IPCC defends police use of force as in line with international practices
The deputy head of the city’s police watchdog has defended the use of force by officers to subdue protesters during last year’s social unrest as necessary and in line with international practices during a one-on-one interview with China Daily.
“Some people accuse the police of using excessive force. But, like anywhere in the world, the police have to use greater force to subdue the protesters,” said Tony Tse Wai-chuen, vice-chairman of the Independent Police Complaints Council.
In a 1,000-page report released last week on the unrest that erupted in June over the now-withdrawn extradition law amendment bill, the IPCC concluded that the police force has been relatively selfrestrained in using force. But, the protesters had resorted to violent acts, vandalism and vigilantism while alleging “police brutality”.
The report said the extensive guidelines for Hong Kong police on the use of force are, by and large, on par with international practices, though there remain areas for improvement, particularly when officers encounter violence or potentially lethal risks.
According to the watchdog, among the 1,400 protests that had occurred since June, more than 590 police officers have been injured, with 61 hospitalized, as the protesters used potentially lethal weapons, such as gasoline bombs, arrows, bricks and sling shots.
“Officers had fired only 19 live rounds during 12 of the protests. In foreign countries, police would shoot those people committing arson,” Tse said. “The police have a duty to maintain law and order and may have to use force, depending on the circumstances.”
The violence, he said, had escalated as the protests persisted, with radical demonstrators setting fire everywhere, attacking MTR stations and destroying facilities, vandalizing shops and banks, hurling gasoline bombs and beating up people with different political views.
Tse said the aim of the IPCC report is to provide the public with more facts about what had happened in the past 10 months.
Aim to provide truths
Since the council has no investigative powers, the report merely listed the facts obtained from public information, the media and police procedures, and arranged them chronologically for the public to judge, he said.
“The report offers a macro overview of the events from June last year to early March this year, to find out if there’re inadequacies in police handling of the protests and operational procedures. If the procedures can be improved, complaints against officers will decrease,” Tse said.
“We don’t mean to favor anyone. We strive to be fair, objective and state the facts so that the report is trustworthy. But, the report is not aimed at reducing adverse public sentiment.”
The IPCC noted some of the police force’s shortcomings and made 52 recommendations. The report also dispelled charges of
“police-triad collusion” on July 21, and the fake news that six people were killed by officers inside Prince Edward MTR Station on Aug 31.
The report also devoted a chapter on the use of force by police, and six others on key incidents, including those on June 12 and July 1 (both outside the Legislative Council Complex), July 21 (in Yuen Long) and Aug 31 (Prince Edward MTR Station).
The IPCC had initially engaged five overseas experts to join in drafting the report, but they subsequently dropped out, complaining that the council has no investigating powers. One of the experts said recently he would release his own report.
“We had spent a year preparing the report, but how much does he know, given he’s just a foreigner and had stayed in Hong Kong for a very short time,” Tse responded.
“The IPCC has no investigating powers and that’s something he should have known from the beginning. If we’ve no investigating powers, he does not have such powers either. So, what can he find?”