THE QUEBEC HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL CONDEMNS TWO WOMEN TO PAY $25,000 IN DAMAGES FOR HATE ASSAULT AGAINST AN INDIAN CANADIAN COUPLE IN ANGRIGNON PARK

Montreal, CANADA, December 14, 2006 --- In a decision released yesterday, two white women who assaulted an Indian-Canadian couple in July 2002 in Angrignon Park, Montreal, have been ordered to pay $25,000 in moral and punitive damages by the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal in a decision released yesterday.

The court judgment is a precedent in Quebec in ordering damages for hate crimes and racist violence where rights protected by the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms have been contravened.

In July 2002, Mr. Somen Chowdhury and Ms. Sumita Chowdhury, two Canadians of Indian descent, went to a picnic with friends at Angrigron Park in Montreal. When they got to the park, they were confronted by a group of young white anglophones who viciously hurled racial slurs at them (« F-g Pakis », « Go back to your country ») and then assaulted them.

The youths fled in their car but were later located by the police. Criminal charges were brought against Christine O’Toole and Karen McDonald; their male friends could not be positively identified and were therefore not charged. In February 2005, O’Toole and McDonald were found guilty by the Municipal Court of Montreal and sentenced to 2 months in prison (suspended sentence) and two years of probation.

In November 2002, CRARR filed a civil rights complaint against all five aggressors on behalf of the Chowdhurys, claiming $50,000 in moral damages and $50,000 in punitive damages, a public apology and compulsory antiracist training. Since the males could not be positively identified, the human rights commission in its decision of May 13, 2005, ordered the two women to pay $24,000 in moral damages and $4,000 in punitive damages to the Chowdhurys.

In the hearing of September 22, 2006, the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal upheld this decison, held the O’Toole and McDonald solidarily responsible for the assault of the couple and ordered them to pay $13,500 to Mr. Chowdhury and $11,500 to Ms. Chowdhury. Their apparent lack of remorse as well as Ms. O’Toole’s lack of respect for the Tribunal during the hearing had a noted impact on the court.

For the Chowdhurys, the Tribunal sent a powerful message about its zero tolerance for racism and hate crimes should be in Quebec society.

“Even if the wheels of justice move slowly, we congratulate the human rights commission, especially its lawyer, Me Pierre Moretti as well as the human rights tribunal for being so firm in their decisions. We are pleased to have contributed, in a concrete manner, to the quest for justice and equality for victims of hate crimes in Quebec,” said Mr. Chowdhury.

As for CRARR’s Executive Director Fo Niemi, it’s “mission accomplished.”

“The Chowdhurys have become heroes for their community, role models for all Quebecers and a symbol for victims of crimes, because it is rare that victims of racist violence pursue their aggressors with such tenacity so that others will not suffer the same fate,” he said.

“Thanks to their perseverance, courage and sense of civic duty, they have taught all of us that one should never give up when one’s dignity, physical and moral integrity as well as one’s first-class citizenship rights have been violated by aggression and violent acts. Yesterday, the human rights tribunal reinforced this message,” said Mr. Niemi.

The Chowdhurys will donate the entire amount of damages to CRARR to support its service to assist victims of racism and other discrimination.

Another CRARR-piloted hate crime case involving a Black man who was stabbed by two neo-Nazis in 2002, will be heard by the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal in 2007. In that case, the human rights commission claims $50,000 in damages on behalf of the victim.