Holden Chow: Independent Probe Not The Answer

DAB lawmaker Holden Chow said on Sunday that this would not necessarily be enough to satisfy protesters and end the violence, stressing that the existing mechanism to investigate such matters is already at work.

The Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC) is the only body investigating the policing of the recent unrest, with the Carrie Lam administration repeatedly refusing to accede to protesters’ demands to set up a formal commission of inquiry.

Speaking on RTHK’s Letter to Hong Kong programme, Chow said no one knew whether an independent investigation would "pacify" protesters in a leaderless movement.

"Some would ask: 'Why the government cannot make concessions on holding (an) independent inquiry into police conduct?' There is now an existing mechanism (for) probing into police wrongdoing, which is the IPCC, and it has already begun its work," Chow said.

Even if the government gave in to demands for an independent investigation, there was no guarantee that this would "to pacify the crowd" and end the protests, Chow said.

"That is the difficulty faced by the government," he said.

The IPCC has been under intense scrutiny, and said on Friday that it was expanding its probe, to include more recent protests rather than focusing only on the earliest ones.

Almost two thousand people have filed complaints against the police over their handling of the protests – from allegations of assault, misconduct, and unnecessary use of authority, to fabricating evidence, making threats and neglect of duty.

The council has received over 1,200 submissions containing more than 24,000 photos, texts, video clips and internet hyperlinks backing up the complaints.

However, critics have questioned whether the IPCC has the resources or the ability to conduct an adequately thorough probe, because it has no legal power to summon witnesses.