Setback for Hong Kong's Prime Minister Carrie Lam: The commission to investigate police misconduct in the ongoing demonstrations is broken. The five specially brought in police experts from the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia and Canada surprisingly suspended their cooperation because, from their point of view, the board of supervisors can not do enough work.
It had come to the conclusion that the official "Independent Council of Police for Complaints" saw a "significant lack of authority, capacity and independent investigative capabilities," the foreign members said. They were called in September to give more credibility to dealing with police violence in the Chinese Special Administrative Region.
The protests are no longer directed against the policies of the Beijing-loyal government, but also against the security forces. Protesters have been calling for independent investigations for months, accusing the police of being too arbitrary and too harsh. However, Prime Minister Lam repeatedly rejected the request, citing the appointment of foreign experts in September, and declared the existing supervisory body sufficient.
More than 6000 arrests since the protests began
One of the problems of the panel was apparently that only complaints can be investigated, which are also forwarded by the police complaints office.
Since the beginning of the mass protests six months ago, more than 6,000 people have been arrested in Hong Kong. An ultimately withdrawn bill that would allow deliveries to mainland China triggered the demonstrations. In recent months, there have been repeated clashes between security forces and radical forces.
Since its return to China in 1997, Hong Kong is autonomously governed by the principle of "one country, two systems". The seven million Hong Kong people - unlike the people of the People's Republic - enjoy many rights such as freedom of assembly and expression. The Hong Kong people increasingly fear for such fundamental rights. They also demand genuine democracy, as they had been promised in the change of sovereignty.