Hong Kong police change guidelines on use of force in protests -documents

Hong Kong police change guidelines on use of force in protests -documents
Hong Kong police change guidelines on use of force in protests -documents

Hong Kong police loosened guidelines on the use offorce officers should use in the run-up to demonstrations on Oct. 1, givingthem greater power to deal with protesters in difficult situations, accordingto police documents seen by Reuters.

On Tuesday, the 70th anniversary of the founding ofthe People's Republic of China, officers deployed a record level of force andfirearms, including firing about 1,400 rounds of tear gas, 900 rubber bulletsand six live rounds.

More than 100 people were wounded in the turmoil, asanti-government demonstrators took to the streets across the Chinese-ruledterritory, throwing petrol bombs and attacking police. For the first time inthe latest wave of protests, a demonstrator was shot by live fire.

In the documents seen by Reuters, the police manualchanged some guidelines on how officers could act when considering force.

The updated guidelines also removed a line that said"officers will be accountable for their own actions", stating onlythat "officers on the ground should exercise their own discretion todetermine what level of force is justified in a given situation".

Civic Party lawmaker Tanya Chan said that change wassignificant.

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