Tag: Hong Kong extradition bill

A Year of Protest: The Rapid Decline in Civic Freedoms World Over

A new watchlist by the CIVICUS Monitor shines a spotlight on Hong Kong, Colombia, Egypt, Guinea and Kazakhstan where there are escalating rights violations against activists, journalists and civil society groups.

Johannesburg: The year 2019 has been a year of protest. From Algeria, to Chile, to Hong Kong, ordinary people have taken to the streets to voice their dissatisfaction with governance systems. Their causes are as diverse as the people pouring into the streets.

Public grievances range from corruption, anti-austerity measures, and electoral irregularities. The reasons for the mass mobilisations may differ, but the response by those in power are becoming alarmingly similar.

In far too many countries, the response has been to shut down the space for people to organise and to persecute those calling for change.

The new civic space watchlist by the CIVICUS Monitor shines a spotlight on Hong Kong, Colombia, Egypt, Guinea and Kazakhstan where there are escalating rights violations against activists, journalists and civil society groups.

In particular, this shortlist profiles a sample of countries where there are serious and ongoing attacks against the freedoms of peaceful assembly, expression and association.

In Hong Kong, there has been a continued deterioration of civic space since millions of people took to the streets on 9th June 2019 to protest against a proposed extradition bill, which would allow individuals, including foreigners, to be sent to mainland China to face trial in courts controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

In response to weekly protests, human rights groups have documented excessive and unlawful force by security forces against protesters with impunity, including the use of truncheons, pepper spray, tear gas and rubber bullets. Journalists have also been targeted.

More than 1,300 people have been arrested in the context of the mass protest and some activists have also been attacked by pro Beijing mobs.

Also read: Hong Kong Protestors Defy Face Mask Ban – With Humour

In Egypt, recent anti-government protests resulted in mass arrests and the use of excessive force by the authorities. Thousands of people have been arrested since the protests started in September, including journalists, human rights lawyers and activists. Many of those arrested have been charged on dubious grounds of using social media to spread false news, aiding terrorist groups and for participating in unauthorised protests.

The crackdown has also expanded to target the political opposition and anyone deemed to be connected to protests dating all the way back to 2011.

In Guinea, tensions have been on the rise since Guinea’s ruling party made a public call to change the constitution, which could abolish presidential term limits. The West African country is set for 2020 presidential elections and the current president, Alpha Condé, is not eligible under the current 2010 constitution.

During three days of protests in October against the proposed constitutional changes, at least nine people were killed and several protesters and protest leaders arrested. According to human rights organisations in Guinea, the plans for a new Constitution may destabilise the country and lead to renewed violence.

Since presidential elections this past June in Kazakhstan, human rights abuses have hit a new high in the former Soviet state. Post-election protests have seen police and special forces detain several thousand peaceful protesters, often with excessive force.

In addition, the authorities have obstructed the work of journalists and electoral observers, as well as periodically blocking access to social media and messenger applications. The repression has cast a shadow on the elections and the beginning of Tokayev’s period in office.

Also read: Israeli Spyware Was Used to Spy on Indian Activists, Journalists, Says WhatsApp

Colombia is the fifth country on the Monitor Watchlist, which remains one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a human rights defender. Dozens of community leaders have been killed this year as well as 7 political candidates running for local office in an election campaign marked by violence. Impunity for such crimes has been the rule.

The country is further backsliding into violence as post-conflict communities are left vulnerable to dissident armed groups and commanders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) announce their intentions to take up arms again, nearly three years after the historic peace accord with the Colombian government was signed.

While protests flare in all regions of the world, it is of utmost importance that people are able to freely express dissent without authorities using excessive force against them. Instead of using violence against protesters and restricting fundamental freedoms, governments should seek solutions by listening to the grievances of ordinary citizens and dissenting voices.

(IPS)

Why the Youth Have Been Protesting in Hong Kong for Years

A protestor explains how Hong Kong is trying to protect its freedoms every passing weekend.

Hong Kong: On October 6, Tony reached the last intersection of Causeway Bay in Hong Kong at exactly 1 o’clock in the afternoon. Two days ago, on October 4, Carrie Lam, the Chief executive of Hong Kong had invoked Emergency law and announced a ban on face masks. This was going to be the 17th weekend in a row since June this year to coordinate a protest. The schedule for the next ten days was brainstormed over Telegram channels and on this day, everyone had started gathering with masks and umbrellas.

“I have been doing this for seven years and we have come far,” says Tony.

He is 24, medium built, long hair tightly pulled into a man bun. He is wearing a T-shirt, pants and sneakers – all black – just like the thousands of protestors who had gathered at Causeway Bay, the retail heart of Hong Kong, on this day. Surrounded by skyscrapers and malls with some of the highest rent rates in the world, the area is one of the most crowded in the city. It has also been a key protest site in the past few years.

Pro-democracy graffiti on Hong Kong streets. Photo: Neha Dixit

Till 1997, Hong Kong, a global city and an international financial hub, was a British colony. It was handed over to China on some conditions, including the ‘one country two systems’ and the adoption of Hong Kong’s ‘mini Constitution’ called the Basic Law. The Hong Kong Basic Law ensured that the city will retain its capitalist economic system and currency, the Hong Kong Dollar, the legal system, the legislative system and people’s rights and freedom as a special administrative region (SAR) of China for 50 years. This arrangement allowed Hong Kong to function as its own entity and is set to expire in 2047.

While China’s central government in Beijing maintains control over Hong Kong’s foreign affairs and the legal interpretation of the Basic Law, since 2014, the momentum to demand universal suffrage as promised in Basic Law has led to massive pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. A large number of participants are students and young professionals. They often use masks and umbrellas to escape surveillance. “Protests are planned on weekends so that maximum number of people can participate,” says Tony.

