GUARD ATTACKED ME, SAYS TEENAGE INMATE

Police are looking into a claim a teenage prisoner was assaulted after he
refused to disclose whether his cell mates were taking drugs. Chan Chi-lung,
18, said an officer beat him, kicked him for 10 minutes and then forced him
to crouch and sat on his back.

Chan, a secondary four dropout and drug user, said the assault took place in
Pik Uk Prison, Sai Kung, where he was on remand pending sentencing after
pleading guilty to stealing methadone from a Tuen Mun government clinic.

He was in the prison between March 27 and April 17 and said the attack took
place on April 4. "I cannot remember the full name of the officer, but
everybody calls him 'Killer'," he said.

"While I was still in jail, I dared not say anything because it might have
earned me more beatings. Now I'm speaking out because I think that was very
unfair and inhumane. Beating is just commonplace in jail."

Chan said that on the afternoon of April 4, he was taken to an empty room by
the officer for an investigation into suspected drug users.

He said he was beaten when he refused to sign a statement testifying against
his cellmates.

To avoid a further beating, he signed the statement, which also included a
confession of taking drugs. "Some of my cellmates took drugs, but I didn't.
But then there's no way I could refuse signing the statement," he said.

He alleged the same officer kicked his thigh for more than 10 minutes and
sat on his back, smoking a cigarette.

Chan is now on two-years' probation and taking part in a voluntary drug
abstention programme run by the Christian Zheng Sheng Association on Lantau.

His probation officer and family learned of the alleged attack after the
association's social workers discovered his injuries. They reported the case
to police last Thursday and it is now under investigation.

Zheng Sheng principal Chan Siu-cheuk said Chan's alleged beating was the
"tip of the iceberg". "The problem lies with a small group of black sheep,
although the majority of prison guards are well behaved," the principal
said.

Fighting back tears, Chan's father, Chan Lap-chi, 58, said he wanted
justice. "He's just a kid. Under no circumstances should they beat him like
that. This is not what a prison is supposed to offer," he said.

Hong Kong Human Rights Commission chairman Ho Hei-wah said video recorders
should be installed in prisons. "When prisoners think it's useless to
complain and that complaining may bring about more troubles, they will
simply stand for all this," he said.

Chairman of the Correctional Services Officers' Association Wong Wai-hung
denied abuse was common among guards, but did not rule out isolated cases.

A Correctional Services Department spokesman said he could not comment.