In response to media enquiries about the publication by Amnesty International, an anti-China organisation, of its so-called research on the situation of persons in custody (PICs) in Hong Kong earlier, the Correctional Services Department today strongly condemned the content of the so-called research as fact-twisting as well as baseless.

The department pointed out that the research is intended to smear the legitimate custodial management it carried out in accordance with the law by citing different lies told by anti-China fugitives, who had breached supervision orders and had absconded from Hong Kong to engage in acts and activities endangering national security.

The department also criticised this anti-China organisation for not including in full the written response from the department earlier in its so-called research, with a view to presenting a distorted picture with ill intentions.

Amnesty International is an anti-China organisation under the guise of an organisation purportedly safeguarding human rights. In the past, Amnesty International smeared the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government through fabrication by falsely claiming that a Uyghur student had gone missing in Hong Kong and attributing the incident to the Hong Kong SAR Government.

In fact, the person concerned had never entered Hong Kong nor been denied entry into Hong Kong. This shows that it is the usual and despicable tactic of this anti-China organisation to disseminate false information to smear the Hong Kong SAR Government. The department must refute its false accusations one by one in order to set the record straight.

Contrary to the claims made by Amnesty International, the department is committed to ensuring a secure, safe, humane, decent and healthy custodial environment and providing appropriate rehabilitation programmes to PICs to help them turn a new leaf with dignity.

Its allegations of conditions prevalent within correctional institutions, such as physical violence, extremely high temperatures and poor ventilation inside the institutions in summer, solitary confinement and unsanitary conditions, are wholly unfounded.

The department takes a zero tolerance approach on physical abuse. As provided by the Prison Rules, any department officer who, without necessity, uses force in dealing with prisoners or uses undue force, violates discipline and may also be criminally liable in such circumstances.

To cope with hot weather conditions, the department has taken extensive measures, including the installation of anti-suicide safety fans and industrial fans, the progressive replacement of ventilation systems, and the installation of new gates and windows with improved ventilation efficiency. The department has also conducted trials of heat-insulating coatings on buildings and providing hand fans and cooling towels to PICs.

Regarding association arrangements, the Prison Rules empowers the department to remove a PIC from association with other PICs for purposes such as safeguarding the interests or personal safety of the PICs. Where the removal from association is initiated at the request of a PIC, the PIC may request to resume association at any time.

On sanitation and hygienic condition, daily inspection are conducted to ensure cleanliness of the correctional institutions and frequent examinations are conducted by the institutional medical officers for purposes of cleanliness and sanitation. Besides, the management of correctional institutions regularly arranges for comprehensive cleaning and disinfection of the institutions, and arranges outside contractors to carry out pest control and rodent eradication work.

The department has put in place mechanisms, including regular visits from Justices of the Peace, who inspect the prisons to ensure the rights of PICs are protected. PICs who feel aggrieved by any treatment they received could lodge a complaint through various channels within and outside the department, eg the Ombudsman.