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Opinion | Hong Kong’s leaders have only one way out of the protest crisis – a broad, open and inclusive dialogue with the whole community
- Hongkongers delivered a clear message through the district council elections
- While all sides must renounce the use of violence, the government must undertake confidence-building measures such as an impartial investigation into allegations of excessive use of force by the police
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Why you can trust SCMP
As United Nations high commissioner for human rights, I have been closely following the outbreak of mass protests across every region of the world this year. Demonstrators have taken to the streets for weeks on end, seeking to reclaim their economic, social, civil, political and cultural rights and pushing back against inequalities in all these spheres.
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We have witnessed inspiring peaceful, even celebratory demonstrations – and we have also witnessed the use of force by security forces as well as violence by pockets of protesters, including in my own country, Chile, and of course in Hong Kong.
My own experience as a head of state and as high commissioner for human rights demonstrates that the broadest possible dialogue is the only clear exit lane out of mass protest situations.
As I have urged governments from Lebanon to Guinea, Iran to Chile, Sudan to Bolivia, Iraq to Zimbabwe and others, serious divisions, fears, frustrations with economic, social, political and other inequalities must all be acknowledged and tackled in a process that is open and inclusive.
On November 24, Hong Kong voted in its district council elections; a record 71.2 per cent of registered electors exercised their right peacefully after months of unrest, violence and chaos.
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