- Findings included interviews with 21 people who claim they were severely punched or beaten with batons by police even when they did not put up any resistance
- Amnesty says it had documented a pattern of police using unnecessary and excessive force during arrests
Hong Kong's embattled police force has been accused of resorting to "retaliatory violence" by torturing or ill-treating suspects arrested during the ongoing protest crisis, according to an investigation by a human rights group.
The findings released on Friday by NGO Amnesty International included interviews with 21 people arrested but later released, who claimed they were severely punched or beaten by officers with batons even when they did not put up any resistance.
Others claimed they were assaulted or threatened at police stations.
The report came as another group of 10 people who accused police of the same actions launched a "Sue the Abuser" crowdfunding scheme in a bid to raise HK$10 million to launch civil actions against the force.
Among them was Ng Ying-mo, who said he was shot in the stomach with a rubber bullet during protests in Admiralty on June 12, and Samson Chan, who claimed officers hit his head with batons when he was strolling in a park with his son in Tseung Kwan O on August 4.
In the Amnesty International report, 18 out of 21 interviewees were sent to hospitals after injuries sustained, allegedly in arrests, with three kept in wards for at least five days.
"The Hong Kong police's heavy-handed crowd-control response on the streets has been live streamed for the world to see. Much less visible is the plethora of police abuse against protesters that has taken place out of sight," said Nichlas Bequelin, East Asia director of the NGO.
"This has included arbitrary arrests and retaliatory violence against arrested persons in custody, some of which amounted to torture."
The city's officers have come under fire for the handling of the political crisis, sparked in June by the withdrawn extradition bill. The protests have since morphed into an anti-government movement with clashes between demonstrators and police becoming more violent.
While Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on September 4 announced the withdrawal of the bill, fulfilling one of five demands by protesters, demonstrators are still pushing for an inquiry into police handling of the unrest and universal suffrage, among others.
The cases cited by Amnesty International included a man, arrested in the New Territories last month, who claimed he was beaten by officers in a police station after he refused to answer a question.
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"One (officer) flipped me over and put his knees on my chest. I felt pain in my bones and couldn't breathe," said the man in the report. He was later taken to hospital for several days with a bone fracture and internal bleeding.
He also claimed an officer forced open his eye and pointed a laser pen at it while he was pinned to the ground, asking: "Don't you like to point this at people?"
Laser pointers have been a popular protest prop, with demonstrators repeatedly flashing them at police stations or officers, culminating in a furore over a student leader arrested over the possession of such items, which police classified as offensive weapons.
Amnesty said it had documented a pattern of police using unnecessary and excessive force during arrests, with a woman claiming officers had continued to beat her after knocking her to the ground and zip-tying her hands when she was being detained in Sheung Wan in July.
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Another man in the report, who was arrested in Tsim Sha Tsui in August, also accused three officers from the Special Tactical Squad of beating him to the ground, getting on him, kicking his face and putting pressure on his body, which led to severe pain in his left rib cage.
Medical documents showed he was hospitalised for two days and treated for a fractured rib and other injuries, according to the report.
Amnesty also highlighted numerous cases cited where police were accused of denying or delaying access to lawyers and medical care for detainees, echoing an earlier observation from the Bar Association.
A police spokesman said the force would not comment on individual cases, but said any person in custody who felt aggrieved during the detention period could lodge a complaint to the Complaints Against Police Office which they said would handle all cases in a fair and impartial manner.
He said police respected the privacy, dignity and rights of a person under custody and the duty officers should arrange to take the person to the nearest government hospital or clinic if he or she requested or appeared to be in need of medical attention.
"Police officers shall exercise a high level of restraint at all times in the use of force. The use of force shall cease once its purpose has been achieved," the spokesman added.
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