent inquiry into the death of Anas Bennis;
3) an end to police brutality and impunity.