Hong Kong’s official police watchdog dealt with a nearly 70 per cent increase in complaints against officers in the first five months of this year, an uptick that authorities attributed to the resumption of normal life after Covid-19 rules were relaxed.
But the watchdog said it had not received any complaints about officers’ conduct on the anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown on June 4, when more than 20 people were taken to police stations without being arrested.
During a mid-year meeting of the Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC) on Tuesday, the body said it had received 717 complaints from January to May compared to 427 in the same period last year. More than half were filed as “neglect of duty” complaints, while around 280 concerned “misconduct/improper manner.”
Police said the easing of Covid-19 measures was responsible for the jump.
“The first five months of 2022 was [Hong Kong’s] fifth Covid-19 wave. There were strict anti-epidemic and social distancing measures. Complaints were at a record low,” said Senior Superintendent Chan Hin-kwan of the Complaints Against Police Office (CAPO).
“Early this year… social distancing rules were gradually relaxed, including the reopening of borders in February and the dropping of the mask mandate in March.”
Also among the 700-odd complaints were 13 relating to “offensive language,” 27 relating to “assault” and 11 relating to “unnecessary use of authority.”
The IPCC is tasked with reviewing the work of the CAPO, an internal unit of the police force. The IPCC only has the power to scrutinise those complaints which are classified as “reportable” by CAPO.
Members of the IPCC are appointed by the chief executive, to whom they also report. The body has faced criticism for lacking independence and the power to launch its own investigations or to summon people. Its 999-page report on the citywide 2019 pro-democracy protests largely cleared the force of wrongdoing.
‘No complaints’
Meanwhile, the IPCC said in response to a reporter that it had not received any complaints about police enforcement on June 4, the anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown in 1989.
A total of 23 people – including activists – were taken away by police near Victoria Park, where the city used to hold annual vigils until Covid and the enactment of Beijing’s security law. Police said they were taken away for investigation on suspicion of “breaching the peace.”
Some have questioned the basis for police enforcement that day. Senior Counsel Philip Dykes told HKFP earlier that officers’ actions were “arguably a type of false imprisonment” if they lacked a good reason to take them to a police station.
“To this date, we have not gotten any complaints,” IPCC chairperson Priscilla Wong said, adding that the body would investigate them fairly if any emerged.
When a reporter said people who were stopped by police told media they were asked to unlock their phones, and questioned whether police had the power to give this order, Wong repeated that the body had not received such complaints.
“Everything is fact-sensitive. Some people have said that [they were asked to unlock their phones] but ultimately, as I said, there were no complaints,” she said. “Only if there is a clear context can [I] comment.”
Wong added that the IPCC did not send representatives to monitor police enforcement on the Tiananmen anniversary, and did not plan to send representatives on July 1 – the anniversary of Hong Kong’s Handover from British to Chinese rule – as it was not aware of any planned large-scale public activities.
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