I. “Haven’t I been nice to you?”

“I wasn’t in there because of 2019,” says Bonham Tree Aid’s volunteer, Yung (not his real name), who was arrested and imprisoned in Hong Kong. Yung was arrested earlier, in the 2014 Umbrella Movement, during a protest. However, he was not prosecuted only a year after, taking him by surprise. He was also sentenced to prison time following conviction. He had not turned 21 yet. His imprisonment predated the release of the Hong Kong film With Prisoners, which shed light on juvenile prisoners’ condition. However, the scenes of dehumanising treatment of the juvenile prisoners were playing out every day on juvenile prisoners’ bodies like Yung’s.

“At an appointment, I told the doctor I was not eating enough and often felt cold. I asked if I could get some more clothes. As a result, I was berated for a whole week until they found something new to talk about.” Juvenile prisoners under 21 are usually held at 3C, i.e. Training Centres, Detention Centres or Rehabilitation Centres. These ‘substitutes’ of actual prisons were not any more forgiving than adult prisons. On the contrary, some rules are harsher than those in adult prisons. In the centre Yung was held at, prisoners could not earn money to buy snacks to feed themselves from work or ask for extra portions at mealtimes. Therefore, these juvenile prisoners live in a state of hunger most of the time. Warm clothes for winter are also insufficient, which caused Yung to fall ill. When he first arrived at the centre he was held, he raised the issue about not having enough to eat and not being able to keep himself warm with clothes. The Correctional Services officers who escorted him to the doctor’s overheard Yung and chastised him when they returned to the centre.

“As soon as we left the visit room, the officer slapped me real hard.” It is commonplace for Correctional Services officers to speak abusively and raise a hand at juvenile prisoners. When they first arrive at 3C, the juvenile prisoners have to complete a visitors list. However, the first visit is restricted to just the prisoner’s father and mother. Whether the juvenile prisoner can be visited by loved ones other than their father and mother depend on their behaviour. Yung was raised by his grandparents and was estranged from his father. He did not want to put the names of his father or mother down. The Correctional Services officer immediately responded with a slap as a warning. When his mother came for the first visit, Yung as a rookie prisoner, unsuspectingly told her his plight in custody. After his mother left, Yung was slapped by an officer again, who also accosted him with “Haven’t I been nice to you?!” It was then Yung realised he had to speak like those Knighted public figures and regurgitate the same script of “I have been living well here. I am repenting” to Correctional Services officers, family and friends who come to visit and healthcare providers if he wanted to stay safe. In addition, Correctional Services officers often induce juvenile prisoners to trade insults with each other. Juvenile prisoners are assigned ‘tutors’ when they arrive at the centre they are held in, i.e. those who have been held in the centre for longer. These ‘tutors’ teach the rookies the rules, the marches they practice, how to shine shoes etc. During the teaching sessions, the ‘tutors’ must swear or denigrate the rookie. Failure to do so leads to the ‘tutor’ being punished.

“I have to squat when I urinate. If nothing comes out, I get shouted at.” Many might have heard about prisoners who get body-searched on arrival at prison. Actually, every time a juvenile prisoner comes back from seeing someone not within the centre, they have to be body-searched. There was no X-ray at the centre where Yung was held. For someone who often had medical appointments like Yung, he had to be strip-searched by Correctional Services upon return every time. Even if he was just receiving a visitor or attending a psychiatrist appointment within the centre, he still had to provide a urine sample to test for narcotics the following day. The Correctional Services officers alleged that in order to ensure the urine sample belonged to the juvenile prisoner in question, the juvenile prisoner had to urinate in front of them. If the juvenile prisoner failed to urinate on demand, the Correctional Services officers would castigate them. Due to such requirement, Yung would deny himself relief before he was due to give his urine sample.

“You are deprived of dignity in there.” Being punished physical and verbally for nonsensical reasons, being forced to strip naked, urinate and body-searched under watchful eyes and even being made to wash toilet bowls with bare hands, young people lose all sense of human dignity when they are sent into these prisons to be ‘rehabilitated’ or ‘educated’. The custody term in 3C is restricted. The terms range from 4 months to a few years. While the term limit is ostensibly ‘conduct’-based, nearly every juvenile prisoner is imprisoned for the maximum term. Just when Yung thought the end was near, he realised there was more in store for him….(to be continued)

Edited and illustrated by @WL.AandD

*Recently, Agnes Chow Ting, the former deputy secretary-general of the Demos Party spoke about the horrors she experienced as a prisoner in her YouTube video. This brought prisoners’ rights in Hong Kong, especially those who were imprisoned for their political beliefs, back into the spotlight. With the handing down of the National Security Law and Article 23 of the Basic Law, more and more Hong Kongers are caught in the webs of the prison system for their participation in civic life or for exercising their freedom of speech. These are our siblings, and they deserve our support and focus.

**Bonham Tree Aid distributes £380 to the families of political prisoners every month as humanitarian aid to ease their financial stress. From its establishment in October 2021, Bonham Tree Aid has distributed over £1,100.00 to assist over 200 families. There are still over 100 families on our waiting list, waiting for emergency relief.

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