Editor's Note: The case of 15 year old Rehtaeh Parsons' rape case followed by her harrassment and suicide has received worldwide attention. Friends and family have charged that Canadian authorities did not investigate the rape sufficiently and never pursued the men who committed the rape. We received a petition at Axis of Logic asking our readers to sign. The petition and information on how you can sign the petition follows this RT News article.

- Axis of Logic

Canadian local and national police are set to reopen the case of 17-year-old Rehtaeh Parsons, who was driven to suicide after relentless mocking of her rape allegations. It follows claims that hacktivist group Anonymous had identified the alleged rapists.

As RT reported earlier this week, both local school officials and Nova Scotia authorities failed to charge any suspects in the case, which was originally reported by the Parsons family when Rehtaeh was only 15.

Justice Minister Ross Landry had reiterated only a few days ago that police had failed to collect sufficient evidence to lead to a conviction, though her suicide this week generated public criticism, eventually attracting the attention of the online hacktivist group Anonymous. In response, both the local school board and Landry announced that his agency would be launching a review into official actions taken following the rape accusations.

The case received international attention, in part when Anonymous announced that, not only had they discovered the identities of the four alleged teens responsible for the gang rape, but that they would publicly disclose their names and addresses if Canadian authorities failed to charge them.

According to Parsons' mother, the four boys who assaulted her daughter also took pictures of the incident, circulating them widely to classmates. The teen was then subjected to abusive text and online messages, which continued until Rehtaeh attempted to commit suicide by hanging. On Sunday she was taken off life support, three days after the attempt.

Police claim to have received new information from an individual who is willing to identify themself and work with authorities on the reopened investigation.

It remains unclear to what extent Anonymous may have influenced authorities to reopen the case, though a recent interview conducted by a Vice Canada journalist suggests that they began digging into the details at length, reviewing clues left online and tips from sources with information.

Considering the group’s online footprint, it seems likely that fellow classmates or other members of the community were able to lead Anonymous to the four suspects fairly quickly. According to the Vice interview, the identities of the four boys are already a topic of common discussion on online chats, though Anonymous told Rehtaeh Parsons’ mother, Leah, that they are so far not disseminating that information widely.

“We shared the information we have with her and told her for now we'll withhold it from the public. We aren't doing that because we're waiting for the right moment to release the hounds. We've flushed out a lot of new leads for the police, we hope they'll follow them and we don't want to compromise their investigation."

Anonymous already has a history of becoming involved in similar cases, as the group claims combating rape culture as one of their main interests.

Both Leah Parsons and Canadian authorities have expressed concerns that Anonymous' involvement in the rape investigation may end up resulting in vigilante justice. For their part, the hacktivists who seem to be closest to the case appear to be showing restraint so far.

“Mrs. Parsons said she doesn't want vigilante justice. I quote, 'I think they need to be accountable for what that they did. I don't want them to be physically harmed.' I don't see how that conflicts with any of our intentions. Anonymous is not advocating that these individuals being harmed in any way,” said one Anon member who spoke with Vice Canada.

Whether or not the online group’s involvement has pushed the investigation along, Canadian authorities must think they are onto something. On Friday, RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson said national police are willing to work with Anonymous, but "they've got to take their masks off, sadly.”

Source: RT News

THE PETITION

Petitioning NS Justice Minister Ross Landry 2This petition will be delivered to:
NS Justice Minister Ross LandryJustice for Rehtaeh: Demand an independent inquiry into the police investigation.

Petition by Sherri B. [CLICK HERE TO SIGN]

Halifax, Canada

Multiply Your ImpactTurn your signature into dozens more by sharing this petition and recruiting people you know to sign.YOUYOUR
FRIENDS170avg.THEIR
FRIENDS10,000approx.
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UPDATE: We have just heard that the RCMP is now reopening the investigation into Rehtaeh's case. I think that is a great step, however, if we don't want this to happen again - if we want real justice - we need to find out why the RCMP did not lay charges in the first place. The Minister must call for an independent inquiry into the police investigation. Please continue to ask all of your friends to sign the petition.

I am horrified at what happened to Rehtaeh. She was a beautiful, caring person. She was a amazing artist. She loved animals.

While I haven't seen her in a few years, I'm friends with her family and I can't believe how our community and the authorities failed to protect her.

Seventeen months ago, she was raped. The rape was photographed and the photos were shared around her Nova Scotia community. Rehtaeh was destroyed by this. Any 15 year old would be. She was called a slut. She was bullied. She faced depression. And this week she took her own life.

After Rehtaeh's rape, the RCMP investigated for a year but said there was not enough evidence to lay charges.

How is this possible? Everyone knows what happened. Everyone knows about the photos. Everyone knows she was 15 when those photos were taken. Everyone saw her being bullied and shamed at school. How can police say they didn't have the evidence they needed to pursue charges? Do we not have laws that cover this kind of abuse, from photo-sharing to cyberbullying?

Nova Scotia’s Justice Minister Ross Landry must call an independent inquiry into this situation. The Minister must find out if the police ran this investigation properly and determine if there is important evidence that was not taken into account when they decided to close this case.

The Minister said he would not order a review of the of the RCMP investigation. Hours later, following the huge outpouring of concern from the community, he has said he is now open to considering what options are available. The Minister must call for an independent inquiry and we must all sign this petition to make sure he knows how important this is.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN PETITION TO NS JUSTICE MINISTER ROSS LANDRY