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HONG KONG: The Hong Kong police watchdog will release a highly anticipated report on Friday (May 15) after a review of the handling of months of often violent anti-government protests last year that plunged the city into crisis.
The Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC) studied the behavior of officers in the months after June 2019, a period that saw some of the largest and most violent demonstrations that rocked the city in decades.
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Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have accused the police of disproportionate use of force and other abuses in handling pro-democracy protests.
Police have repeatedly said he was reactive and restrained in the face of high levels of violence.
The protests began as a campaign against a now-shelled extradition bill that would have allowed criminal suspects to be sent to mainland China for trial, but became broader calls for greater democracy and an independent investigation into police action, aside from the IPCC.
In some of the most intense fighting, protesters, many dressed in black and wearing masks, threw gasoline bombs at police and central government offices, stormed the Legislative Council, destroyed subway stations and blocked roads.
Police responded with tear gas, water cannons, rubber bullets, and several shots in the air, in many cases warning the crowds ahead of time with a series of differently colored signal signs.
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Protesters use a catapult against police during a protest at Hong Kong City University, November 12, 2019. (Photo: AFP / Philip Fong)
Anthony Neoh, head of the police watchdog, said the report did not investigate allegations of misconduct against individual officers.
The credibility of the investigation suffered a severe blow in December last year when a panel of five foreign experts resigned from their advisory roles to the watchdog due to concerns about its “independent investigative capacity.”
Among the police operations under review were events on July 1, 2019 when protesters broke into the Legislative Council, and an incident in the Yuen Long New Territories district on July 21, 2019 when a group of attackers from a station trainers attacked protesters and passersby. men dressed in white t-shirts.
The IPCC is tasked with reviewing the work of the Police Complaints Office, an internal police department.
Many protesters are furious at what they saw as police brutality and the fact that more than 8,000 people were arrested.
An independent investigation into the police handling of the riots is one of five protesters’ demands.
But Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has insisted that the IPCC is capable of conducting an independent investigation and has rejected requests for an independent investigation.
The outbreak of the new coronavirus and strict rules to curb its spread brought a pause in anti-government protests this year, but in recent days there have been signs that the movement is preparing again.
