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| A Mexican jail |
An unclassified letter dated November 15, 2013, and obtained
by La politica, has confirmed what
Bruce Vigfusson, a Canadian currently serving a four-and-a-half year sentence in a Mexican jail for assault, has been saying for some time: in-person visits
from Canadian embassy personnel have been suspended due to Mr. Vigfusson’s
“verbally aggressive” behaviour toward a consular officer.
The letter clearly states that the embassy has no tolerance
for “aggressive or threatening behaviour” and that, in accordance with the Department
of Foreign Affairs Trade and Development’s (DFATD’s) Prevention of Violence in
the Workplace Policy, in such circumstances “corrective measures or temporary
withdrawal of services will be considered on a case-by-case basis.”
What exactly did Mr. Vigfusson say?
“I told them to grow some balls,” he told La politica in a telephone interview. “I
told them to get off their asses and start helping me.”
Mr. Vigfusson was detained September 12, 2012, for an
incident in August 28, 2012, in Hermosillo, Sonora, in which he was the victim
of a home invasion and, according to Mexican authorities, assaulted one of his
attackers. He was sentenced on May 30,
2013, and served his time in Hermosillo until October 9, 2013, when he was
transferred to another prison in Nogales, Sonora, which is on the border with
Arizona.
“They sent me here in a pair of shorts and huaraches [sandals],” he tells La politica. “It gets really cold here.
The embassy has done nothing.”
Canadians are often confused with regard to the role of
consular officials, and the relative power they may wield. Canadian embassy
staff have no authority, and will not attempt, to secure preferential treatment
for imprisoned Canadians, or to seek exemption from the law, and cannot
interfere in a foreign country’s judicial affairs.
According to the Canadian government’s own guidelines,
“Consular officials can provide a list of lawyers who have expertise in your
particular type of case and who may have represented Canadians in the past.
They cannot, however, recommend specific lawyers.”
According to Mr. Vigfusson, however, Canadian consular
officials made recommendations with regard to legal counsel.
“They told me they had talked to the judge and to go with
the abogado de oficio [public
defender],” he says. “This entire time they have done me more damage than
good.”
Mr. Vigfusson has expressed significant frustration with one
consular official in particular, with whom a complaint has been lodged. Mr.
Vigfusson has alleged to La politica that
during a telephone interview the officer openly accused Mr. Vigfusson of
sending emails from prison. The conversation was on speaker phone, which allowed
Mexican prison officials, some of whom understand English, to be given the
impression that Mr. Vigfusson was surreptitiously communicating with the
outside – a serious breach of prison rules.
“I have no personal phone, and only call from the pay phone,”
says Mr. Vigfusson. “The officer was claiming that I was sending emails to
Canada. It was on speaker phone. After that they searched me and my cell. It
was very irresponsible. He [the officer] doesn’t realize what it’s like in
here. It’s rough. I wish he could live one day in jail, then maybe he’d get off
his ass and help me.”
For its part, DFATD remains circumspect, though it has told La politica that consular services are
being provided to Mr. Vigfusson.
“Canadian consular officials continue to be in contact with
local authorities to gather additional information, as appropriate,” says
Mathieu Roy, a spokesperson for DFATD.
It should be noted that La
politica has only communicated to Mr. Vigfusson by phone. The referenced
unclassified letter was obtained by a friend of Mr. Vigfusson’s, who received
it directly from the Canadian embassy.
Why are we dealing with a country in a free trade agreement when they fail to honour the human rights of Canadian citizens working abroad. Mr.Vigfusson had his rights violated and didn't receive a fair trail to which he is entitled and died in captivity which awaiting an appeal. The Mexican's have the audacity to complain about their citizens when they die in custody such as at the Canadian border but become indifferent when it applies to our Canadian citizens. It appears Bruce was only defending himself against a violent home invasion and did not receive the due process owed to him. Beware about accepting employment in Mexico.
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