Families turn to the “Civilian Tracing Chain” in search of missing Anti-ELAB movement protesters 

• Lack of trust in the police has led to crowdsourcing on social media communities when searching for missing loved ones
• Front-line photojournalists are at the start of the “Civilian Tracing Chain” as they take photos of arrested protesters on scene
• Social workers act as intermediaries between families of missing persons and lawyers who help the arrested
• Private detectives provide an alternate solution but often as a last resort

Since the start of the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill (Anti-ELAB) Movement, over 7,500 people have been arrested and many are also missing. Social media is flooded with notices for missing persons everyday. What happened to these people who vanished into thin air these past nine months? Families, photographers, social workers and others have embarked on a long journey in search of these missing persons. “We should be relying on the police to trace missing persons, but this has not functioned well in the past several months. Now, we can only rely on ourselves," said Tung, a 25-year-old social worker who takes part in the "Civilian Tracing Chain".

Civilian-led initiatives is one of the key characteristics of the Anti-ELAB movement. "Civilian Tracing Chain" was formed by civilians from all walks of life. How do they come together and how has the organisation evolved? It all begins with photographs taken at the scene of each protest.

“Bang…” On the evening of 21 March, police fired tear gas canisters in Yau San Street, Yuen Long. At the scene, PSHK (Photographic Society of Hong Kong Media) photojournalist Key was so busy filming that he had not put on a tear gas mask. He saw some 20 to 30 policemen round the corner, charge forward and subdue four protestors.

Key, standing right in front of the police line, immediately raised his camera to take pictures of those arrested. At the same time, a number of police officers holding batons, shields and pepper spray instantly cordoned off the area and told the reporters to go away. While retreating, Key kept pressing the shutter release. Out of the blue, police officers pepper-sprayed the reporters and as a result, Key’s neck and hands also got hit.

The tracing chain starts with a photo

Key started filming protest activities since November last year and he has noticed, "the police want to distance the reporters from the protesters so that we can't take pictures of them." Ignoring the sting of the pepper-spray, he immediately tore off his tear gas mask, and carefully checked each photo to see whether he was able to capture the face of the arrested person. If so, the photos will be immediately uploaded to the Telegram page of the Arrested Persons Concern Group. But he was disappointed this time. "Among the four arrestees, I only got one and it is only a side profile of the face." He blamed himself for not capturing the faces which can facilitate identifying and contacting the families of the arrested. ”Now, we need to check if anyone else has a front shot. If not, we can only upload a side profile.” This is all done to make sure the arrested “exist”.

"First of all, we must establish the existence of this person, then we can move on to the next step. If we do not have their photos or names, we lose the lead for tracing. Every picture we take is the beginning of a tracing chain.” Key sees this as a duty and responsibility of a photojournalist.

As soon as the photographer uploads a photo onto social media such as Telegram and Facebook, the netizens will take over in the relay. Seeing a missing person notice with photos, a name and time of arrest, many netizens will check to see if they know that person. Through crowd searching, family members of the arrested could be contacted promptly. "Our platform is like a Lennon wall, or a bulletin board," said Leo, administrator of the Hong Kong Missing Population Concern Group on Facebook. "There are more than 60 missing person notices on average daily, and more on demonstration days. Indeed, many will check this page and provide information on the missing persons they know."

Thanks to the collaborative efforts of the photographers and netizens, Jade, sister of an arrestee, quickly found out the news about her brother via social media. Jade recalled one night in mid-November, when she sent a message to her younger brother as usual. At first, she saw the unread single tick (on WhatsApp), and thought perhaps reception was not good at the scene of protest. It wasn't until a few hours later that a friend sent her a photo from a Telegram group of her brother having been arrested. "In the photo, my brother was bleeding from the head. I was scared that by the next day I will no longer see him alive.” Feeling tremendous anxiety, she rushed out in search for her brother, only to find herself stuck in traffic. At the same time, she also had no idea at which police station she would find her brother. 

Helpless families rely on social workers to trace the missing

"Normally, the concern group will post information about which police station the arrestees were sent, or which hospitals the injured went to during a certain period of time. That night, I kept calling. The hospitals said my brother was not there. Phone lines of the police stations were always engaged. I made more than 100 phone calls that night,” said Jade. She had a sleepless night, dialling frantically with her hands shaking non-stop. Her mind was filled with images of her brother being beaten up in a police station and she felt nauseous – all symptoms of anxiety.

When dawn broke and traffic resumed its flow, Jade hurried to the police station near her home and enquired his brother’s whereabouts. The police officer simply said "he’s not here" and tried to drive her away. She started to cry, then the police officer finally checked on the computer and told her where her brother was detained. At 9 am, about 12 hours after her brother was arrested, Jade was finally standing outside the police station where he was. She felt fortunate that her brother had been photographed. “It was evidence that he was arrested. He and some other people, who were not photographed, were arrested at the same time. The family of one of them arrived at the police station later than me, and some of the arrestees even disappeared."

