Hong Kong's prisons department has refuted allegations of physical and sexual violence in its jails, as well as insisting that – despite a ruthless crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy movement – it has no political prisoners.
A report published by the Washington-based Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (CFHK) Foundation this week alleged that political prisoners faced physical violence, were forced into solitary confinement, subjected to round-the-clock monitoring, extra screening and forced to attend political indoctrination courses.
The 91-page report revealed that juvenile detainees were subjected to rampant sexual violence while in prison. It was co-authored by American lawyer Samuel Bickett, who was jailed for assaulting a police officer in 2019, and activist Frances Hui, who carries a bounty of HK$1m (£94,800) imposed by the Hong Kong administration.
Hong Kong's Correctional Services Department (CSD) told The Independent that the allegations regarding the operations of the prison department were "utterly false and baseless and amount to a malicious smear on our department".
It added that the allegations of abuse, medical neglect, or substandard living condition were "wholly unfounded".
The department claimed there were no "so-called 'political prisoners' in Hong Kong and that all prisoners are treated equally, without discrimination on the grounds of background, political views or the nature of their offences".
More than 1,900 people have been imprisoned on political charges since 2019, when Hong Kong witnessed a wave of massive pro-democracy protests and Beijing responded by introducing a draconian new national security law to throttle dissent.
The prison authorities were accused of using solitary confinement as a routine form of punishment and control, which has been often imposed on high-profile political prisoners such as media tycoon Jimmy Lai. The CSD "relies on both formal solitary confinement and supposedly non-punitive ‘removal from association’ authority to isolate political prisoners for weeks, months, or even years", the report found.
Mr Lai, a 77-year-old British national and founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily, has been kept in solitary confinement for nearly four years over his role in supporting the 2019 pro-democracy movement, and is facing the prospect of life in prison if found guilty of sedition and collusion with foreign powers. Last year, Sir Kir Starmer said he agreed that Mr Lai’s arrest was a breach of the treaty governing Hong Kong’s handover from British to Chinese rule, and that securing his release was a “priority” for the government.
Seventeen former prisoners interviewed by CFHK described being forced to eat alone, participate in pro-Chinese Communist Party classes, watch propaganda films and attend confessional counselling sessions. CFHK said the CSD’s rehabilitation project, named Project PATH, was a “political-indoctrination” programme for inmates.
"These abuses are not limited to political prisoners. Across the wider inmate population, prisoners endure sexual and physical violence, medical neglect, unsanitary conditions, restrictions on religious materials and expressions of faith, and extreme heat," the report found.
At least eight of the 17 prisoners interviewed claimed they were subjected to or witnessed severe physical abuse. "Juvenile facilities are especially notorious for excessive violence," it found.
A political activist who was sent to prison aged 17 described being subjected to sexual assault while detained, telling the group that "sexual violence happens all the time" in juvenile prisons. The survivor experienced "prolonged physical and sexual violence" during his three-month-long imprisonment at the Pik Uk Correctional Institution, the report found.
Bickett claimed he personally witnessed an inmate being assaulted in Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre's hospital wing. He said that "witnessing that beating was a shocking moment".
"The guards were beating a prisoner. This went on for at least 20 minutes. My cellmates didn’t seem surprised. They explained to me that the prisoner had talked back to the guards. Eventually, the screaming stopped," Bickett said.
In January 2022, a 15-year-old was repeatedly sexually assaulted by a "B-Boy" — a nickname use for an inmate chosen by the jail staff to help with workload in lieu of privileges, the report said. The victim at the Pik Uk facility only received medical help the next day, when an officer discovered him bleeding during work duty, it said.
The prisons department refuted the claims made in the report, saying it provides medical care to all prisoners in a robust manner.
It argued that Project PATH was designed for inmates under the influence of "extremist ideologies or misconceptions". "The CSD condemns any attempt to demonise the rehabilitation programmes as 'indoctrination'," the department added.
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