The UK is suspending sales of tear gas and other crowd-control equipment to Hong Kong until an independent investigation is held into allegations of police brutality during mass protests earlier this month.
British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Jeremy Hunt, who is campaigning to be the next British prime minister, said no new export licenses would be approved until concerns about human rights abuses were “thoroughly addressed.”
His statement appeared to leave existing export licenses untouched, including open licenses not due to expire until next year.
“We remain very concerned with the situation in Hong Kong and I raised those concerns with [Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥)] on the 12th of June,” Hunt said. “I today urge the Hong Kong government to establish a robust independent investigation into the violent scenes that we saw.”
Hong Kong police used tear gas and rubber bullets against protesters opposed to a proposed extradition law they said would allow China to target political enemies and try them in its opaque courts, where the conviction rate is as high as 99 percent.
Some of the equipment used by police was sold by British firms.
The UK ruled Hong Kong from 1842 to 1997, when it handed the territory back to China.
“As it stands all licenses for any crowd control equipment have been exhausted, so there are no existing licenses that would mean we could continue to sell crowd control equipment to Hong Kong,” a British government official said.
Amnesty International has said experts in policing and digital verification examined footage of 14 incidents of apparent police violence during a protest on June 12 in detail.
“The evidence of the unlawful use of force by police against peaceful protesters on June 12 is irrefutable. In the footage Amnesty has verified, police officers appear out of control, placing peaceful protesters who posed no threat in danger of serious injury,” Amnesty International Hong Kong director Man-kei Tam (譚萬基) said.
On June 15, Lam promised to indefinitely suspend efforts to pass the law.
Shadow British foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said there was a need for a “root and branch” reform of the arms export regime.
“If exported items from the UK are being used for internal repression of protest in any country, that is a clear breach of the rules on arms exports licenses,” she said.
British ministers have allowed several licenses permitting the exportation to Hong Kong of equipment including anti-riot shields, body armor, CS hand grenades and ammunition.
These include two open licenses, granted in 2015 and 2016, under which an unlimited quantity of material can be sold for five years.
This would suggest that unless existing licenses are revoked, a point not covered in the foreign secretary’s statement, exports can continue until next year.
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