Families come out with their children in large numbers on weekend protests. Photo: Neha Dixit

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Tony’s training in activism and protests started at the age of 16 in 2012. He was a high school student when he joined Scholarism, a student pressure group to protest against the ‘Moral and National Education’ school curriculum put forward by the Hong Kong government that year.

Scholarism had 200 members and garnered wide support from students. The curriculum was aimed at instilling patriotism and strengthening Chinese identity among Hong Kong’s youngsters. This is around the time when fears of mainland China’s growing influence in Hong Kong were growing. “The curriculum was clearly designed to brainwash us with Communist Party propaganda. Some parts of it even whitewashed the Tiananmen massacre and tried to present China in a favourable light.”

The Tiananmen massacre took place on June 4, 1989, in Beijing. Thousands of students had occupied the central parts of mainland China’s capital for almost a month. They were demanding reforms around freedom of speech, freedom of the press, democracy and more accountability. The government declared martial law and sent troops to vacate the area. In the process, several thousand protestors and bystanders were killed and a large number were also wounded.

Tony had heard stories about the massacre from his parents, who are both schoolteachers. “Three students from Peking University, who they had worked with closely in 1987 when they came to the University of Hong Kong for an exchange program were killed,” he says. “With the new National education curriculum, I was feeling stifled the same way that my parents’ friends would have felt.”

On August 30, 2012, Tony was one of the 50 protestors from Scholarism to occupy the Hong Kong government headquarters for a month. “We stayed in tents in the public park near the government offices. There was rain, fatigue. We didn’t even shower for weeks on end,” he recounts.

In the next few days, the movement successfully gathered thousands protesting against the proposed curriculum and led to the government backing down. On September 8, the then Chief Executive of Hong Kong, C.Y. Leung, announced the temporary withdrawal of the ‘Moral and National Education Course.’  The course has not been reintroduced till date and the protests by the young students were seen as a success.

This was also the time when Xi Jinping, the current President of the People’s Republic of China assumed office in March 2013. The tremors of the significant increase in censorship and mass surveillance under his office were also felt regularly in Hong Kong.

Most students like Tony, who were part of the movement against the ‘Moral and National Education’, continued to remain active in the social and democracy movement in Hong Kong.

“Once you become conscious of something, it is very difficult to ignore it. Freedom of speech, uninhibited access to the internet and many other things. We were not ready to give them up,” says Tony.

Large number of protestors wear masks to defy government ban. Photo: Neha Dixit

Just two years later, in September 2014, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the highest organ of state power and the national legislature of the People’s Republic of China, proposed reforms to the Hong Kong electoral system. The decision was seen as restrictive and a way for the Communist Party of China to pre-screen the candidates for the Chief Executive of Hong Kong. “What kind of fake system was this. It was like, ‘You can vote, but we will tell you who to vote for’,” says Tony.

This time, the mass protests lasted for almost three months, from September 22 to December 15, 2014. Students from various groups led a strike and soon enough, several groups started to occupy several major city intersections in Hong Kong. “I was here at the same spot four years ago as part of the sit-in protests at Causeway Bay,” says Tony, as he points to a traffic light on the other side of the road. Posters saying ‘I need real universal suffrage’ had been put up across all universities and major market areas in the city.

Tony says the police’s tactics provoked more anger among common citizens. “They used tear gas and physical attacks, which made common citizens all the more angry,” he recalls. His parents, who until then disapproved Tony’s fulltime involvement in activism, also joined in. “They were upset that many children like me, who were participating in peaceful civil disobedience, were at the receiving end of police violence. Just like Tiananmen Square,” he says. It is estimated that 100,000 protestors participated in the sit-ins at any given time. The campaign was termed as the Occupy movement, now also interchangeably known as the Umbrella movement.

A large number of protestors started using umbrellas as a tool of passive resistance to the Hong Kong police’s use of pepper spray and tear gas to disperse crowds during this 79-day occupation to demand transparent elections.

After two and a half months, in December police started arresting and clearing several protest sites. Causeway Bay, where Tony stood today, was the last spot to be evacuated on December 15, 2014.

The protests ended without any political concessions from the government. The then-Hong Kong Chief executive Leung and other mainland Chinese officials criticised the campaign as “unpatriotic”. These reactions were seen as a huge assault on academic freedoms and civil liberties of common citizens of Hong Kong.

“They fanned the fire further. The demand for universal suffrage became stronger since then,” says Tony.

Overbridge with anti government posters. Photo: Neha Dixit

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The events of the past four years have been viewed as repeated assaults on Hong Kong’s freedom. In 2015, five staff members of the Causeway Bay bookstore which sold political books that were banned in mainland China went missing. A year later, Lam Wing-kee, one of the owners, returned to Hong Kong and described how he and his associates were kept under detention in mainland China. Similarly, disqualification of candidates for the legislature and violence against journalists added to the growing dissent in Hong Kong society.

On June 12, this year, the new Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced a controversial extradition Bill that would have allowed the extradition of suspects to China to be tried under the mainland’s opaque judicial system. This was being introduced in the light of the growing pro-democracy movement. The Bill was seen as an attempt to erode Hong Kong’s legal system and its built-in safeguards. This fear was attributed to China’s newfound ability, through this Bill, to arrest voices of political dissent in Hong Kong.

This triggered another round of protests. Under pressure, the Bill was withdrawn on September 4. Yet, protests have continued, spanning more than four months now.

