国际特赦组织发表声明，讲述10月3日香港有争取民主的和平集会，被反对者攻击，但香港警察未有尽责保护和平集会人士，有证人指妇女被性骚扰和非礼。国际特赦组织香港分会总干事区美宝直指警方表现“可耻”。声明全文：
国际特赦组织国际新闻稿 Amnesty International Press Release
香港：警方未能保护和平示威者女性示威者遇袭
国际特赦组织指出，警方在星期五晚上的集会中，无法有效地保护数百名和平争取民主示威者，令他们受到反示威者的冲击。
星期五晚，反示威者与争取民主示威者于旺角及铜锣湾地区发生冲突，其中更有针对女示威者的性侵犯行为和性暴力的骚扰及恐吓。
“警察今晚袖手旁观是可耻的。政府当局没能保护和平示威者的人身安全实属失职。”国际特赦组织香港分会总干事区美宝说。
“上个星期以来，我们看到街上有大量警察。遗憾的是，他们今晚的失职将可能导致局势进一步失控。
国际特赦组织从第一手目击证人处获知，女性在示威场地受到攻击和恐吓，而站在一旁的警察却视若无睹。
一位在旺角的女示威者告诉国际特赦组织，下午4点左右，当她和其他示威者站在一起的时候，有一个男人伸手抓住她的胸部。她也看到同一个男人偷袭其他两个女人的腹股沟。数名警官见到这名男子的行为，却不做任何阻拦。于是其他的示威者开始采取行动，以免该男子继续攻击在场的其他女性。
直至现场气氛暴动数小时后，警察增援部队才到达。可是，警方并未尽力控制局面。警方究竟低估了反示威者的威胁，还是决定不做干预，仍是一个疑问。
政府当局有责任促进公民自由言论、和平集会权利的行使，以及保护和平示威者免于暴力攻击。
“根据国际标准，和平集会不会因一些反对集会的人的不守规矩或甚至暴力行为而变成非法集会。”
从10月3日下午开始，在集会地点的气氛变得越来越紧张，然而，警方在控制秩序时显得困难。在场的观察员表示，即使情况在数小时内已明显急速恶化，但警方并没有加派人手。
警方拘捕了数位人士，但明显对反对和平集会的人没有起到警示作用。
Hong Kong: Women and girls attacked as police fail to protect peaceful protesters
Hong Kong's police failed in their duty to protect hundreds of peaceful pro-democracy protesters from attacks by counter demonstrators on Friday evening, Amnesty International said.
Women and girls were among those targeted, including incidents of sexual assault, harassment and intimidation, as counter-demonstrators clashed with pro-democracy protesters in the Mongkok and Causeway Bay areas of Hong Kong on Friday evening.
"The police inaction tonight is shameful. The authorities have failed in their duty to protect peaceful protesters who came under attack," said Mabel Au, Director of Amnesty International Hong Kong.
"There has been a heavy police presence during the past week, but their failure tonight risks fuelling an increasingly volatile situation."
Amnesty International has first-hand witness accounts of women being physically attacked and threatened, while police stood by and did nothing.
One woman at the demonstration in Mongkok told Amnesty International how a man grabbed her breasts while she was standing with other protesters at around4pm. She also witnessed the same man assault two other women by touching their groins. Several police officers witnessed this but failed to take any action against the man. Fellow protesters then intervened to prevent the man attacking any more women.
Police reinforcements appeared only hours after the atmosphere became violent, but the police still struggled to maintain control.
It is unclear whether the police simply underestimated the risk posed by counter-demonstrators, or whether they decided not to intervene.
The authorities have an obligation to protect peaceful protesters from violent attacks. Demonstrators must be allowed to exercise their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
Under international standards, a peaceful assembly does not become illegal because some counter-demonstrators act in an unruly or even violent way.
Since the late afternoon, the situation has become increasingly tense, and police seemed to have had difficulty maintaining control. Observers reported that police forces were not sufficient for several hours, despite widespread reports of an urgently deteriorating situation.
The police have made some arrests, but this seems to have made no affect on the counter-demonstrators.
