The B.C. Civil Liberties Association has filed formal complaints with the RCMP's watchdog over the deaths of a man who died in a Whitehorse RCMP cell and another who died shortly after being released from the Mounties' custody.

The complaints to the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP relate to the deaths of Raymond Silverfox, who died in a police cell in December 2008, and Robert Stone, who died in the local detox centre last month, several hours after he was released from custody.

The association issued a statement Tuesday announcing it has filed one complaint asking that information and the outcome of internal code of conduct investigations into officers involved with Silverfox be made public.

Five officers face conduct investigations, but RCMP have not released their names.

The other complaint asks for a review of why Stone, 34, was taken into custody when he needed medical care.

"News reports of this incident (Silverfox's death) are very troubling,” association president Robert Holmes said in the statement.

The 43-year-old died in December 2008, after lying on a filthy cell floor where he vomited more than two dozen times over the course of 13 hours.

A coroner's inquest into his death ruled he died of natural causes, noting that one factor was an acute infection caused by aspirating his own vomit.

In particular, Holmes noted an audio recording played at the coroner's inquest of officers making fun of Silverfox as he lay on the cell floor dying.

The audio surveillance tape from the cell block revealed officers laughed about the condition of his cell and complained about having to clean up after him.

"The idea that law enforcement officers would laugh and deride someone in a cell is bad enough, but the idea that they would do so while the person was sick and lying in filth and vomit is callous,” Holmes said.

"The fact that this situation ended up with the death of the person in custody underscores the concerns that exist and the need for a thorough review of the matter.”

Holmes said acute intoxication is a serious medical condition, and should be addressed as a medical issue first, before a legal one.

"Far too many cell deaths involve cases of acute intoxication from drugs and alcohol,” he said. "A public inquiry needs to explore that and find a solution to what appears to be a recurrent problem.”

The coroner's inquest heard that Silverfox was a hard-working and respected member of his community, but had begun binge drinking in the months before his death.

He was brought to the drunk tank by ambulance after he began vomiting at the local Salvation Army shelter and refused to go to the hospital.

The death of Silverfox, a member of the Little Salmon-Carmacks First Nation, prompted the Yukon government to announce a review of policing in the territory.

His daughter has filed a lawsuit against eight Mounties, three guards and the government of Canada for her father's death, claiming it was the result of "intentionally negligent, grossly negligent, deliberate indifferent, reckless and bad faith conduct.”

Federal New Democrats have renewed calls for a civilian oversight agency because of the case, saying there have actually been five suspicious in-custody deaths in the Yukon since 1999.

The RCMP already have a policy of calling Outside police forces to investigate its officers in serious cases, and earlier this year, the federal government said it plans to create a new RCMP watchdog, although it's not clear whatit will look like.

THE CANADIAN PRESS