Human rights in Hong Kong

Human rights in Hong Kong occasionally comes under the spotlight by the international community because of its world city status. Pan-democrats claims that this can be used as a yardstick to judge whether the People's Republic of China has kept its end of the bargain of the "One Country, Two Systems" principle granted to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region by its current mini-constitution, the Basic Law, under the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

Legal basis

ino-British Joint Declaration

Under the Annex I (Section XI) of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, it stated that:

"The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government shall protect the rights and freedoms of inhabitants and other persons in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region according to law. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government shall maintain the rights and freedoms as provided for by the laws previously in force in Hong Kong, including freedom of the person, of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, to form and join trade unions, of correspondence, of travel, of movement, of strike, of demonstration, of choice of occupation, of academic research, of belief, inviolability of the home, the freedom to marry and the right to raise a family freely."

Protections under the Basic Law

The Basic Law of Hong Kong enshrined various human rights in the law, including:

Freedom of speech, of the press and of publication; freedom of association, of assembly ("Article 27"); freedom from arbitrary or unlawful arrest, detention or imprisonment ("Article 28"); freedom from arbitrary or unlawful search of, or intrusion into, a resident's home or other premises ("Article 29"); adherence to the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and international labour conventions ("Article 39")

Bill of Rights Ordinance

The Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance has codified and incorporated the provisions of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as " [http://www.legislation.gov.hk/blis_export.nsf/CurAllEngDocAgent?OpenAgent&Chapter=383 Chapter 383 Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance] " of the law in Hong Kong.

Controversies

Freedom of demonstration

Human rights groups have accused the Hong Kong Police (HKP) of using heavy-handed tactics on non-violent protesters.

In 2002, Amnesty International cited the use of excessive force in an incident at Chater Garden where more than 350 police and immigrations officers stormed a group of 200 protesters. According to them, the protesters had been peacefully staging rallies against the Court of Final Appeal ruling that the majority of 5,114 people seeking residence in the territory did not have right to stay in Hong Kong and should return to mainland China.

On 12 August 2002, a group of Falun Gong practitioners who were protesting outside the Liaison Office of Central People's Government in HKSAR were being forcibly removed from the street by Hong Kong Police with heavy-handed tactics. All were later charged with the offence of "Public Place Obstruction" as they assembled illegally since they did not obtain prior police permission to protest en masse. The Falun Gong defendants contested and appealed to the Court of Final Appeal, the highest judicial court within the territory. On 5 May 2005, all defendants in this case ("Yeung May-Wan & others v Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, FACC 19/2004") were acquitted by the Court of Final Appeal on the basis of rights granted under Article 27 of the Basic Law.

Allegations of police brutality

Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor has alleged that cases of torture and death in custody have not being properly investigated even in the face of heavy criticism by United Nations Commission on Human Rights.Fact|date=February 2007.

Independence of the police and accountability on policing

Regional police forces are not governed by a police authority consisting of elected officials and local members of public, but solely reports to the Security Bureau of HKSAR government, headed by appointed civil servants from the executive branch of government.

Complains about the police are handled by Complaints against Police Office (CAPO), which is not independent, but part of the HKP institution. The Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC) is being setup to independently review every case handled by CAPO.

While the official mission of Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC) is to "independently" review every case handled by CAPO, in fact it has no investigative powers, nor is involved in hearing appeals to CAPO rulings.

Calls for reform, from both local non-government organisations, political parties as well as the UNCHR, have been strongly opposed by the police officer trade unions.Fact|date=December 2007

Identity cards

After the riot in 1967, Royal Hong Kong Police gained a much broader stop and search power for its officers. Under the new powers, any individual who act in a suspicious manner are obliged to produce proof of his identity for inspection by police officers in any street or other public place, or on board any vessel, or in any conveyance, at any hour of the day or night. The officer is the sole determinant of whether an individual is behaving in a "suspicious manner".Fact|date=June 2007

A police officer only has to articulate an extremely low level of burden of proof that the behaviour of person being stopped was "reasonably suspicious". Also to note is that:

However, PFO is only an internal guideline within the force, not a formal legislation. Residents are required to carry a Hong Kong Identity Card and visitors need to carry their passports at all times in the territory. Failure to do so is a criminal offence.Fact|date=June 2007

Capital punishment

No capital punishment has been carried out since 1966 and it has been formally abolished for all crimes in 1993.