Tony says that the clarion call for the protestors over the past four months has been the famous Hong Kong-American martial arts star, Bruce Lee’s saying, ‘Be water, my friend.’ He says, “The movement is fluid and moves in unexpected waves. Protestors move swiftly from one place to another, unlike in 2014, when the sit-in was the main protest tactic.” They move from one area to another, occupying several key intersections, police headquarters, government buildings, marking their presence everywhere.

Anti-China graffiti can be found all over Hong Kong. Photo: Neha Dixit

“We have first aid teams travelling with us. We take our helmets, laser lights, spare t-shirts, water and snacks along for swift action,” he says.

Most demonstrators are tech-savvy and use online forums and encrypted Telegram channels to coordinate their tactics, canvass views and forge consensus. “Social media, including Telegram, is a big part of our movement but we use it for activism in the offline world, where people show up instead of retweeting,” says Tony.

Tony says that this time, the small organising groups are also using the lessons learnt in 2014. “The idea is to get more citizens involved instead of alienating them. So we make sure that ordinary people don’t get inconvenienced.”

The tactic has been successful and has seen protestor numbers swell up to millions regularly.

The previous protests were also centralised around organised groups like Scholarism, Occupy Central with Love and Peace and their leaders Joshua Wong, Benny Tai and others. These groups and leaders directed the protestors. However, the current protests are leaderless.

Tony says that for now, this is an advantage, “This gives people the flexibility to make their own decisions on how they want to participate. This is the reason why millions are turning up every weekend. Most importantly, the old and the common person who had reservations a few years ago are now joining the protests. It is more organic.”

A number of older people are now coming out in support of the young pro-democracy protestors. Photo: Neha Dixit

Tony points out that this time, they are also working at rewarding businesses who support the movement. He says, “In 2014, many common people were upset because of the financial losses caused to them because of road blockades and shutdowns.” He says that they have created an internal list of ‘yellow ribbon’ business firms. An app helps shoppers give these firms business instead of the ‘blue ribbon’ ones. This colour demarcation first came up in Hong Kong during the Umbrella movement in 2014, when protestors started sporting yellow ribbon and also tying it in public spaces. The colour symbolises the campaign for universal suffrage and was previously used in the women’s vote campaign in the US in the 19th century. Those who disagreed with the movement started wearing blue ribbons, the colour of the police uniform, to show their support for the authorities instead.

The battle lines amongst corporate entities are becoming neater by the day, based on political affiliations. And the war is being fought accordingly.

One of the identified blue business in Hong Kong is the American chain Starbucks, which has been repeatedly vandalised by protestors in the past few months. The Hong Kong franchise of this chain is owned by Maxim Caterers. In September, this year, Annie Wu, the daughter of the Maxim Group’s founder, criticised activists as “radical protesters” at the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Starbucks cafes are repeatedly vandalised by protestors. Photo: Neha Dixit

In retaliation, Chinese corporates are building international pressure to penalise voices and organisations supporting the protests. Recently, when an executive of the NBA’s Houston Rockets tweeted his support for the Hong Kong protests, there was an immediate backlash from Chinese authorities. The Rockets apologised, but the government decided to suspend NBA exhibition games in China, one of the largest markets for the association.

Similarly, on October 9, Apple removed an app that enabled protesters in Hong Kong to track the police, a day after facing intense criticism from Chinese state media, plunging the technology giant deeper into the complicated politics of a country that is fundamental to its business.

This has not stopped protestors from coming up with creative ways to take the campaign forward.

In September this year, the hashtag #birdgoldingchallenge trended on Twitter to mark the fifth year of the Umbrella challenge. Protestors were called to fold Origami paper cranes and called the bird  “Freenix” – a reference to phoenix. In Japanese culture, these cranes can wish for recovery from illness and injury. The protestors filled the Times Square in Causeway Bay with hundreds of these birds while sloganeering ‘Liberate Hong Kong.’

These months have also witnessed increasing violent confrontations with the Hong Kong police and arrest of more than 1,000 people. On October 5, MTR, the city’s underground public transport, was shut down for the first time in 40 years as several stations were vandalised. On October 1, a teenager was shot in the upper left part of his body by the police. Thousands gathered in support of him the next day.

“Hong Kong is known as a global city. And here we are being subjected to the worst form of police brutality. We do not deserve it,” says Tony.

While this has been largely a movement of young people, in the past few months, older citizens have formed informal groups to act as a buffer between the police and protestors. They act as the first line of defence.

Protestors have also used bricks to combat police violence. I tell Tony that in Kashmir, which has been under lockdown by the Indian government for 79 days and has faced alleged human rights violations for several years, young protestors also use stone-pelting as a way to protest. “I don’t know much about Kashmir. But it is a sign of people losing complete trust in the authorities. It is the police brutality and the stifling ways of the Hong Kong government that are responsible for the violent methods of the protestors. It is they who should be blamed, not the other way round. If we burn, you burn with us,” he says.

He pauses and then asks, “So is Delhi also jammed with protestors for Kashmir?” I tell him that it is not consistent and massive.

He looks confused, “But we heard in 2013, how so many Indians came together for weeks to protest the rape of a student. So how come they are quiet when millions of people have been under lockdown for 75 days?”

I have no answer.

I ask Tony for his second name. He refuses. “There is no point identifying me. Every single black mask here represents me. We are anonymous and yet focused. I am and will be every young person in the protests till Hong Kong is free,” he says as he bids goodbye and disappears into the sea of umbrellas.

Along with the rain, sloganeering also starts, “Hong Kongers, resist.”

Protestors raise hands in solidarity with the slogan, ‘Hong Kongers, resist!’ Photo: Neha Dixit

Neha Dixit is an independent journalist based out of New Delhi. She covers politics, gender and social justice in South Asia.

