"Hong Kong people are forgetful animals," said Guan Zhenhai, an independent reporter beside him.
He founded "Zhi" Media in 2019 with the intention of systematically recording Hong Kong, setting up "Zhi" for Hong Kong - the title of a book that records things in ancient times, and dare to speak for the new generation - expressing thoughts and memories in words.
He said that in an era when information is readily available, "paper records can keep things alive." Recently, he edited his three-year special report "Judicial Interpretation System for the Deaf" into the book "Invisible Speak" through First-person audits, investigations, and interviews record the poor communication and unfair treatment encountered by the deaf and hearing-impaired in law enforcement and judicial procedures, and expose the problems to the public.
"Judicial Justice for the Deaf" Report Part 1
Guan Zhenhai, the founder of "Zhi" Media, recently compiled a three-year special report "Judicial Interpretation System for the Deaf" into a book, exposing the communication problems and unfair treatment encountered by deaf and hearing-impaired people in law enforcement and judicial procedures.
(Photo by Lu Yiming)
leave a mark on injustice
During the turmoil of the anti-revision law in 2019, Guan Zhenhai published a 3-minute segment in "Zhi" called "The Red Tunnel Toll Collector Guarding His Line".
In the picture, the demonstrators released the vehicles for free after occupying the Red Tunnel, which aroused the dissatisfaction of the toll collectors, because they are only outsourced employees, as long as the vehicles are not paid, they have to pay for the loss out of their own pockets.
"When resistance becomes daily, don't forget that exploitation is also the landscape of Hong Kong." He wrote along with the clip.
This neglected "voice", which narrates the daily exploitation in Hong Kong, is Guan Zhenhai's "aspiration" that he wants to keep in the hearts of Hong Kong people for reflection and precipitation.
Guan Zhenhai named the report on the "Judicial Interpretation System for the Deaf" "Invisible Speech" because it is difficult for the deaf and hearing-impaired to get the public's attention when speaking in court, regardless of sign language or writing.
He wants to bring "invisible voices" to the surface, make deaf and hearing-impaired people aware of their rights, and make more people pay attention to the issue.
The relationship between him and the deaf and hearing-impaired is the bullying incident at Zhenduo School in 2013-12 hearing-impaired students and former students of the school complained to members of the Legislative Council, the EOC and the media respectively. Some teachers once Abusing, discriminating, and manhandling multiple students.
Guan Zhenhai, who worked in the investigation team of "Apple Daily" at the time, was one of the first reporters to expose the incident.
Zhenduo School, which specializes in recruiting hearing-impaired students, broke out in 2013 that multi-religious staff bullying and molesting students complained. Guan Zhenhai was one of the first to report.
(School website picture)
More than 10 students involved reported the incident to him. Most of them were severely hearing-impaired and used sign language for daily communication.
However, Guan Zhenhai did not understand sign language, so he used social software to communicate, and found that the students' ability to express words was limited, and they could not understand "subject, predicate, and object".
"The whole investigation process is very difficult." He only spent a month to reorganize the incident. "After they (students) get out of school, replay the case, ask them 'did they fight like this, did they do this', and then find other people to verify. "
"Explain that your mother gave birth to you as deaf", "Forcibly dragged the student to the social work room 200 meters away", "Severe hearing impairment was repeatedly molested"... Guan Zhenhai explained the teacher's suspected words to the students Insults, violence and indecent behavior are written and written.
The report was a sensation and had a lot of repercussions in the deaf community. It also touched the sensitive nerves of the school, criticizing him for "making a big deal" and "hyping the news".
But Guan Zhenhai didn't take it seriously, because the arduous investigation and verification process gave him "fairness". "The incident happened in the home economics room, next to the teachers' room, and other teachers heard the verbal insults of the teacher involved."
In the end, the Education Bureau intervened, confirmed that the charges of unnecessary physical contact and verbal insults were established, and referred the male teacher involved in the assault to the police for follow-up, and was sentenced to 2 years of disciplinary action.
The incident ended with the perpetrators being slightly punished, but Guan Zhenhai had more question marks in his heart: "Why does no one understand the deaf and hard of hearing in such a big world? They are by no means a minority."
The number of hearing-impaired people in Hong Kong has been on the rise in recent years, but the general public does not know the deaf and hearing-impaired people, and less attention is paid to the unfair treatment they suffer.
