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In response to media enquiries, a Government spokesman said today (June 7) that the coroner had decided to hold a death inquest into the incident where a Nepalese male was shot in March this year, with the date for the inquest to be fixed.
Under the Police Force Ordinance, the Police have a duty to take lawful measures to assist coroners to discharge their duties. The Coroners Ordinance also provides for the Police to assist coroners to carry out investigation. The Police investigated the case in accordance with the law and submitted a detailed report to the coroner on May 29,2009.
The coroner is an independent statutory authority entrusted with the function to investigate deaths such as this case. In accordance with the law, unless the coroner directs otherwise, an inquest will be held in open court. The coroner will also decide whether to hold an inquest with a jury. These arrangements allow public access to the result of the investigation and the detailed consideration of the coroner¡¯s court in arriving at its conclusion.
On the suggestion that the Government should set up an independent commission of inquiry, the spokesman said the statutory requirements and the established practice for handling cases of this nature provide assurance to the public that the coroner is capable of exercising his powers and functions independently and impartially. The Administration considers it appropriate for this case to be handled in accordance with the Coroners Ordinance.
The Police attach importance to protecting the interests of ethnic minorities. All police officers are trained and required to be fair and impartial in carrying out their duties and in dealing with all members of the community, irrespective of their ethnic or social background. Foundation training for new recruits and on-the-job training also include training on human rights and racial equality.
In accordance with internal guidelines and as the need arises, the Force provides interpretation service to arrestees belonging to the ethnic minorities during the investigation process and the detention period. To facilitate necessary communication between police officers and individuals belonging to the ethnic minorities not conversant with the English / Chinese language, a variety of commonly used police forms and publications have been translated into different ethnic minority languages.
The spokesman said the Police have striven to developing a constructive relationship with the ethnic minority communities in Hong Kong.
Over the years, the Force has adopted various measures to further enhance communication with the ethnic minorities. These include establishing and maintaining liaison with local ethnic minority groups through visits and personal contacts by Police Community Relations Officers at District level, offering language courses to police officers working in Districts with a high concentration of ethnic minorities population, establishing contact points with various ethnic minority media channels for timely dissemination of information, facilitating police volunteer work to assist the ethnic minority communities, and assisting ethnic minority youths to better understand their civic responsibilities and the work of the Force by engaging them in the Junior Police Call programme.
In April 2006, the Force established a Working Group on Non-ethnic Chinese to review the current policing strategy relevant to the ethnic minority communities, and to explore means to further enhance the dialogue with the ethnic minority communities. Various suggestions put forward by the Working Group are now implemented in the Force.
Ends/Sunday, June 7, 2009
Issued at HKT 19:07
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