Hong Kong Protestors Defy Face Mask Ban – With Humour

Masks of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, cartoon characters and Guy Fawkes were among those used by protestors.


Hong Kong pro-democracy protestors defied a government ban on wearing face masks as they formed a human chain across the city battered by four months of unrest.

Many participants donned cartoon character and Guy Fawkes masks (now also a symbol of the Anonymous group), while others took a stab at restrictions by taking on the guise of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam.


Other protestors wore masks depicting prominent rights activist Jimmy Sham, who was beaten by four men wielding hammers and knives on Wednesday in what democracy campaigners said was an act of intimidation.

Protestors aimed to form a 40-kilometre (25-mile) human chain tracing the city’s subway system in a repeat of a similar protest in August.

Protestors wore a variety of amusing masks as they blocked an intersection. Photo: Reuters/Umit Bektas

The autonomous city’s government earlier this month invoked colonial-era emergency laws banning face masks at protests.  Lam said the restriction on masks, which have been a constant feature at protests, was meant to deter radical behaviour.

Protestors say they wear the masks to remain anonymous and avoid their identities being shared with China’s state security services.

Friday’s lighthearted protest came as pro-democracy organisers said they planned to stage a major march on Sunday despite police determining it illegal.

Protest0rs wore masks depicting the face of activist Jimmy Sham. Photo: Reuters/Umit Bektas

Police said they would not allow the march because past events had been “hijacked by a group of radical protestors” who vandalised property and clashed with police.

The ban sets the stage for possibly violent confrontations between police and protestors worried about China encroaching on Hong Kong’s special status.

This article was originally published on DW.

More Powers to Be Granted to Hong Kong Police, Masks to Be Banned

The public has become increasingly hostile towards the police over past weeks amid accusations of heavy-handed tactics. 

Hong Kong: Hong Kong has loosened guidelines on the use of force by police as it struggles to stamp out anti-government protests that have rocked the Asian financial hub for nearly four months, according to documents seen by Reuters on Thursday.

The city is also expected to ban face masks under a colonial-era emergency law that has not been used in half a century, media reported.

The loosening of restrictions on the use of force came into effect shortly before some of the most violent turmoil seen in the protests on Tuesday, with police firing about 1,400 rounds of tear gas, 900 rubber bullets and six live rounds, as protesters threw petrol bombs and wielded sticks.

More than 100 people were wounded, including a teenaged secondary school student who was shot in the chest and wounded. It was the first time a demonstrator had been shot by live fire.

In the documents seen by Reuters, the police manual changed some guidelines on how officers could act when considering force. It also removed a line that stated officers should be accountable for their actions.

Media also reported on changes to the police procedure manual with effect from September 30, ahead of protests on China’s National Day on Tuesday.

Police declined to comment when asked if amendments had been made.

“The guidelines on the use of force involve details of operation. It may affect the normal and effective operation of the police force and work of police on crime prevention if details are made public,” police said in a statement to Reuters.

Police in the former British colony have long been admired for their professionalism compared with some forces elsewhere in Asia.

But the public has become increasingly hostile towards the police over past weeks amid accusations of heavy-handed tactics. Police say they have shown restraint.

The unrest, which began over opposition to a now-withdrawn extradition bill that would have allowed people to be sent to mainland China for trial, shows no sign of letting up.

Protesters, fired up over the shooting of the young man this week, are planning more demonstrations at shopping malls across 11 districts on Thursday night and throughout the weekend.

Also Read: Hong Kong Files Charges Against Teenager Shot by Police

‘Heinous Crimes’

The opposition to the Beijing-backed government has plunged the city into its biggest political crisis in decades and poses the gravest popular challenge to Chinese President Xi Jinping since he came to power.

Protesters are angry about what they see as creeping interference by Beijing in their city’s affairs despite a promise of autonomy in the “one country, two systems” formula under which Hong Kong returned to China in 1997.

China dismisses accusations it is meddling and has accused foreign governments, including the United States and Britain, of stirring up anti-China sentiment

Media reports of an expected ban on face masks, which many protesters wear to conceal their identities and shield themselves from tear gas, sent Hong Kong’s stock market up to a one-week high.

The government decided to impose the ban under the law giving police sweeping emergency powers in a special meeting of the city’s Executive Council, media outlets TVB and Cable TV reported.

Elizabeth Quat, a lawmaker for a pro-Beijing political party, told a news conference the measure was aimed at stopping “illegal assemblies”.

“This law is not targeting peaceful protesters. It is focused on targeting those rioters who have committed heinous crimes,” she said.

But pro-democracy lawmakers fear the emergency powers could be used to further curtail freedoms.

“To impose an anti-mask law in the current social condition is to further infuriate the people and will definitely be met with escalating violence,” lawmaker Fernando Cheung told Reuters. “This is no different than adding fuel to fire. The result will be riots.”

Goldman Sachs estimated this week that the city might have lost as much as $4 billion in deposits to rival financial hub Singapore between June and August.

On Thursday, Lam Chi-wai, chairman of Junior Police Officers Association, urged the city’s leader to impose a curfew to maintain public order.

“We cannot work alone – clapping only with one hand – without appropriate measures and support from top level,” Lam said.

An anti-government protester tries to hit back a tear gas canister at riot police with his badminton racket, during a demonstration at Admiralty district in Hong Kong, China September 29, 2019. Photo: Reuters/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

Teenager charged

A lawyer for the teenager shot in the chest while fighting with an officer on Tuesday appeared in court on his behalf.

Tony Tsang, who was shot at close range as he fought an officer with what appeared to be a white pole on Tuesday, was charged with rioting, which carries a maximum 10-year sentence, and assaulting a police officer.

