HONG KONG
Witnesses detail “torture” and “mass unlawful arrests” in #HongKong during first All Party Parliamentary Group inquiry hearing at UK Parliament
Treating victims of what they believed to be police “torture”, mass arrests and intimidation of medical staff and first aiders, and the invasion of a labour ward by a male officer are amongst the striking testimony heard today in the first of three oral evidence hearings for the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Hong Kong’s inquiry into the behaviour of the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) during last year’s protests.
The hearing began on the anniversary of the first protests last year and took place against a backdrop of further protests in Hong Kong today.
A cross-party parliamentary panel consisting of Alistair Carmichael MP, Baroness Bennett, Lord Alton and Sarah Champion MP questioned senior medical professionals about their experiences. These testimonies were selected from the 1,000 evidence submissions received by the APPG for their inquiry.
Witnesses included Dr Darren Mann, general surgeon in Hong Kong, and a senior doctor and two first-aiders, including doctors, who the inquiry has agreed will not be identified for their own protection.
They all reflected on their personal experiences and the abuse that they reported many doctors and first aiders had suffered for attending to the injured as well as the unusually severe injuries such as broken bones seen in emergency rooms after protests across the city.
One doctor, speaking on condition of anonymity, reported being detained while leaving a site of protest after attending to the injured. Despite displaying documents that proved their status, their hands were tied behind their back for more than four hours and they were made to sit on the ground for more than an hour. They were later detained for 28 hours without explanation in a seriously overcrowded police cell.
Dr Darren Mann, the first witness to testify today, commented:
“Humanitarian violations by Hong Kong Police during the Civil Rights Protests are a concern for all, and have impact beyond the poignant testimony of frontline medical volunteers. The importance of these infringements on international covenants is signified in an independent investigation by United Nations Special Rapporteurs who found credible evidence that the shocking intent and outcome of these unlawful actions has been to deny the safe space of healthcare as a consequence of political expression. This timely APPG inquiry will hopefully awaken Governments - as the custodians of international treaty and custom - to reaffirm their commitments to these obligations, and to state clearly that violations are an insult to humanity.”
Baroness Bennett, co-chair of the APPG on Hong Kong, commented:
“The testimonies that we have heard today are deeply disturbing. Allowing medical and humanitarian workers to carry out their work without interference or endangerment is a foundational principle in international law – and one that relies on global understanding and compliance. The inquiry is focused on that aspect of what has happened in Hong Kong, and I can only express huge respect for the medical and humanitarian workers who have continued to help all people at the protests in such conditions.
“But the accounts we heard are also deeply concerning for the people of Hong Kong more broadly, particularly in the current circumstances of the proposed security law and national anthem law.
“Hongkongers deserve to feel safe. As signatories with China to the Joint Declaration, the UK has a special responsibility to act, as well as the specific responsibility to the 33,733 UK nationals resident in the city.”
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