Dr. Michael Hamilton @LawOfProtest just gave a great talk on the freedom of assembly & protest policing—certainly a timely topic. Here are some brief notes I took:
He identified four styles of protest policing. HK police are using all four, he said:
-Escalated force
-Negotiated management
-Strategic incapacitation (zoning, surveillance, info control)
-Command & control
"When you're in riot gear, everything looks like a riot."
-Escalated force
-Negotiated management
-Strategic incapacitation (zoning, surveillance, info control)
-Command & control
"When you're in riot gear, everything looks like a riot."
Hong Kong's colonial-era Public Order Ordinance (widely criticised by human rights orgs as vague & open to abuse) focuses on intervening/controlling/policing public assemblies, rather than facilitating & protecting
"Unlawful assembly," as defined in the POO, is incompatible w intl standards. It emphasises unlawfulness rather than non-peacefulness, treats crowds as undifferentiated wholes, has low thresholds for "insulting"/"provoking," & establishes a heckler's veto
Various court cases have established that unlawfulness shouldn't give police carte blanche; unlawfulness doesn't justify infringing on freedom of assembly; one can't infer generalised violence of a crowd from isolated acts of violence
Face mask ban:
Wearing masks is an act of expression & also a counter-reprisal measure. Masks shouldn't be banned unless there's demonstrable evidence of imminent violence (perhaps even more specifically, on the part of those required to unmask themselves)
Wearing masks is an act of expression & also a counter-reprisal measure. Masks shouldn't be banned unless there's demonstrable evidence of imminent violence (perhaps even more specifically, on the part of those required to unmask themselves)
Th HK police are in a v difficult position, but not only bc they've been used as a political tool by the gov. They're also fulfilling the "ego image" of the Public Order Ordinance, which gives them sweeping powers. Reforming the POO could help resolve their crisis of legitimacy.
