U.N. urges Hong Kong to use restraint, investigate excessive force against protesters

Record ID: 1427002

  • Title: U.N. urges Hong Kong to use restraint, investigate excessive force against protesters
  • Date: 13th August 2019
  • Summary: HONG KONG, CHINA (RECENT - JULY 30, 2019) (REUTERS) GROUP OF PROTESTERS SURROUNDING TWO POLICE OFFICERS / POLICE OFFICER POINTING GUN AT PROTESTERS HONG KONG, CHINA (RECENT - AUGUST 3, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS BANGING ON PLASTIC BARRICADES RIOT POLICE IN LINE FIRING TEAR GAS TEAR GAS IN STREET PROTESTERS RETREATING, TEAR GAS SURROUNDING THEM POLICE IN LINE FIRING TEAR GAS PROTESTERS RETREATING POLICE CHARGING
  • Embargoed: 27th August 2019 11:46
  • Keywords: Hong Kong protests China Geneva United Nations human rights excessive force police tear gas
  • Location: HONG KONG, CHINA / GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
  • City: HONG KONG, CHINA / GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Civil Unrest
  • Reuters ID: LVA001AS1X45J
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet urged Hong Kong authorities on Tuesday (August 13) to exercise restraint and investigate evidence of its forces firing tear gas at protesters in ways banned by international law.
    "Officials can be seen firing tear gas canisters into crowded, enclosed areas and directly at individual protesters on multiple occasions, creating a considerable risk of death or serious injury," Bachelet said in a statement read by spokesman Rupert Colville during a news briefing.
    Bachelet's office "urges the Hong Kong authorities to act with restraint, to ensure that the rights of those who are expressing their views peacefully are respected and protected, while ensuring that the response by law enforcement officials to any violence that may take place is proportionate," she said.
    Colville conceded that security forces in the former British colony were sometimes in a difficult situation. "We are not saying it is easy, but nevertheless they have to avoid excesses, otherwise they can just make the situation worse ... You risk really a vicious circle of rising violence and tension."
    A state of "panic and chaos" exists in Hong Kong, the city's embattled leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday, defying calls to quit as the stock market tumbled, airlines flagged further flight disruptions and anti-government protesters filled the airport.
    China's comments about "sprouts of terrorism" emerging in Hong Kong were not helpful and risked inflaming the situation, Colville said.
    (Production: Marina Depetris, Ardee Napolitano)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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