IPCC report balanced, factual: HKSAR gov't secretary for security

The thematic report by Hong Kong's Independent Police Complaints Council on the social unrest arising from the now-withdrawn ordinance amendments concerning fugitive transfers is balanced and factual, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government's secretary for security said on Wednesday.

The "Thematic Study Report on the Public Order Events arising from the Fugitive Offenders Bill since June 2019 and the Police Actions in Response," released by IPCC on May 15, concluded that the initial peaceful demonstrations were degenerated into violent protests, and clarified many rumors against the police.

Secretary for Security John Lee told media that the report was written based on a lot of information.

It is written after reviewing over 20,000 photographs, over another 20,000 video images, and as a result of receiving information through over 10,000 emails and 600 WhatsApp messages, Lee said.

"Anybody had been welcomed to provide information and a lot of the information that the Independent Police Complaints Council had looked at came from members of the public, different sources," he added.

Lee emphasized that the IPCC spent 10 months to compile the report. "It is a fair reflection of facts that had appeared in front of all of us in the past 10 months."

"So I urge everyone to read carefully this very lengthy report which lays out basically the facts for you to see and also all the rationality that they made use of to come to the conclusion," he added.

The secretary for security said he will establish a task force as requested by the HKSAR chief executive and will supervise the task force to follow up the 52 recommendations put forward by the report.

Lee said he will soon convene representatives of the Security Bureau and the police for the first meeting of the task force.