(profile picture)
make injustice public
The "World Hearing Report" released by the World Health Organization in 2021 estimates that in 2050, nearly 2.5 billion people (a quarter of the population) in the world will have different degrees of hearing problems, and they will spread across different age groups: childhood and adolescence Adults and older adults can lose hearing due to problems such as chronic disease and age-related sensory nerve degeneration.
In recent years, the number of hearing-impaired people in Hong Kong has also been on the rise.
According to statistics from the Census and Statistics Department of the Government, there will be approximately 246,200 people with hearing difficulties in 2020, an increase of nearly 60% from 155,200 in 2013.
However, Hong Kong is not considered a "deaf-friendly society", and only 3,000 people use sign language for daily communication.
However, hearing problems are "invisible" compared to blind or physically disabled people. The public may not know the correct way to get along with them, let alone pay attention to the unfair treatment they suffer.
Guan Zhenhai observed a phenomenon: "When the elderly can't hear, what do you do? Say louder: "Abbe! That's not the case!" It's like, when you have hearing problems, you are a "problem" and will not be caught Face it squarely and be treated correctly. But hearing loss is something that everyone has to face.” He founded Zhi in 2019. By chance, someone reported to him the unfair trial of deaf people, so he decided to fight against the judicial system for the deaf. Years of follow-up reports have been carried out on the issue of interpretation, and the unknown bitterness has been made public.
The Judicial Interpretation System for the Deaf covers both law enforcement and the judiciary, the former including police officers and correctional officers, and the latter including courtrooms, court interpreters, judicial From confession, investigation, prosecution to interrogation.
In theory, the system is to ensure that the deaf and hearing-impaired receive appropriate interpretation and equipment support during the above-mentioned steps, and guarantee their right to fair law enforcement and trial.
However, when he had a deep understanding of the issues and interviewed cases, he found that the so-called "system" was just a list involving more than a dozen sign language interpreters. As for the procedures and guidelines for law enforcement and judicial agencies to support the deaf, there were often only a few words and no specific methods. .
"Invisible Speak" is exactly the six cases in the past four years under the absence of a recording system.
The unfair treatment of deaf and hearing-impaired people can be described as "a variety of strange things". Some are regarded as "mentally ill"; Still testifying in court, the consequences can be imagined.
In the process of being interviewed by "Hong Kong 01", Guan Zhenhai took out a thick stack of manuscript paper from the file bag - which included the facts of the case, judgments, case interviews and data materials, and then quickly reviewed the six cases, showing dissatisfaction in his speech And not angry.
For example, Luo Zhenjie, a hearing-impaired teenager, attacked the police in 2019. At that time, Luo Zhenjie was accused of snatching the pepper spray of Yongliang, a former senior police superintendent, in Causeway Bay, causing the superintendent to fall and get injured. After serving the sentence, the appeal was approved and he was remanded for retrial.
Guan Zhenhai found that there were many unreasonable things in this case from law enforcement to interrogation. The most absurd thing is that law enforcement and judicial agencies will regard people who are "unable to communicate" as "mental problems".
"The police asked Luo Zhenjie to be accompanied by his family to give a statement on the condition that he has mental problems, but he has no mental problems at all, but Zheng Jihang agreed to do so." He continued, "This is unacceptable!" However, it will be "unable to communicate." The attack on the deaf-mute Ma Xueli in 2020 is another example—the deaf-mute Ma Xueli couldn't understand the explanation of the correctional officer and reached out to pat him, but the other party reacted too much and was injured , Ma Xueli was charged with assault occasioning bodily harm.
The incident was undoubtedly caused by a misunderstanding, and the court ruled that he was not guilty. However, after the incident, the Correctional Services Department transferred him to Siu Lam Psychiatric Treatment Center, but he was not mentally ill at all.
Guan Zhenhai was a little excited: "If you found out that you couldn't communicate with him at that moment, you made a confession on the condition that you have mental problems. Then you can do this to anyone! You can also do it to your mother-in-law, father-in-law, and a sixteen-year-old child. This standard is Unreasonable." He criticized that this "stigmatization" damages the self-esteem of deaf people and the justice of the judicial system.
Judicial Justice for the Deaf·Part 1｜ Inaudible Trial, Invisible Unfair Opportunity Pushing "Deaf and Healthy Judicial Equality" guides how far the hearing-impaired people are from a fair trial?
