Asylum seeker in Hong Kong claims repeated attacks by immigration officers
Man’s lawyer calls for impartial investigation into alleged beatings and abuse at detention centre
An asylum seeker has claimed immigration officers attacked him six separate times while he was held in Hong Kong, including stamping on his testicles, kicking and punching him, and pinching his ears and nose.
The middle-aged man, who got to the city in August 2016 and whose name and nationality cannot be revealed for security reasons, was held for 150 days at Castle Peak Immigration Centre.
He said on Wednesday through an interpreter: “They handcuffed me and forcibly sat me down on a chair. Then they started assaulting me... I remember that they twisted the heels [of their shoes] on my testicles, and after that I fell unconscious.”
He said the attacks happened during three attempts to forcibly remove him to his home country, before guards took him to the airport and after he repeatedly refused to return to his home country.
The officers beat him in a room without CCTV cameras at the Castle Peak Immigration Centre, a room at the airport and in a vehicle, he said.