"In that 48 hours, family can only wait." Jade sat and waited outside the police station, knowing she was separated from her brother by just a wall. Although she knew there was nothing she could do, she tried her best to stay close to her brother. "At least if he needs anything, I am there to provide support immediately.” There was also a group of social workers keeping her company.

Since last July, Tung, a social worker, has been providing support to the arrested. She fully understands the worries of their families. For family members arriving at the police station, they all ask same questions: "Will he be beaten up in the police station?" or ”When can he be bailed out?" or "Will he have a criminal record?"

"Unsettled feelings come from not knowing the situation," Tung said. "Not many parents have experienced the arrests of their children. I will try my best to calm them down." On 21 March, learning that some protesters were arrested, she rushed to the police station as usual and patiently explained the process to concerned family members.

Tung describes the social workers as a broker between the lawyers and the parents in the tracing chain. When a lawyer obtains any information, including a list of those arrested or those the lawyer has interviewed, the social worker will be notified. The social worker will in turn inform the families. She said that the number of cases she has referred to the lawyers has totalled more than 120, and the youngest of these arrested is only 12 years old.

Tung has helped trace missing persons before. "In the past, this happened once in a blue moon. These days, it occurs daily or weekly.” In her opinion, finding the missing has become a daily routine in Hong Kong.

Tasks of finding the missing hindered by loss of mutual trust between police and civilians 

Having missing persons reported daily is not normal. According to police data, the number of reported missing persons in Hong Kong in 2018 was 3,046 and in 2019, the number was 2,643. The number of missing cases fell by 403 cases in 2019, which seems unusual.

To solve the mystery, Missing Population Concern Groupadministrator Leo gave another set of numbers for comparison. "According to my statistics, since the founding of this public group half-a-year ago, more than 2,000 people have disappeared. Discounting those with cognitive issues such as dementia, 80-90% of these missing have been found. So, there are still 200-300 people missing. Some cases are left unsolved and some have passed away."

With such a large number of missing persons reported on social media, one wonders why there was a decrease in number as announced by the police. Tung reasoned that with increasing conflicts between the police and protesters, mutual trust between the police and the public is all but gone. Citizens have lost their confidence in the police’s ability to locate missing persons. So, the public would rather trust themselves and rely on their own efforts, resulting in a surge of search activities in the community.

Leo pointed out the many "unsuspicious" cases in the concern group. One day, the notice of a missing male was posted in the concern group. His family later contacted Leo saying that he had committed suicide at home. “His family asked me to delete the post and repeatedly emphasised that his death had nothing to do with the social movements," said Leo. The police also investigated and announced that the victim died of gas poisoning from burning charcoal. The case was deemed not suspicious.

"I have no way to investigate if these cases are suspicious or not. I understand that some people would commit suicide due to relationship issues or financial difficulties. But why do the public query these "unsuspicious” cases? It is all because of the police." Leo cited "Chan Yin Lam’s case" as an example. He cannot fathom why the drowned naked body of a champion swimmer would be deemed unsuspicious.

Private detectives give families a glimmer of hope

With the police absent in the tracing chain, some people have filled the gap by finding missing family and friends on their own. Some have resorted to spending over $20,000 to hire private detectives.

In early July, private detective King Sir had his first missing person case assignment related to the anti-ELAB movement. So far, he has handled a total of 20-30 cases including phone inquiries. "Three people were successfully found. However, there are still unsolved cases dating back to July or August.” He said finding missing persons requires skills. "Each person has his/her own unique characteristics such as body shape, tattoos, scars, etc. These details cannot be completely covered up by face masks.” Among the successful cases that were solved, one was identified by a tattoo behind the ear; and another when the target person took off the mask to eat.

"We have an agreement with some families that they will be satisfied with just a photo proving the missing person is still alive,” said King Sir, holding his hands tightly. "Sadly, this should have been the job of the police." He once asked a client why the missing person was not reported to the police. The client reluctantly answered, “how can I tell the police that I had an argument with my kids over their participation in protests and resulted in them running away from the family?” The parents are also worried that reporting to the police would instead put their children in the line of fire.

Some parents approached King Sir only after their children went missing for more than a month. "I believe they must have exhausted all means to find missing loved ones before coming to me. I gave them the last glimmer of hope." Just like throwing a lifebuoy in a vast ocean to see if it can reach a person or two.

Jade's younger brother has since returned home safely. Charges have been laid against him, but she is still grateful he is back. "My brother and I have adjacent rooms. I can hear his snoring next door. In the past, I found it annoying. But now hearing it, I feel relieved,” said Jade.

Source: Apple Daily, March 2020

https://hk.lifestyle.appledaily.com/lifestyle/20200328/RV2PVFMISKIPEGVRDMNBHLMEBQ/