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Hong Kong police ‘systematically infringed’ human rights of protest arrestees, local group argues in report destined for UN
- Civil Rights Observer, which interviewed 45 arrestees, suggests force may have violated international treaties against torture
- One man told the group he was beaten with batons and had his head repeatedly slammed into the door of a police van, necessitating a hospital trip
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A local human rights group has accused the Hong Kong police force of beating and treating arrestees inhumanely during last year’s anti-government protests, in a report they will submit to the United Nations.
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Civil Rights Observer, which published the findings of its months-long investigation on Tuesday, interviewed 45 arrestees for the report, which suggests the force may have violated international treaties against torture.
“The fact that these cases happened repeatedly has demonstrated that it is not just a matter of individual officers,” the group’s Icarus Wong Ho-yin said. “They are allowed or implicitly allowed by their seniors – this is a systemic infringement of human rights.”
The Post has contacted the force seeking comment.
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About 8,000 people – some 40 per cent of them students – were arrested during months of social unrest that erupted last June over a now-withdrawn extradition bill, while at least 1,365 people were prosecuted.
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