Hong Kong’s police watchdog group reported a drop in complaints in the past year, despite widespread allegations of police brutality linked to the pro-democracy protest movement.

The Independent Police Complaints Council on Wednesday submitted its annual report, which said it received 1,478 “reportable complaints” between April 1, 2019 and March 31 this year — a 2.8% drop from the same period in the previous year. The IPCC cleared the police of 403 allegations, saying that officers committed no wrongdoing in those cases.

Only two police officers have been put under disciplinary review, with 78 others receiving warnings or reprimands. None faced criminal charges.

The IPCC endorsed 2,209 allegations, a 10.4% yearly decrease. Only 3.5% of the allegations were found to be fully or partially substantiated.

The watchdog group also recorded 1,686 “notifiable complaints,” nearly twice the amount from the year before. However, this category of complaints is processed by the Complaints Against Police Office — an internal department within the force — with the IPCC only receiving case summaries. The IPCC took no further action in all but six of the notifiable complaints.

The IPCC’s latest annual report showed that the Hong Kong public has lost faith in the complaints mechanism against the police, said Andrew Shum of the Civil Rights Observer.

Unlike its counterparts in the U.K. or Canada, the IPCC has no legal authority to investigate complaints on its own, Shum said. He urged the watchdog’s chairperson, Anthony Neoh, to face the issue head-on. “The public asked [Neoh] to respond because they have expectations for the IPCC,” Shum said.

Shum attributed the spike in “notifiable complaints” to public outrage over acts of police brutality shown on television during the 2019 pro-democracy protests. Since the complainants might not be those directly affected or did not wish to disclose their identities, the cases were often only classified as “notifiable” instead of the more serious “reportable” category.

Complainants do not enjoy any legal immunity, so eyewitnesses to police brutality may be afraid to lodge complaints over fears of getting arrested, Shum said.

The IPCC report included a complaint against an officer who harassed a woman who sought help from law enforcement. The officer called her repeatedly, sent multiple WhatsApp messages and even tried to get the security guards of the woman’s residence to put him in touch with her, the report said.

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