Coming clean on the camp
HONG Kong may be very concerned about human rights after 1997 but there is much that should concern us today. The methods of the Government should come under closer scrutiny, whether they are applied to Hong Kong citizens or foreign detainees.
What happened at Section 7 of the Whitehead detention camp on April 7 is slowly unravelling. On that day, the Government sent in 1,250 policemen and Correctional Services staff to move 1,500 Vietnamese detainees to the High Island camp. The officers were equipped with gas masks, shields, truncheons, armoured vehicles, a helicopter, a large quantity of tear-gas canisters, pepper-fog machines, an unknown quantity of mace and perhaps other materials which are not yet public knowledge.
The Secretary for Security told legislators last week that it was necessary to go well-prepared because intelligence received indicated that there were ''significant risks of confrontation and injury'' both to Vietnamese and officers. The well-equipped army arrived at 6 am when many detainees were still asleep. There were no barricades at the entrance and the officers entered without hindrance.
It is surprising that the Government did not have good information about the camp. Section 7, by all accounts was peaceful. They demonstrated by fasting. They did not erect barricades. The Government should know the conditions since the Refugee Co-ordinator and the Correctional Services who manage the camps are on the spot, and it is their job to report camp conditions. How was intelligence gathered and who provided it? The Government has now admitted that the first round of tear-gas was fired within about half an hour of the officers' arrival. That seems hardly enough time for any meaningful discussion to take place. Since the detainees were not told beforehand that they were not being forcibly repatriated to Vietnam, but only transferred to another camp, it was likely that many of them believed that they were being forcibly evicted from Hong Kong when faced with such a show of force. Despite the confusion and commotion, the Secretary admitted that the officers did not meet physical resistance.
The Secretary said that the use of tear-gas was the most effective measure for securing control with minimum force. But 557 canisters were used, along with an unknown quantity of pepper-fog and mace.
Since the officers met no resistance, and insufficient time was given to explaining the move to the detainees, one musk ask how it came to be that such force was used to move basically a peaceful but very confused and fearful crowd? The Government should release the full video officers took on the day so that the public can see what really happened.
AFTER the event, the public was told that only one person, a woman, was injured. She climbed on to the roof to escape the smoke and gas, fainted and fell off. Subsequent information released indicated that there were other minor injuries. It was only several days later that the public heard that more than 200 people were injured. If there was indeed no cover-up or attempt to cover up, then there must have been a total lack of care about injuries suffered by the Vietnamese.
The British Red Cross at High Island started to treat the injured detainees on the afternoon of April 7. Is it possible that those who planned the operation did not ever think of keeping a record of injuries and never checked with the medical staff how many people they treated each day? Public outcry led the Government to appoint an inquiry to be conducting by two Justices of the Peace. The Government was unwilling to grant them the fully legal powers available under Hong Kong law to conduct the inquiry. It seems that the two JPs will have to go back to the Governor if they do not receive the full co-operation from officials who were involved in the raid.
While the Governor may be able to order his administration to be co-operative, he should have given the inquiry the full legal status and backing it deserves. After all, the inquiry has to assess the performance of the Secretary for Security, Security Branch, Correctional Services Department and the police, and call them to account for the exercise of their powers.
It will be many weeks before the public knows the truth. It is to be hoped that by then, we will know the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