Special Branch

The Special Branch of Royal Hong Kong Police (RHKP), was disbanded in 1995 prior to the transfer of sovereignty. However in 2005 it has been rumoured that the government is planning to re-establish the Hong Kong Police Special Branch, as instructed by central government of PRC.Fact|date=December 2007

The potential re-establishment of Special Branch is a particularly disturbing news among Hong Kong human rights activists and pro-democracy politicians, as the Special Branch of RHKP had been involved in secretive telephone tapping and spying of politicians and NGO in the past in the name of "national" (i.e. the British colonial government) security.

National security and Article 23 of Basic Law

Hong Kong SAR has the constitutional duty of safeguarding the national security by the virtue of Article 23 of the Basic Law. However, as with national security legislation in many countries, civil libertarians fear such powers are erode fundamental freedoms any people. With the backdrop of an authoritarian sovereign state, there are fears that Article 23 is used to suppress organisations or activities which disagrees with the policies of either the Special Administrative Region or the Central Government.

References

Legal Basis - Sino-British Joint Declaration, Basic Law and the Bill of Rights Ordinance
*"Sino-British Joint Declaration: Annex I Elaboration by the Government of the People's Republic of China of its Basic Policies Regarding Hong Kong" [http://www.hkbu.edu.hk/~pchksar/JD/jd-full3.htm]
*Full-text of Basic Law "Chapter III : Fundamental Rights and Duties of the Residents" [http://www.info.gov.hk/basic_law/fulltext/content0203.htm]
*"Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance 1991" [http://www.hknet.com/Inform/billor.html]

Freedom of Demonstration
*"Amnesty International Press Release Hong Kong: Police must exercise restraint in handling protesters" [http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA190012002?open&of=ENG-HKG] 26 April 2002
*"Judgement Summary, Yeung May-Wan & others v Hong Kong Special Administrative Region", Court of Final Appeal [http://legalref.judiciary.gov.hk/doc/judg/html/vetted/other/en/2004/FACC000019_2004_files/FACC000019ES_2004.htm] 5 May 2005

Alleged and Confirmed Police Brutality
*Press release from "Hong Kong Human Right Monitor": "Statement on yet another death in police custody" [http://www.hkhrm.org.hk/english/reports/press/pr120899.html] 12 August 1999
*Press release from "Hong Kong Human Right Monitor": "Light Punishment to Harbour Violent Police Officers?" [http://www.hkhrm.org.hk/english/reports/press/pr150899.html] 15 August 1999
*Press release from "Hong Kong Human Right Monitor": "Response to the submission of the Implementation Report on United Nations Convention Against Torture by HKSAR Government" [http://www.hkhrm.org.hk/chinese/reports/press/pr310599c.html] (Chinese language version) 1999

Accountability of Hong Kong Police Force
*Legislative Councillor Mr. James TO proposed to scrap the budget of CAPO and IPCC as its lack of credibility and inability to investigate properly on behalf of complainants [http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr03-04/english/counmtg/hansard/cm0428ti-translate-e.pdf] "(Legislative Council Official Recording of Proceedings, 28 April 2004," Page 5441 (in the document), Page 121 (in the PDF file))
*"Chapter 26, Complains Against Police and Internal Investigations, Police General Orders" [http://www.info.gov.hk/police/hkp-home/english/pgo/Epgo026.pdf]
*"Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor: HK People Paying the Price for Government Obstruction of Legal Reforms of Police Powers" [http://www.hkhrm.org.hk/english/reports/police_powers.html]
*Call for reform on police complain procedures from "United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights", 1995 [http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/d77da23e9c76121d802565610053e9d9?Opendocument] "(Concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee (Hong Kong) : United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. 09/11/95.CCPR/C/79/Add.57)"

Identity Cards
*"Cap 232 s 54 "Police Force Ordinance(PFO)" [http://www.legislation.gov.hk/blis_ind.nsf/e1bf50c09a33d3dc482564840019d2f4/fc224a7ae4a327e5c8256483002878aa?OpenDocument]

Footnotes

ee also

*Human rights in the People's Republic of China

External links

Official Web Pages
* [http://www.info.gov.hk/basic_law/ Basic Law "by Hong Kong SAR government"]
* [http://www.ipcc.gov.hk/ Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC), Hong Kong SAR]

Non-Government Organisations
* [http://www.amnesty.org.hk/ Amnesty International Hong Kong]
* [http://www.hkhrm.org.hk/ Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor]
* [http://www.hkja.org.hk/ Hong Kong Journalists Association]

Information Sources
* [http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/49823/ Freedom of expression in Hong Kong]
* [http://www.hkja.org.hk/ben_act/download/2005%20Annual%20Report.pdf/ A Change of Wind: New Challenges to Freedom of Expression in Hong Kong]