Tsang is in hospital in stable condition and was not able to attend the court session.

But about 200 supporters turned up to watch the proceedings.

The lawyer for an Indonesian journalist injured when police fired a projectile during protests on Sunday said she had been blinded in one eye.

The European Union said in a statement it was deeply troubled by the escalation of violence and the only way forward was through “restraint, de-escalation and dialogue”.

The protests have also forced the cancellation of major public events.

The city’s tourism board announced a cycling tournament, the Hong Kong Cyclothon, and the Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival, had both been called off, citing “unforeseen circumstances in the coming weeks”.

(Reuters)

Hong Kong Files Charges Against Teenager Shot by Police

The 18-year-old shot by police in a pro-democracy protest will face two charges. Tsang Chi-Kin will be charged with rioting, which carries a maximum 10-year sentence, and assaulting a police officer.


Hong Kong police announced that charges will be brought against 18-year-old student, Tsang (Tony) Chi-Kin, who was shot in the chest by a police officer on Tuesday, China’s National day.

The 18-year-old will be charged with rioting, which carries a maximum 10-year sentence, and assaulting a police officer. His lawyer is due to appear in court on his behalf on Thursday. Around 200 supporters turned up to watch the proceedings.

Tsang is the first victim of police gunfire in the city’s pro-democracy protests. The day the shooting took place was the most violent of the demonstrations to date.

A police officer shot Tsang at close range during a violent demonstration as the student struck him with a metal rod. Tsang was consequently arrested in hospital. The Hong Kong government has said that the student was in a stable condition after surgery and was not able to attend the court session.

A group of Hong Kong citizens held a press conference on Thursday after authoring a letter to Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, which 4,500 people have signed. The letter demands an investigation into “the abuse of basic human rights of children” during the pro-democracy protests.

If Lam does not respond to the letter, the group threatened to appeal to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.

“We strongly condemn the abuse of power by the government and the police. We are deeply concerned about the situation and the safety of detained children,” they said.

The shooting took place as Communist leaders in Beijing were celebrating 70 years in power.

People take part in a students’ march on the campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in solidarity with the student protester who was shot by a police officer on October 1, Hong Kong, October 3, 2019. Photo: Reuters/Susana Vera

Hong Kong’s unrest after shooting 

A day after the shooting, thousands of demonstrators rallied in Hong Kong to demand police accountability for the shooting. Police accountability is one of the main points of action protesters have been calling for in the last 18 consecutive weeks of demonstrations.

Protesters have repeatedly demanded an independent investigation into what they claim is police brutality against demonstrators.

Hong Kong protesters also staged a sit-in at the shooting victim’s school, where students chanted “no rioters, only tyranny,” and held up pictures of the incident, taken from videos posted on social media which went viral.

Police urged the government on Thursday to impose curfews to help curb the escalating violence across the city. The city is also set to enact an emergency law to ban face masks at rallies, according to a local media source.

This article was originally published on DW.

Hong Kong Protesters Take to Streets After ‘Lennon Wall’ Graffiti Torn Down

Protesters in the town of Tuen Mun set fire to a Chinese flag on the ground and tore down wooden fences and traffic bollards to build road blocks.

Hong Kong: Hong Kong police threatened to fire tear gas to disperse democracy protesters marching under a sweltering sun on Saturday after pro-China groups pulled down some of the “Lennon Walls” of anti-government messages in the Chinese-ruled city.

The marchers converged on the government offices in the town of Tuen Mun, in the west of the New Territories, where some set fire to a Chinese flag on the ground as others tore down wooden fences and traffic bollards to build road blocks.

Some were trashing fittings at the Light Rail Transit station and picking up stones at the sides of the tracks. Police made several arrests.

Also read: Hong Kong’s Protests May Have Longterm Effects on Its Economy

Dozens of Beijing supporters had earlier torn down some of the large mosaics of colourful Post-it notes calling for democracy and denouncing perceived Chinese meddling in the former British colony which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

“I am a Chinese man!” one the pro-Beijing protesters shouted in defence of his actions when confronted by pro-democracy supporters.

The walls have blossomed across the Asian financial centre, at bus stops and shopping centres, under footbridges, along pedestrian walkways and at universities.

They have also occasionally become hot spots of violence in more than three months of unrest.

The subway transit operator, MTR Corp, closed stations near potential protest sites, including Tuen Mun.

Hong Kong‘s protests picked up in June over legislation, now withdrawn, that would have allowed people to be sent to mainland China for trial. Demands have since broadened into calls for universal suffrage.

A pro-Beijing city legislator, Junius Ho, who has been a vocal critic of the protests, had urged his supporters to clean up approximately 100 Lennon Walls around the city on Saturday.

But in a message posted late on Friday on his Facebook page, Ho said “for the sake of safety” the Lennon Walls would not be cleared up, only the streets.

A “Lennon Wall” is seen in Tai Po, Hong Kong, China September 21, 2019. Reuters/Aly Song

‘Rising Again’

Steve Chiu, who works in finance, said people like Ho would only give the pro-democracy movement fresh impetus.

“Through provocative acts like this, he helps unify the moderates and front line in the movement,” he told Reuters.

“It’s like a wave. Sometimes we’re in a trough and sometimes on a crest, and we’re rising again.”

The walls are named after the John Lennon Wall in communist-controlled Prague in the 1980s that was covered with Beatles lyrics and messages of political grievance.

The anti-government protesters are angry about what they see as creeping interference by Beijing in Hong Kong, which returned to China under a “one country, two systems” formula that ensures freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland.

