‘We lost confidence in Hong Kong’s police’
A teenage protester now in Britain claims to have suffered serious injuries at the hands of officers
IT’S hard for “K” to pinpoint the exact moment he believes he suffered a brain haemorrhage during a violent arrest by two undercover officers in Hong Kong’s main shopping district at the end of a long day of pro-democracy protests in August.
The Hong Kong teenager, too afraid to be named, has now returned to his studies in the UK, but the memories of that terrifying, humid night – a blur of batons repeatedly striking his head, back and arms as his body was slammed to the ground, hands tied with plastic cuffs – still haunt him.
The 19-year-old claims the officers did not identify themselves or offer a reason for his arrest as they carted him off to the notorious San Uk Ling detention centre and denied him timely legal and medical assistance.
Regular nosebleeds are now a reminder of his physical and mental trauma.
During nearly five months of civil unrest that have rocked the city of 7.5million, K’s experience is not isolated.
Protesters, lawyers, educators, politicians have made multiple allegations against the police of excessive force, abuse of power and a collapse of accountability as unidentifiable officers, their badges hidden, appear to breach the city’s law and their own rules of conduct.
Since mass protests began in June over an extradition bill that has since been scrapped, police have arrested more than 2,500 protesters and fired almost 5,000 rounds of tear gas, often engulfing innocent bystanders.
Rubber bullets and water cannons are now the norm on the streets of the financial hub.
During its botched handling of unrest that has snowballed into a wide demand for freedoms, the government has hidden behind the police, pushing embattled officers onto the front lines, and locking them into a spiral of heavyhanded tactics to counter escalating frustration and violence.
On Thursday, Carrie Lam, the territory’s chief executive, said she would not “blindly support” officers accused of violence, only to be immediately slapped down by Beijing, which pledged “unwavering support” for the 30,000-strong force.
Once considered Asia’s finest, the force is now openly feared and reviled by much of the public. Cases like K’s have fuelled cries for an independent commission of inquiry into allegations of police brutality, a demand that has become key to resolving the city’s political meltdown.
Two veteran British officers have come under particular criticism for their role in leading the response. In interviews with The Sunday Tele
graph, K described how he was resting with a group of protest “frontliners” on a main street in bustling Causeway Bay shortly before 10pm on Aug 11 when they were suddenly set upon by officers dressed in the black clothes and helmets of the anti-government movement. News reports that day described hours of demonstrations for the 10th straight weekend, which at times flared up into volleys of tear gas and street battles with the police – but K said the protests had wound down for the night and his friends were deciding where to eat when a suspicious group approached.
“They slowly walked towards us as we were all changing clothes … it was basically peace and quiet, and we were going to go home … We noticed people walking, but we just thought they were normal protesters. Suddenly they hit us with batons,” he said.
K tried to escape down a side street but was caught by two undercover officers. A video obtained by The New
York Times shows them pummel him on the ground.
“When I got arrested, I kept asking them, are you some kind of gang or the police because that day protesters were saying that pro-China gangs would attack us … I got no reply,” he claimed.
K, the protester who says he suffered a brain haemorrhage at the hands of officers, above; and violent clashes earlier this month, below
“They kept hitting me with a baton, but I’m actually not sure when my head got hit. The moment they put plastic straps around me then I realised they were police and I had to follow instructions,” K added.
“One of them told me to get up. Then when I got up one of them said ‘Why are you getting up?’ and put me back on the floor … I think they hit me with the baton again and they kicked my left eye, it was really swollen,” he alleged. The teenager’s injuries made him dizzy, but he claims he was denied medical treatment until “six or seven hours” later when he was diagnosed with a brain haemorrhage. “The police refused to let me contact a lawyer or my parents,” he alleged.
During that time, he was transported to the San Uk Ling detention centre on the border with mainland China, which has been dogged by allegations of abuse, all denied by the police.
K was held in a darkened cell with multiple detainees. “They were soaked in blood like me. The scene was horrible,” he said, alleging that some officers called them “cockroaches”.
Fifteen arrests were made in the street around K, some reportedly involving serious injuries including broken bones.
In the New York Times footage, one arrest shows a pinned protester pleading for mercy while blood spurts from his mouth as an officer kneels on his head while another hits him in the face. The video went viral and marked another turning point in the force’s already deteriorating public relations.
A vicious attack on commuters and protesters by suspected triad members in the Yuen Long metro station in July prompted an earlier defining moment for the reputation of the police.
Accusations that the force failed to heed prior intelligence and responded slowly have led many to believe police colluded with gangsters, a charge that senior officers have strongly refuted.
“We lost our confidence in the police force,” said Lam Cheuk-ting, a Democratic Party politician and eyewitness, who fractured his hand while trying to protect his constituents. He believes the erosion of Hong Kong’s rule of law is a “tragedy”.
“If we talk about rule of law, first of all it’s the law enforcement. This is the first line of defence. If it breaks, it is meaningless to talk about the independent judicial system, any rights for the arrestees, legal rights, open trials and open courts,” he said.
Lawyers testify that the type of allegations raised by K have been prevalent among their protester clients. Angeline Chan, from the Progressive Lawyers Group, said the onus on officers to use only so much force as necessary, disclose their identities, and notify their detainees quickly of rights such a legal and medical aid were governed by common law and regulations including the Police Force Ordinance.
Allegations of brutality were “not a one-off because we are seeing the police as a group not showing their [identity] numbers,” she said. “This is why so many people are calling for an independent commission of inquiry.”
Police chiefs have denied excessive force or breaches in the law or codes of conduct. The authorities have tasked the Independent Police Complaints Commission to investigate officers’ actions, rejecting calls for an inquiry.
Regarding K’s detention, a spokesperson said an arrest operation had targeted an “unlawful assembly” in Causeway Bay, during which “some protesters, mostly in black with gear commonly used by radical protesters,” had “resisted fiercely,” requiring “appropriate force to subdue them”.
It had not been practicable for officers to show their warrant cards but they had “revealed their identities before actions were taken”.
The spokesperson said a person in custody would be treated with dignity and “allowed to communicate with other parties” including “legal advice and contacting his/her family, provided that no unreasonable delay or hindrance is caused to the process of investigation or the administration of justice”.
K has so far not been charged. He now fears going back but does not regret joining the front lines to defend his city from Chinese political interference. “I wanted to do more. This is my home,” he said.
‘It was peace and quiet, and we were going to go home. We noticed people walking, but we thought they were protesters. Suddenly they hit us with batons’