Police holding cells no better since 2009, says Hong Kong human rights group after survey
A new independent body needs to be set up to monitor conditions inside police holding cells as the force’s watchdog has no power to do so at present, said a local human rights NGO after announcing the government had failed its improvement pledge made in 2009.
A new independent body needs to be set up to monitor conditions inside police holding cells as the force’s watchdog has no power to do so at present, said a local human rights NGO after announcing the government had failed its improvement pledge made in 2009.
The issue is often overlooked due to the relatively short period detained persons stay in police cells, which by law should be no longer than 48 hours, according to Annie Lin, community organiser of Society for Community Organisation, which serves the underprivileged in Hong Kong.
In describing her experience in a holding cell, Angel Keswani, 24, said it was “dark” and that the “cold bed” was “no different from the floor”.
READ MORE: Police cell conditions under fire
The native-English teacher, born in Indonesia but raised in Hong Kong, was detained overnight in December 2013, after she was wrongfully accused by an off-duty police officer of stealing his mobile phone.
Keswani was released after spending eight hours in the cell.
“We were hungry and thirsty … we didn't want to use the washroom,” she added.
“I wasn't comfortable as there was nothing covering the door. There’s no privacy at all.”
Police did not yet respond to a request for comment.
Between March and June this year, the society interviewed 39 people who had been detained in the city.
The informal survey revealed conditions inside police holding cells had not substantially improved despite a government promise to improve them. The pledge, among others, was to include providing a mattress and pillow as well as increasing the height of walls enclosing toilets.
READ MORE: Police upgrade cells amid rights concerns
At present, detainees still lack access to drinking water – something the 2009 reforms did not promise to include – unless police officers agree to bring it to them from outside, the survey found.
Asked why a new body needed to be set up in addition to the existing Independent Police Complaints Council, Lin said the council only had statutory power to review complaints submitted by the force’s internal Complaints Against Police Office, also known as Capo.
Lin added that Capo could use and had been using ongoing court proceedings as a reason not to conduct an investigation into complaints made by detainees about holding cell conditions.
The NGO said it would also urge the force to install closed-circuit television in its cells to ensure allegations against either the police or detained persons would not be unfounded.