China says it is committed to the “one country, two systems” arrangement and denies meddling. It has accused foreign governments including the United States and Britain, of inciting the unrest.

The demonstrations have taken on their own rhythm over the months and tend to peak at weekends, often with anti-government activists, many masked and in black, throwing petrol bombs at police, trashing metro stations, blocking airport roads and lighting street fires.

At times, they have been confronted by supporters of Beijing wielding sticks.

Police have responded with tear gas, water cannon, rubber bullets and several live rounds into the air, prompting accusations of brutality which they deny. Amnesty International on Friday said some police treatment of detainees amounted to torture.

Police said they have respected the “privacy, dignity and rights” of those in custody according to regulations, allowing detainees transport to hospitals and communication with lawyers and their families.

More pro-democracy protests are planned this weekend including a sit-in on Saturday at a mall near the Yuen Long subway station in the west, marking two months since activists were attacked by a mob there.

(Reuters)

Hong Kong: How the Police Trained for Riots

The violence in Hong Kong in recent weeks has led to fears that Beijing is gearing up for a crackdown against the protesters.

Hong Kong’s controversial extradition bill, the catalyst for three months of protests, was officially withdrawn on September 3 by Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s beleaguered chief executive. Its withdrawal was a key demand of protesters, concerned it could lead to extraditions to mainland China.

But in her recorded television address, Lam refused to give way on the protesters’ other demands – notably for an independent inquiry into alleged police brutality. However, she did appoint two new members to the government’s Independent Police Complaints Council panel which is currently investigating the violence.

The violence in Hong Kong in recent weeks has led to fears that Beijing is gearing up for a crackdown against the protesters. Direct intervention by Chinese forces is permitted under the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s “mini-constitution”, if Hong Kong declares a state of emergency – which it hasn’t yet done. The garrison of China’s People’s Liberation Army stationed in central Hong Kong was recently reinforced and the People’s Armed Police has been seen massing and drilling just over the border in Shenzhen. This lends credence to what the protestors see as a “last stand” to save the city they call home.

Also read: Hong Kong Protesters Call on Trump to ‘Liberate’ City

Hong Kongers are used to a home where the rule of law, rather than the law of the ruler, prevails. This is a legacy of riots in 1956, 1966 and 1967, when the Hong Kong police force adopted an increasingly paramilitary character.

Following the 1967 riots, however, the rule of law, human rights and liberalism became the touchstone of government legitimacy. From the 1970s onwards, it engaged in a swathe of welfare, educational, and legal reforms designed to rebuild links with the community and trust in the police. As I’ve outlined in my own research, the strategy worked. Hong Kong came to be regarded as a stable, peaceful, prosperous and orderly society, its 30,000-strong police force a trusted and friendly guardian.

Ready for riots

Behind the scenes, however, the police force strengthened its anti-riot capability. Since 1958, it has invested in a specially trained paramilitary unit, the Police Tactical Unit, based in Fanling – whose training ground was shared with mainland forces just before 1997. Besides such specialist squads, all members of the Hong Kong police are trained to kit-up and be riot-ready within 11 minutes, giving the police an extraordinary force-wide public order capability.

The classified Hong Kong Riot Training Manual – copied by the UK’s Metropolitan Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police – sets out the sequence of public order policing. Traditionally, tear gas has been the weapon of first choice, the intention being to encourage the crowd to disperse along routes deliberately left open by the police. A visual and audible warning is given in Chinese and English. In order to prevent individual officers from being captured by the crowd, going into the crowd to effect an arrest was discouraged. Regular riot training instilled such practices across the entire force.

But the 2019 protests have taken the police response to another level. Though China blames “foreign forces” for fomenting the 2019 protests, they are grounded in domestic issues. A wiser government might have adopted a more hands-off approach from the start, but instead, the government deployed the police in paramilitary formation, using tear gas, water cannon, rubber bullets, and pepper spray to deter the demonstrators.

Also read: Hong Kong: Ahead of Planned Protests, Police in Position at Airport

Predictably, this hasn’t worked: a cycle of protest, repression and further protest developed. The return to a hardline approach stems from police handling of the 2014 mass protest known as the Occupy Central or Umbrella Movement. Under pressure to end weeks of peaceful protest, the then-commissioner of police, Andy Tsang Wai-hung, and his deputy, Alan Lau, sanctioned the use of tear gas against the protesters. Hong Kong was in shock. A generation brought up to respect the police could not believe that “their” police force was now using such repressive tactics against them.

Nicknamed the “vulture”, Tsang already had a reputation as a hardliner. Said to be held in high regard within the police force, he nevertheless became a highly divisive figure. His retirement in 2015 was an opportunity for the government to appoint a more conciliatory police commissioner, Stephen Lo, to heal the divisions between police and society.

But in an unprecedented move, the force brought Tsang’s former deputy Lau out of retirement on a temporary contract specifically to handle the 2019 protests. Lau has continued Tsang’s “gloves off” approach.

As a force with its origins in colonial days, the Hong Kong police is an arm of the state: individual officers have no individual constabulary power. They must obey orders even when they think they are unjustified. In 2019, this has meant obeying orders to fire tear gas while deliberately blocking routes of dispersal. They have also fired tear gas in closed or confined spaces, contrary to international standards which only permit its use in open spaces.

Police have also fired rubber bullets at close range, and gone into crowds with batons raised. In two incidents, officers have fired live ammunition in the air as warning shots. A special unit – the “raptor squad” – has been designated to work undercover to target high-profile activists and detain them at a special detention centre at San Uk Ling, near the mainland border.

The capture of police violence on mobile phone video and social media has not reined in the violence. Instead, the fact that the police are prepared to be filmed using such brutal tactics shows they understand they are immune from redress.

