
Stop HK government and police on the use of chemical weapons on citizens

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The ongoing unrest has entered its sixth month in Hong Kong, where students and protesters have taken to the streets to voice their demands. Widespread use of tear gas has been deployed by the Hong Kong Police Force as a tactic of riot control.
The legality of using tear gas depends on a few conditions including whether protesters are able to get away from the smoke, and whether it is an outdoor condition where the gas could evaporate. These conditions are often not met when the Hong Kong police fire tear gas canisters into narrow and cordoned-off streets, let alone indoor. During the period between June 12 and Nov 13, 9,362 tear gas canisters were fired, including roughly 2,000 at a university campus on a single night.
While legal enforcement activities with purposes such as domestic riot control are not prohibited under Article II of the Chemical Weapons Convention, the purpose of the Hong Kong police is questionable based on the sheer amount of tear gas used, amongst other riot control agent. The residual suspended particles and the level of dioxin also post danger to the general public of Hong Kong especially in densely populated areas.
Recently, large amount of birds were found dead at the university after showered by tear gas; a reporter was diagnosed of chloracne. Nonetheless, the spokesperson of Hong Kong police and Sophie Chan, the Secretary for Food and Health, have repeatedly denied any lasting harmful effect to humans, when ample academic research and resources suggest otherwise. What is also alarming is the display of their lack of knowledge of the chemical properties of tear gas, especially when it is used lavishly. The publication of official statistics of chemicals in question has been halted altogether.
In the absence of any independent oversight body of the Hong Kong Police Force, this petition calls on international bodies, in particular the UN, WHO and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which boasts expertise in the subject, to opine on and scrutinize whether the use of tear gas by the Hong Kong Police Force would be:
1) Excessive;
2) Causing lasting damage to the general public of Hong Kong.
Related press coverage:
The Hong Kong government must come clean about tear gas
Hong Kong health chief says no evidence tear gas poses public health risks
Fires on the streets, not tear gas, to blame for dioxins in Hong Kong air, environment minister says
The Latest: Tear Gas Drives Back Protesters Trying to Leave
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