Last year, Amnesty International published a list of examples in which the Hong Kong Police have violated international law and standards on police use of force on their website. (https://amnesty.or.kr/29402/)
Excessive force was allegedly used, including beatings and pepper spray on unarmed individuals, the deployment of tear gas and rubber bullets, and obstruction of reporting and ambulance entrance.
Amnesty International also pressed for an independent investigation of police brutality, presenting a briefing on police brutality during the Hong Kong protests. (https://amnesty.or.kr/34148/)
Eric Yan-ho Lai, convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front, classified police violence used against protesters in Hong Kong into four categories. To begin with, the police recognize demonstrators as adversaries. The police guidelines prohibited officers from striking protestors in the head, yet during the actual crackdown, officers struck protesters in the head. This demonstrates the police officers’ desire for vengeance against protesters.
The second is dehumanization. It manifested itself in the police referring to protesters as “cockroaches.” As with the Rwandan genocide, referring to a human as a cockroach demonstrates that they do not view humans as human.
The third category is sexual violence. Men as well as women became victims of the violence. It is also problematic that there are no CCTV cameras in San Uk Ling Holding Centre. Suspicions were raised that rape had taken place in the holding center. Some argue that the police called the protesters prostitutes, and some of them had abortions as a result of collective sexual assault by police officers.
Institutional violence is the fourth category of violence. Today’s legal system vests police personnel with unbridled authority. The public security statute considers gatherings of more than three people to be illegal rallies. Under the emergency regulation implementing anti-mask laws, police officers may remove their identity numbers. That is why Hong Kong residents have called for the establishment of an independent inquiry committee. This type of violence is detrimental to democracy.
The protests in Hong Kong are centered on attaining democracy and liberty and resisting police brutality. Three of the five demands are related to police violence.