Hard to regain trust

However, the protesters remain resilient and undeterred. They too have learned lessons from 2014 – they are leaderless by design, both to prevent the police picking off the movement’s leaders and any falling out among different factions. They regularly outwit the police with their “like water” approach, inspired by Bruce Lee, dissolving away before the police arrive only to pop-up unexpectedly elsewhere. Their ingenuity and creativity have captured the public’s imagination.

Also read: What Makes Srinagar the World’s New ‘Forbidden City’

The government’s repressive approach, by contrast, is backfiring. Many who might otherwise stay at home have been so angered by the government’s policing tactics that they too now come out in protest. They scan all walks of life, from housewives to lawyers, accountants and businesspeople, and school and university students – and their orderly conduct undermines Beijing’s depiction of them as a violent, radical mob.

Frontline police officers not only face fatigue but doubts about the wisdom of exposing their families to public antagonism, as they continue to follow orders to fire tear gas into crowds which may contain neighbours, friends and relatives. The trust in police and rulers painstakingly built up in the aftermath of 1967 is being undone, and it is hard to see how it can be regained.

Carol Anne Goodwin Jones, Reader, Birmingham Law School, University of Birmingham

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Hong Kong Protesters Call on Trump to ‘Liberate’ City

Thousands of Hong Kong protesters on Sunday chanted the US national anthem, appealing for democracy after another night of violence in the 14th week of unrest.

Hong Kong: Thousands of Hong Kong protesters on Sunday chanted the US national anthem and called on US President Donald Trump to “liberate” the Chinese-ruled city, the latest in a series of demonstrations that have gripped the territory for months.

Police stood by as protesters, under a sea of umbrellas against the sub-tropical sun, waved the Stars and Stripes and placards appealing for democracy after another night of violence in the 14th week of unrest.

“Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong,” they shouted. “Resist Beijing, liberate Hong Kong.”

US Defence Secretary Mark Esper on Saturday urged China to exercise restraint in Hong Kong, a former British colony which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Esper made his call in Paris as police in Hong Kong prevented protesters from blocking access to the airport but fired tear gas for a second night running in the densely populated district of Mong Kok.

“With the US locked in a trade war with China at this point in time, it’s a good opportunity for us to show (the United States) how the pro-China groups are also violating human rights in Hong Kong and allowing police brutality,” said Cherry, 26, who works in the financial industry, as protesters marched towards the nearby US Consulate.

“We want the US administration to help protect human rights in Hong Kong.”

Hong Kong returned to China under a “one country, two systems” formula that guarantees freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland. Many Hong Kong residents fear Beijing is eroding that autonomy.

Protestors wave U.S. flags as they march to the Consulate General of the United States at Central, Hong Kong, September 8, 2019. Photo: Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

‘Fomenting unrest’

China denies the accusation of meddling and says Hong Kong is an internal affair.

It has denounced the protests, accusing the United States and Britain of fomenting unrest, and warned of the damage to the economy.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam announced concessions this week aimed at ending the protests, including formally scrapping a hugely unpopular extradition bill, which ignited the unrest in June. Many protesters said it was too little, too late.

The bill would have allowed the extradition of people to mainland China to stand trial in courts controlled by the Communist Party. Hong Kong has an independent judiciary dating back to British rule.

Also Read: Hong Kong Leader to Meet Protesters’ Demand to Withdraw Extradition Bill

But the demonstrations have long since broadened into calls for more democracy and many protesters have pledged to fight on.

The US State Department updated its travel advisory for Hong Kong, warning that US citizens and consular employees had been the targets of a recent propaganda campaign by China “falsely accusing the United States of fomenting unrest”.

The overall risk level remains at the second lowest of a four-level gauge, after it was raised on August 7 to reflect the escalating violence.

US Vice President Mike Pence has urged Beijing to treat Hong Kong protesters humanely, warning that it would be harder for Washington to make a trade deal with Beijing if there was violence.

Also Read: Trump Tells China to ‘Solve Hong Kong Problem’ Before Talking Trade

In contrast, Trump alternates between praising Chinese President Xi Jinping as a great leader and casting him as an enemy, while excoriating China for taking advantage of US businesses.

Beijing announced that top officials would head to Washington in early October to hold talks aimed at ending a tit-for-tat trade war, now in its second year, which has roiled markets and hammered global growth.

(Reuters)

Hong Kong Leader to Meet Protesters’ Demand to Withdraw Extradition Bill

It was not immediately clear if the announcement, due later on Wednesday, would help end the unrest.

Hong Kong: Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam will announce on Wednesday the formal withdrawal of an extradition Bill that triggered months of unrest and has thrown the Chinese-controlled city into its worst crisis in decades, Cable TV and other media said.

A government source confirmed the reports to Reuters.

The protests in the former British colony began in June over the Bill, which would have allowed extraditions to mainland China where courts are controlled by the Communist Party, but have since evolved into a push for greater democracy.

It was not immediately clear if the announcement, due later on Wednesday, would help end the unrest.

The chief executive’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hong Kong‘s benchmark Hang Seng Index jumped after the report, trading up about 3.3%. The property index also jumped 6%.

Also Read: Extradition Bill May Spell the End of Hong Kong’s ‘One Country, Two Systems’ Model

The withdrawal of the draft legislation was one of the protesters’ key demands. Lam has said before that the Bill was “dead” but she did not withdraw it.

Hong Kong returned to China under a “one country, two systems” formula that allows it to keep freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland, like the freedom to protest and an independent legal system, hence the anger at the extradition Bill and perceived creeping influence by Beijing.

