Rights group reports alleged abuses to UK probe

Civil Rights Observer submitted a report detailing alleged police mistreatment of volunteer medics and a social worker during anti-government protests last year. Photo courtesy of the Civil Rights Observer.

A human rights group has submitted a report on alleged human rights violations by the Hong Kong police to a British parliamentary probe, focusing on suspected abuses against aid workers.



The Civil Rights Observer interviewed four volunteer medics who helped tend to injured people during anti-government protests last year, and a social worker.



Alex – a first aider – said he was among dozens of medics arrested outside the Polytechnic University on November 17 last year after pitched battles between protesters and police.



He said he was arrested despite leaving the campus as police had ordered ahead of a deadline the officers had set.



The medic said in the report that he had seen police fire projectiles towards the university at close range, and was subsequently diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder afterwards.



Another volunteer medic, Timothy, told the group police had ripped his gas mask off in Tsim Sha Tsui on August 11, even though he should have been clearly identifiable as a medic, as he had his reflective vest and first-aider helmet on.



He accused one officer of asking him “do you want to become a floating body?” as an apparent threat after he was taken to a police station.



The Observer's founder, Icarus Wong, said the apparent police hostility towards those providing humanitarian aid at protest sites is nothing less than a “human rights crisis.”



"This is a clear violation of human rights because when the police remove from the scene volunteer first aiders, social workers who are mediating conflicts and human rights observers, those at the scene would be unable to get humanitarian aid or legal support immediately," he said.



Wong stressed that his group is not inviting overseas countries to intervene in Hong Kong affairs – as has often been alleged by Beijing and its supporters.



"We think that human rights violations in Hong Kong are so serious that we need to raise the international community's concerns. And actually the Hong Kong government can also provide evidence for the [UK Parliament's inquiry] for their consideration," he said.