|
edward
|
Posted -
2005/12/20 下午 07:51:54
|
|
|
Police accused of abuse by female detainees
Claims come as pro-Beijing groups back officers' handling of protests (SCMP today)
Taiwanese sex worker Wang Fang-ping displayed a large bruise on her lower back and said: "Police are cruel and despicable to have battered us like this - we are defenseless, vulnerable women."
Ms Wang, speaking after she was released with other detainees, said police hit her on the head, shoulders and body with batons after using tear gas on Saturday.
"We had no weapons. I was forming a human chain with my comrades trying to keep the press from the Korean farmers who were then confronting police with a set of rams made from the metal skeleton of the barricades.
"Then they fired tear gas. Police came out from behind their shields and started chasing me. They used their batons on my head, my arms, my thigh and my shoulders. They continued to hit me after I fell down. I couldn't get up or run because my legs were badly hurt." Ms Wang said she was almost unconscious when a Taiwanese reporter intervened and dragged her away from the gas. "It was not until someone splashed water on my face that I regained consciousness."
The veteran protester condemned the police action as cold-blooded and inhumane.
"The degree of cruelty was something I've never seen," she said at a press conference.
She said that when she was taken from hospital to Chai Wan police station, she was cold, exhausted, hungry and in pain. "I requested some food, blankets and hot water, but we got none between 1am and 7am. We did get more roommates, though - 25 of us shared a place no larger than half of this room (80 sq ft)."
She said they were not allowed to make phone calls to friends and lawyers.
Kim Hyun-jeong, from the Korean Catholic Farmers' Movement, said: "I was locked up with 30 women. I told the police some were having their periods but all they gave us were three sanitary napkins."
But contrary to earlier allegations, the women said they had not been stripped naked.
Ms Kim said some officers forced them down when they refused to sit on a cold floor. Protesters also accused police of treating local detainees better than foreigners.
They demanded that police apologise and that action be taken against officers who ill-treated protesters, and urged the Legislative Council to set up an independent committee to investigate.
Pro-Beijing community leaders meanwhile voiced support for the way police handled the anti-WTO protests.
Federation of Hong Kong Guangdong Community Organisations chief Yu Kwok-chun led dozens of representatives from similar groups to present a banner to police representatives.
New Territories Association of Societies' spokesman Tung Wai-ming said: "Hong Kong police did an excellent job during the past week. They succeeded in ensuring the smooth proceedings of the WTO conference and maintained the safety of Hong Kong.
"I think what they did to the protesters is very proper, as they had to defend themselves. We are so moved by them. They seldom rested and we would like to send them a letter on behalf of our association to praise their achievements."
|