Reuters revealed in an exclusive report on Monday that Lam told business leaders last week she had caused “unforgivable havoc” by introducing the Bill and that if she had a choice she would apologise and resign, according to a leaked audio recording.

At the closed-door meeting, Lam told the group that she now has “very limited” room to resolve the crisis because the unrest has become a national security and sovereignty issue for China amid rising tensions with the US.

Lam’s remarks are consistent with a Reuters report published on Friday that revealed how leaders in Beijing were effectively calling the shots on handling the crisis.

Protesters start to barricade a tunnel in front of the government headquarters during a general strike in Hong Kong, China, September 3, 2019. Photo: Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach

Injuries

The Chinese government rejected a recent proposal by Lam to defuse the conflict that included withdrawing the extradition Bill altogether, three people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Asked about the report, China’s foreign ministry said the central government “supports, respects and understands” Lam’s decision to suspend the Bill. The Global Times, a nationalistic tabloid published by the Communist Party’s official People’s Daily, denounced it as “fake”.

China has regularly denounced the protests and warned about the impact on Hong Kong‘s economy

China denies it is meddling in Hong Kong‘s affairs but warned again on Tuesday that it would not sit idly by if the unrest threatened Chinese security and sovereignty.

The unrest had shown no sign of easing by Tuesday night.

Riot police fired beanbag guns and used pepper spray – both anti-riot weapons – on Tuesday to clear demonstrators from outside the Mong Kok police station and in Prince Edward metro station, with one man taken out on a stretcher with an oxygen mask over his face, television footage showed.

Videos showing the man being apprehended by the police in the station have been widely shared on social media with protest groups and activists saying it is evidence of the police brutality they say is widespread and needs to be investigated.

The police, who have repeatedly denied using excessive force, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Hong Kong police are due to hold a news conference at 4 pm (0800 GMT).

Three men, aged between 21 and 42, were taken to Kwong Wa Hospital late on Tuesday, a hospital authority spokeswoman said.

Two, including the man stretchered out of Prince Edward station, were in a stable condition and one had been discharged, she said.

(Reuters)

Hong Kong Students Boycott Classes In Protest Against Police Brutality

Images posted on social media showed rows of teenagers lined up outside secondary schools holding banners.

Hong Kong: Hundreds of Hong Kong university and school students swapped classes for democracy demonstrations on Monday, the latest act of defiance in an anti-government movement that has plunged the Chinese-ruled city into its biggest political crisis in decades.

The boycott follows a weekend marred by some of the worst violence since unrest escalated more than three months ago, with protesters burning barricades and throwing petrol bombs, and police retaliating with water cannon, tear gas and batons.

Riot police on Monday patrolled the subway, known as the MTR, where some of the most violent clashes have erupted.

Hundreds of students gathered outside the Chinese University of Hong Kong, one of the city’s largest, taking turns to make speeches from a stage with a black backdrop embossed with “Students in Unity Boycott for our City”.

Also read: Messaging App Telegram to Protect Identity of Hong Kong Protesters

“I come here just to tell others that even after summer holidays end we are not back to our normal life, we should continue to fight for Hong Kong,” said one 19-year old student who asked to be identified as just Chan.

“These protests awaken me to care more about the society and care for the voiceless.”

Images posted on social media showed rows of teenagers lined up outside secondary schools holding banners. Many primary schools were closed because of a typhoon warning. Monday was the first day back after summer holidays.

Matthew Cheung, Hong Kong government chief secretary, told reporters that schools were no place for protests.

Protesters had called for a general strike but most people appeared to return to their daily lives with shops open, trains operating and workers making their way to offices across the global financial hub.

Thousands of protesters blocked roads and public transport links to the Hong Kong airport on Sunday in a bid to draw world attention to their attempt to force Beijing to give greater autonomy to the former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Airport authorities said 25 flights were cancelled on Sunday but transport services were largely back to normal.

Anger at China

After leaving the airport on Sunday, some demonstrators targeted the MTR subway station in nearby Tung Chung district, ripping out turnstiles and smashing CCTV cameras and lamps with metal poles. Police moved in and made several arrests.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, a lightning rod for protesters’ anger at a city government they say is controlled by Beijing, said on her Facebook page on Monday that 10 subway stations were damaged by “violent offenders”.

Also read: Hong Kong Protesters Plan to Disrupt Airport After Night of Chaos

Police and protesters had clashed on Saturday night in some of the most intense violence since unrest escalated in mid-June over concerns Beijing is eroding the freedoms granted to the territory under a “one country, two systems” agreement, including the right to protest and an independent judiciary.

John Lee, government secretary for security, told media that nearly 100 petrol bombs were thrown in various locations on Saturday with two found on a 13-year-old boy who was arrested inside an MTR station.

The unrest began over a now-suspended extradition bill that would have allowed people in the city to be sent to China for trial in courts controlled by the Communist Party, the latest example of what many residents see as ever-tighter control by Beijing, despite the promise of autonomy.

The turmoil has evolved over 13 weeks to become a widespread demand for greater democracy. China is eager to quell the unrest before the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China on October 1.

China denies meddling in Hong Kong‘s affairs and accuses Western countries of egging on the protests. It says Hong Kong is an internal affair.

With Hong Kong facing its first recession in a decade, China has also warned of the damage the protests are causing to the economy.

Shares of Hong Kong rail operator MTR Corp Ltd fell as much as 3.9% to HK$43.65, their lowest since Feb. 15 and on track for their third consecutive session of decline.

With protesters and authorities locked in an impasse, speculation has grown that the city government may impose emergency law, giving it extra powers over detentions, censorship and curfews.

Lam has said the government would consider using all laws at its disposal to bring unrest to an end.

(Reuters)