Police Terrorism

Hong Kong protests: journalist blinded in one eye as attacks on media escalate

By Emma Graham-Harrison in Hong Kong


 A number of journalists have been injured in Hong Kong protests over the past week.

An Indonesian journalist hit in the face by a rubber bullet during protests in Hong Kong has been permanently blinded in one eye, her lawyer said, the most serious injury among the media since the movement began in June.
Adding to concerns about police tactics, a leaked memo showed authorities had relaxed guidelines on using lethal force the day before a teenage student shot in the chest by police.
Police have insisted the officer was acting "lawfully" in self defence, and the 18-year-old was charged with rioting and assaulting a police officer on Thursday.
There are growing concerns about the threat to journalists from the escalating violence, and an increasingly hostile climate that saw one reporter arrested on Tuesday, after several others were injured by police in a day of chaotic violence.
All were wearing high-visibility jackets and “press” markings.
Indonesian Veby Indah was injured during protests two days earlier, while standing with colleagues on an overpass, filming a livestream.
Police opened fire at relatively short range towards the group; footage shows someone shouting a warning “hey it’s journalists on this side”, but seconds later she was hit and collapsed to the ground.

Hong Kong: thousands protest over police shooting of teenager

She was later told that damage to her right eye was irreversible.
“Doctors treating Ms Indah have informed her that regrettably the injury she received as a result of being shot by police, will result in permanent blindness in her right eye,” her lawyer Michael Vidler said in a statement late on Wednesday.
“She was informed that the pupil of her eye was ruptured by the force of the impact. The exact percentage of permanent impairment can only be assessed after surgery”.
The 39-year-old is an associate editor of Suara Hong Kong News, a local outlet which serves the city’s Indonesian community.
The Hong Kong Journalists Association said it would investigate Vedy’s case.
“We are particularly concerned ... [because] the journalist was not in the immediate vicinity of protesters at the time of the incident, she was clearly identifiable as being a member of the press and was with a number of other journalists at the time also wearing high visibility press markings.”
The “one country, two systems” arrangement put in place when Hong Kong returned from British colonial rule to Chinese sovereignty protects freedom of the press, and the protests have been covered by hundreds of local and international reporters.
But police violence and heavy-handed policing is obstructing the media.
On Tuesday several journalists were injured in ‘day of grief’ protests called to mark China’s national day.
 Pang Pui Yin, a reporter for the Chinese-language news website Local Press, was arrested by police as they dispersed protesters in Mong Kok district, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Even though he was clearly identified as a member of the press corps, police initially accused him of unlawful assembly, then bailed him after alleging that he assaulted a police officer.
He has been released on bail, but the CPJ called for authorities to drop all charges, and “cease harassing journalists covering protests.”
Journalists who were injured that day include one working for public broadcaster RTHK, who was hit in the head with “some kind of projectile”.
In response the outlet’s English language unit withdrew all reporters from the ground.
Apple Daily said a tear gas canister hit one of its reporters in the stomach, and officers fired at but missed two of its team.
Stand News reported several injuries, including one journalist who was hit in the face by what was thought to be a sponge-tipped round.
Another was hit by a rubber bullet.
Police were also accused of pushing and shoving reporters, and one video posted online showed officers aiming a gun at the face of reporters, who were wearing “press” markings and high-visibility vests.
Protesters on Wednesday apologised for spraying corrosive material on a journalist while targeting police officers.
Police officials have not commented on media injuries.
The Hong Kong Journalists Association warned that journalists had a right to work without violence or obstruction.
“We strongly condemn all acts of violence against front-line journalists and urge the police to refrain from maliciously obstructing their regular interviews,” the Hong Kong Journalists Association sad in a statement.
“Anyone who intimidates or attacks front-line journalists on the ground seriously interferes with the freedom of the press and weakens the public’s right to know.”

Police terrorism

As a protester is shot in the street, this is how Britain could make good on its obligations to the Hong Kong people
By Johnny Patterson

This week has seen a dramatic escalation of police violence in Hong Kong. 

