(Hong Kong) - Human Rights Watch/Asia today sharply criticized China's decision to abolish and amend twenty-four Hong Kong laws. In a resolution adopted by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China targeted provisions of the Societies Ordinance, Public Order Ordinance, sections of Hong Kong's Bill of Rights, and legislation related to the 1992 electoral reforms as among those local laws which will cease to be effective when the territory reverts to Chinese sovereignty on July 1, 1997.
"Freedom of association and freedom of assembly are fundamental rights under international law," said Sidney Jones, executive director of Human Rights Watch/Asia. "China's decision to change sections of the Societies Ordinance and Public Order Ordinance, which were amended to conform with the Bill of Rights in 1992 and 1995 respectively, will restrict these basic rights after the handover. Current laws have adequately provided for the maintenance of public order even as Hong Kong people have increasingly exercised their right to gather, protest and demonstrate. Therefore, proposals to reinstate old versions of these ordinances are not only unnecessary, but they also contradict efforts to make local laws fully compatible with international human rights standards."
She also noted that the Bill of Rights was adopted in an attempt to ensure that the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) remain in force in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) after July 1, as stipulated in the two fundamental documents on the reversion, the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law, adopted in 1991. The latter will serve as the mini-constitution for the SAR. There has been strong opposition within Hong Kong to China's efforts to weaken human rights-related laws, expressed most recently in a Legislative Council motion, endorsed by both the Democratic and Liberal Parties on February 19. The motion urged the National People's Congress in Beijing not to accept the Preparatory Committee's proposals. China's decision, which was announced on February 22 at the 24th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 8th NPC, is based on Beijing's belief that China retains the right to overturn all the laws that have been changed after the 1984 Joint Declaration. Influenced largely by the 1995 recommendations of the now defunct Preliminary Working Committee and the more recent proposals of the Preparatory Committee's legal subgroup, the Standing Committee's resolution clearly targets the laws which were amended to conform with the 1991 Bill of Rights, as well as the electoral reforms introduced by Governor Chris Patten in 1992. Thus far, however, China has failed to provide any substantive explanation as to how the twenty-four laws in question violate, as repeatedly claimed by Chinese officials, Article 160 of the Basic Law. (The latter states merely that any laws discovered to be in contravention of the Basic Law shall be amended or abolished upon the establishment of the Hong Kong SAR.)
In addition to reviving draconian colonial security laws, the decision to abolish and amend current ordinances may result either in a legal vacuum or a constitutional crisis. Contrary to statements made by Tung Chee-hwa, who will become chief executive of Hong Kong on July 1, the intention to repeal or amend a law does not automatically bring back to force the former version of that law. In order for the future SAR government to avoid a legal vacuum on July 1, the day the Standing Committee's resolution will come into effect, it will have to legislate on these areas before it officially assumes authority. It is likely the provisional legislature, a body whose legality is widely questioned, will take on this responsibility and thus precipitate a legal challenge by members of the current elected Legislative Council who have already threatened to bring the group to court in the event it meets and acts on legislation before the handover date.
In light of the impact that the Standing Committee's resolution may have on basic civil liberties in Hong Kong after the handover, Human Rights Watch/Asia urges that: China provide an explanation as to how the twenty-four laws identified by the Standing Committee's resolution contravene Article 160 of the Basic Law.
The future Chief Executive, Tung Chee-hwa, reject the reinstatement of draconian security laws, and ensure that no new legislation or amendments be adopted that are more restrictive of rights than existing laws.
The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region uphold promises to conduct wide public consultations in Hong Kong before the formulation of any new legislation. Such consultations should include public debate and be as broad and representative as possible.
