UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd November, 2019) United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hopes that the situation in the besieged Polytechnic University (PolyU) in Hong Kong will be settled in a peaceful manner and the sides will engage in dialogue, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a press briefing on Thursday.
"As for the situation around the university in Hong Kong, we very much hope that it will end peacefully and without violence, and we would encourage dialogue," Dujarric told reporters.
A violent standoff that began on Sunday and carried through to Monday unfolded when, following violent clashes, police closed all of the university's exits, trapping hundreds of student protesters inside. The demonstrators then began hurling petrol bombs, bamboo poles and bricks, and even shooting arrows at the police. In response, the police used tear gas and water cannons. About 600 activists have surrendered, while another 100 remain on the university's campus.
The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Tuesday that it was concerned over some Hong Kong demonstrators' use of extreme violence against police.
The massive protests began in Hong Kong in early June over a controversial extradition bill, which was officially withdrawn in October. During the first two weeks of largely peaceful protests, as many as two million people poured into the streets of Hong Kong in support of the movement, which expanded its demands to include an independent investigation into alleged police brutality and greater civil liberties like universal suffrage.