While Britain remains endlessly distracted by Brexit, the rest of the world was watching its former colony as a teenage pro-democracy protestor was shot by Hong Kong police.
Confrontations flashed throughout the city just as the 70th anniversary of Communist China sent fireworks sparkling into the Beijing sky. 

During one of these confrontations, a sixth-form student was shot from point blank range with a live bullet and left in a critical condition.
Police brutality is being normalised in Hong Kong. 

A recent Amnesty International report confirms “an alarming pattern of the Hong Kong Police Force deploying reckless and indiscriminate tactics” in their arrests, as well as beating and torturing people in detention. 

The police have consistently responded to a minority of violent protestors disproportionately: targeting protestors indiscriminately, and sometimes even civilians taking no part in the protests.
The press now appears to be an acceptable target. 

A journalist for an Indonesian-language publication was recently shot with a rubber bullet, despite being clearly identifiable as a member of the press. 

The Foreign Correspondent’s Club reported that over the weekend, journalists were hit by tear gas canisters and rubber bullets, targeted with pepper spray, verbally threatened by the police, and blocked from documenting the arrests of protestors. 

Buzzfeed’s Rosalind Adams live-tweeted herself being hit with batons while trying to film one arrest.
“Police terrorism”, as it is dubbed by many Hong Kongers, has been on the frontpages of the newspapers on an almost daily basis for months. 

The result has been a total collapse of public trust in both the government and the police force.

Hong Kong protesters "day of grief" on communist China anniversary



Any lasting solution to the political crisis will need bold actions for reconciliation to be taken by the Hong Kong government and their counterparts in Beijing. 

But there is little sign of this.
The Hong Kong government have refused to agree to what look like moderate and reasonable demands from protestors – including calls for the police force to face an independent inquiry into their actions. 

Instead it has doubled-down and given the police licence to act with impunity.
And so, in the meantime, we must stand with the people of Hong Kong.
The UK has a special duty to the people of Hong Kong. 

Not only are Hong Kongers at the forefront of the global battle for freedom and democracy, but we have a historical duty to stand with them.
When the UK handed Hong Kong over to China in 1997, the arrangement was made on the basis that the rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong would remain unchanged until 2047. 

The handover agreement, the Sino-British Joint Declaration, writes into international law a moral and legal obligation for the UK to stand up for the freedoms of the people of Hong Kong.

The integrity of this agreement is gravely threatened by the events of recent weeks. 

Dominic Raab issued a statement condemning the “disproportionate” use of force by the police force yesterday, but we must prove that our support for Hong Kong is more than just empty words.
Here are three ways we can do this. 

First, the government should consider adopting legislation which will ensure that there are consequences if the Hong Kong government continues to trample on people’s freedoms. 

Magnitsky sanctions, targeted at the individual violators of human rights, could be applied to officials who are deemed to be responsible for breaches of the Joint Declaration.

Second, post-Brexit, any trade agreement with Hong Kong or China must include a Hong Kong human rights clause. 

Trade law is more strongly enforceable than other types of international law, and so it is critical that we do not betray our commitment to Hong Kong in any future negotiations.

Finally, many parliamentarians have signalled their support for various campaigns which would provide an insurance policy by extending the rights applicable to holders of British National (Overseas) passports.
Unlike in other British colonies, Hong Kong citizens were not allowed to maintain their British citizenship after the handover. 

Instead they were fobbed off with second tier “BNO” passports which the late-Lord Ashdown claimed were a scandal rivalling Windrush. 

Even soldiers who had served in the British army were not given the right to retain their British citizenship.
It would be easy for the government to expand the rights held by BNO passports, and the Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Tugendhat has argued that this would provide many Hong Kongers with the “confidence to stay in Hong Kong”, knowing that they have a possible way out.
During the handover negotiations, prime minister John Major declared that “Hong Kong will never walk alone”. 

At this pivotal hour in Hong Kong’s history, we must not forget our unique ties to the people of Hong Kong. 

We must stand with them in their fight for freedom. 

They must not walk alone.