Leading academics have joined more than 3,700 professors and lecturers in supporting a petition against police brutality in Hong Kong. More than 11,000 people, including many students, have signed the petition in total.



The petition (full text below) condemns the “use of disproportionate force and retaliatory brutality by the Hong Kong Police against students in university campuses in Hong Kong”. Among the key recommendations is a call for strong protection of academic freedoms and a judge led independent inquiry into police brutaliy.

Prominent public intellectuals who have signed the petition include:

Professor Judith Butler, the recipient of the 2012 Theodor Adorno Award for her groundbreaking influence on gender studies, sexuality and moral philosophy;

Professor Steven Pinker, a multi-award winning cognitive scientist and linguist and Harvard University Professor;

Professor A.C. Grayling, a world renowned philosopher and master of the New College of Humanities;

Princeton Professor Robert George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University;

Professor Noam Chomsky, widely considered the ‘father of modern linguistics’;

Professor Yanis Varoufakis, the Professor of Economics at the University of Athens and the former Greece Minister of Finance;

Dr Slavoj Zizek, a prominent political scientist, philosopher and psychoanalyst;

Full text of the petition

We the undersigned, as deeply concerned members of the global academic community,



1. Condemn the use of disproportionate force and retaliatory brutality by the Hong Kong Police against students in university campuses in Hong Kong. In particular, we are outraged by the unauthorised entry, extensive deployment of tear gas and violent intimidation in the Chinese University of Hong Kong, City University of Hong Kong, Polytechnic University of Hong Kong and the University of Hong Kong on 11th and 12th November, 2019.



2. Condemn the use of unjustified violence against protesters across Hong Kong in all other contexts. Including, most recently, the firing of live rounds at point-blank range against protesters in Sai Wan Ho, and the repeated attempts by a motorcycle officer to run-over protesters in Kwai Fong on 11th November 2019, both of which are in clear violation of the Police General Orders Force Procedures Manual.



3. Condemn the continued use of hate speech by the Hong Kong Police, particularly the consistent reference to protesters and supporters of democracy as ‘cockroaches’, that contribute to furthering vitriolic hatred between all factions in the Hong Kong community.



4. Urge leaders of Hong Kong universities to release clear statements rejecting the entry of police into university campuses, supporting the freedom of assembly of students and staff, and reaffirming the sacrosanct responsibility of all universities to protect academic freedom and provide a safe space for all students to express their views.



5. Demand the Hong Kong Police to cease all acts of police brutality immediately, suspend officers who have committed disproportionate acts of violence with immediate effect, and initiate legal charges where necessary against officers who have violated the law.



6. Demand the Hong Kong government to set up an independent inquiry into the use of force in the protests since June 2019, chaired by an impartial judge. In particular, we believe the inquiry should have the power to summon witnesses, collect a coherent and representative body of evidence, and independently validate police accounts, above and beyond the restricted scope and power of the Independent Police Complaints Council.



We stand in solidarity with the Hong Kong people. We believe the defence of academic freedom, the freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and association, and the responsibility to protect the safety of our students are universal causes common to all