After drawing criticism about its absence from a violent protest in Vancouver this weekend, B.C.'s main civil rights watchdog group says it will now send public observers to all demonstrations until the end of the 2010 Games.
The BC Civil Liberties Association said it decided to skip the demonstration after a request from the Olympic Resistance Network and a fear that its volunteer observers would be confronted by organizers who didn't want them there.
Three people were charged with weapons and assault offences after 100 black-clad masked protesters took over a peaceful anti-Olympic protest of about 200 people in downtown Vancouver Saturday morning. The group smashed windows at a downtown HBC location and vandalized property.
BCCLA Executive Director David Eby told ctvbc.ca the group had no idea the protest would turn violent.
"We thought there was going to be a sit in and that sort of thing. As soon as we realized what was going on we sent the observers but it was too late."
Eby says not sending observers from the beginning has hurt the BCCLA's credibility and it will now send volunteers to every demonstration they hear about until the completion of the Games.
"We changed the policy because of the optics around Saturday's demo," he said.
"We had to recalibrate because that wasn't a protest we've ever seen before in Vancouver. Now we'll be prepared and calibrated to account for events like this."
The BCCLA trained more than 400 legal observers to monitor civil rights during the 2010 Games. The program, which was designed to protect the free speech right of protesters, may extend post-Games if there are enough resources.
Eby praised the Vancouver Police for their "light touch" with protesters so far at anti-2010 events.
