Chinese Police Is Using Excessive Force Against Anti-Covid Protestors

29-11-2022

Theresa Erna Jürgenssen

East Asia Human Rights Researcher

Global Human Rights Defence

Over the weekend anti-Covid protests broke out all over China (Yun, 2022). In response, the authorities have started taking various measures to stop and contain the demonstrations. These include inter alia the censoring of social media and news outlets (Allen, 2022), the erection of large barriers around protest sites, and the arrests of protesters (Tan et al., 2022). Police have also been reported to have called protesters and visited their homes in order to question them about their involvement in the demonstrations (Tan et al., 2022). In addition, accounts have surfaced describing the excessive use of force by various police officers (Yun, 2022).

One protester gave a detailed account to Radio Free Asia of his experience at a protest on Sunday afternoon (Yun, 2022). He stood in the middle of a crowd of around 500 protesters. Throughout the protest, police officers rushed randomly into the crowd to make indiscriminate arrests. These arrests were often violent, as the police officers have been described as grabbing protesters, hanging them upside down from their feet – blood dropping down from them – and dragging them into a nearby bus (Yun, 2022). A woman who resisted the detention was pinned to the ground by an overwhelming number of police officers and beaten by them (Yun, 2022). Additionally, the BBC has reported that one of their journalists was beaten and then detained when he was covering one of the protests (BBC, 2022). 

China’s actions - especially the arbitrary arrests of peaceful demonstrators - are in contravention of numerous human rights, such as the right to liberty, the right not to be subjected to arbitrary arrest, the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and the right to freedom of peaceful assembly. These rights are protected by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights [1] and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights [2]. 

Additionally, the actions by the police officers taken when detaining protesters are contrary to international standards for the use of force by law enforcement officials. Article 13 of the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms [3] clearly states that in the dispersal of peaceful assemblies – lawful or not – law enforcement officials must avoid the use of force and, where this is not practical, may only use force to the minimum extent necessary. Article 3 of the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials further emphasises that law enforcement officials may only use force when strictly necessary and in proportion to said necessity [4]. Moreover, Article 2 of the Code of Conduct requires law enforcement officials to respect and protect human dignity and human rights during the exercise of their duty. Not only are the authorities unlawfully arresting peaceful protesters but are clearly using excessive force in contravention of these international standards. 

Notes:

[1] The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a universal but non-legally binding instrument and not a binding treaty. The rights mentioned are guaranteed by Articles 3, 9, 19, and 20.

[2] China has not ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The rights would be protected by Articles 9, 19, and 21 ICCPR.

[3] The Basic Principles include universal and international standards, but which are not legally binding. 

[4] The Code of Conduct includes universal and international standards, but which are not legally binding.

Sources and further reading:

Allen, K. (2022, November 28). How China’s Covid protests are being silenced. BBC. Retrieved on November 29, 2022, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-63788477. 

BBC. (2022, November 28). China Covid: BBC journalist detained by police during protests. BBC. Retrieved on November 29, 2022, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-63779176. 

Tan, Y. and McGarvey, E. (2022, November 29). China Covid: Chinese protesters say police seeking them out. BBC. Retrieved on November 29, 2022, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-63785351. 

OHCHR. (n.d.). Ratification Status for China. Retrieved on November 15, 2022, from https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?CountryID=36&Lang=EN. 

Yun, W. (2022, November 28). ‘They grabbed me and hung me upside down’: interviews with anti-lockdown protesters’. Radio Free Asia. Retrieved on November 29, 2022, from https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/interviews-11282022133816.html.