Human rights hearing on allegations of racial profiling of migrant workers caught in mass DNA sweep begins
CBC
The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario will hear Monday from migrant workers who allege they were racially targeted by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) as part of a DNA sweep in connection to a 2013 sexual assault investigation.
The 54 applicants argue that the indiscriminate manner in which the DNA sweep was conducted violated their rights under Ontario's Human Rights Code.
The OPP swabbed 96 Black and brown migrant farm workers from mostly Caribbean countries working in at least five farms in Elgin County in 2013 as they searched for a suspect in a sexual assault.
But human rights lawyer Shane Martínez, who is representing the migrant workers pro bono, says most workers who were swabbed did not fit the physical description of the suspect except for the colour of their skin.
"Workers were West Indian, workers were black from Jamaica, workers with long dreadlocks, ones who were bald — one worker had gold teeth," Martínez said. "They were as diverse a group as you could potentially imagine."
"When they tried to provide explanations as to [where they were] and they provided alibis, the police completely disregarded those and wanted nothing more than to collect their DNA because of how they looked."
The suspect, meanwhile, was described as between 5-10 and six feet tall, black, with no facial hair and a low voice that might have a Jamaican accent.
The sexual assault survivor told police her attacker was muscular and possibly in his mid-to late 20s. She said she was confident the perpetrator was a migrant worker and believed she'd seen him near her home in rural southwestern Ontario.
Dwayne Henry recalls being asked to provide a DNA swab eight years ago.
Hailing from Jamaica, Henry says while he was nervous, he initially felt assured when the police approached him.
"We were scared but, knowing this was Canada, this was the first world, I thought I was doing something keeping with the law," said Henry. "We know what police can do back in our country."
Henry, who now lives in Stratford, Ont., said he was with his girlfriend at the time of the assault and had dreadlocks that did not match the suspect's description. But he says that made no difference in their investigation.
Now that he's a permanent resident, Henry says he could clearly see that both his employer and the police pressured him to comply.
"I think at that time they were taking advantage of us just because we were migrant workers," said Henry. "We were scared that we were going to be sent back home. This is the place [where we are the] breadwinner for our family, you know?"
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