HONG KONG (Reuters) – Accusations of police brutality must not be used as “a weapon of political protest,” Hong Kong’s police watchdog said in a report on Friday, adding that the Chinese-ruled city appeared to be getting dragged into an “era of terrorism”.
The Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC) said its report did not tackle the individual accountability of officers, but recommended a review of guidelines for the use of tear gas and training for officers in public order policing.
The IPCC studied officers’ behaviour in the months after June 2019, a period in which the Asian financial hub was roiled by some of the biggest and most violent demonstrations in decades.
Reporting By Jessie Pang, Sarah Wu, Marius Zaharia; Writing by Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Clarence Fernandez