Quebec's Crown prosecutors office believes women in Val d'Or were assaulted and sexually assaulted.
It just doesn't think it could prove it in court.
That is what members of the DPCP explained to residents of Val d'Or on Friday in both individual meetings and in a lengthy news conference, but getting the explanations did not mollify residents.
Francoise Ruperthouse of the Val d'Or Native Friendship Centre, the organization that helped bring the accusations to light one year ago, is furious with the official response.
"I'm afraid for my children, I'm afraid for my grandchildren. I'm afraid for my community, I'm afraid for every woman here!" she told reporters.
The investigations began last year following a Radio-Canada report where many aboriginal women in Val d'Or said they had been abused, sexually abused, and taken on 'starlight tours' by police officers.
Montreal police investigated 37 accusations involving police officers in Val d'Or, Schefferville, and other rural cities. Investigations concerning other complaints are still underway.
Of those cases where the investigations are complete. the DPCP has only charged two officers: Alain Juneau and Jean-Luc Volant, both of whom were based in Schefferville.
Juneau has been charged with sexual assault, and Volant with uttering threats.
But in most of the other cases, the DPCP said while it believed crimes had occured, it did not think it had the evidence to find the accused guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
"It is important to note that just because the DPCP isn't filing charges that the event did not take place," said Sylvain Petitclerc.
That refrain was repeated by many officials, including the mayor of Val d'Or.
"We believe that something happened in that period of time," said Pierre Corbeil.
After analyzing the case files, the Crown determined that ten of the accusations did not involve a criminal act.
The other accusations included 14 allegations of sexual assault, 15 of assault, and nine of kidnapping and/or abandoning people in far-off locations,also known as starlight tours.
Almost all those cases fell apart under the requirements of building a criminal case.
In one case the suspect had died, and in three cases the allegations were brought forward by someone who was not the victim or did not see the crime directly.
In half of the cases - 19 of them -- the witnesses were unable to identify who had attacked them or provided contradictory details.
"This does not mean we don't believe the person making the complaint, or that they are not telling the truth," said Mathieu Lucas.
In 16 cases Crown could not find enough evidence, either because witnesses could not accurately provide details, or because there was no corroborating physical evidence.
Native groups are condemning the decision not to charge the many officers accused.
The Quebec Native Women group said the decision to only charge two officers demonstrated clearly that the criminal justice system is ill-equipped to deal with accusations of sexual assault.
The QNW also agreed with independent observer Fannie Lafontaine who analyzed the police investigations and determined it is likely that "systemic racism" pervades police forces.
Francoise Ruperthouse is one of several voices calling for an independent public inquiry into the situation at Val D’or, but Quebec’s Native Affairs minister says answers will come from Ottawa when the federal government completes its own inquiry into violence against aboriginal women.
“There are far too many vulnerable Native women in our society,” said Native Affairs Minister Geoff Kelley. “[but] I think there a number of other issues we could act on right now in terms of police training, training other professionals who work in First Nations.”
