Zi Teng statement regarding to how the police treat the people being kept in custody

Zi Teng is a sex workers concern organization. We have been paying much concern on the abuse of police power. We submitted our demands respectively to the Redress System and the Security Panel of the Legislative Council, but there was not any reply from the authority. We are particularly concerned about how the police treat the people being kept in custody.

The Security Bureau and the police are indifferent to the abuse of police power. For example, the police still allow the undercover agents to receive hand job service during operation, as well as allowing the police to frame and falsely accuse sex workers. Recently, they sent officers to sex workers’ place and forced sex workers to provide information, sign on the statement. They even took photos of sex workers. Their actions definitely violate sex workers’ human rights.

Sex workers’ rights are further violated when they are in police custody. During January to November in 2007, 92 women suspected of selling sex were strip-searched (with 22 of them were strip-searched for more than 3 times), 5 women were physical assaulted, 38 were forbidden to make any phone call, 42 were forced to sign on a fake statement (including a blank sheet), 19 were falsely charged with 12 of them were framed by the police with condoms.

According to the police, strip-search is carried out only under reasonable situation (like the avoidance of escape, hurting oneself or others by the suspect). However, we see the other side of the picture from the cases collected by Zi Teng. The police not only fail to record and explain properly the reasons for strip-search, there are police officers making use of strip-search to insult and control the arrested. Among these cases, 22 sex workers were strip-searched for more than 3 times within 24 hours, 3 were even searched for 4 times within 12 hours.

The police often ask the involved parties to file a complaint to the Complain Against Police Office (CAPO), but most are afraid of police revenge and withdraw their complaints. Whenever there is a legitimate complainant, the CAPO tries its very best to stop her/him from filing the complaint. It also prolongs the release of the investigation result. Since the current complain system is not effective enough, the police officers are able to abuse their power, particularly abuse their power against the arrested people. Recently, the Lee Tung Street event and other social minority groups did tell us further about the violation of rights of the arrested by the police. This can hardly be explained by the reason of coincidence.

We urge the police to stop immediately violating sex workers and other arrested people’s rights, review and revise the current custody procedures, and set up an independent system to investigate into the police complaints.

We have the following demands:

1. 1. The police stop violating and other social minorities’ rights immediately
2. Review and revise the current custody procedures such as forcing one to sign a statement
3. The police review on the part of searching a person, including the part of strip-search, and repeated search.
   1. The officer should properly record and explain for the strip-search. She/he should also obtains the permission from her/his superior.
   2. Review on the part of searching a person, say, searching a person with machines rather than strip-search.
4. The CAPO has to stop threatening sex workers to file a complaint. An independent complaint system should be set up to investigate into police abuse.

November 25, 2007