(Geneva) The UN Human Rights Committee expressed concern on Wednesday about the deterioration of the situation in Hong Kong and called on the authorities to repeal the national security law imposed by Beijing two years ago. year.
Posted yesterday at 5:19 p.m.
This committee of independent experts mandated by the UN, but which does not speak on behalf of the organization, said it was “deeply concerned about the overly broad interpretation and arbitrary application of the law”, urging the authorities Hong Kong women to “take concrete steps to repeal it and, in the meantime, refrain from applying it”.
The National Security Law was imposed by Beijing on the former British colony in 2020 to end huge and often violent pro-democracy protests.
The text criminalized subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.
Since it took effect, the opposition has been severely cracked down, and most figures who embodied democracy in Hong Kong have either fled the country, been barred from holding office or imprisoned.
In its fourth regular review of Hong Kong, the Committee lamented that the security law was enacted “without public and civil society consultation”.
The 18 experts warned that the text’s “lack of clarity” made it difficult to determine what behavior and conduct constituted a criminal offence.
He also denounced the fact that the law had made sedition an offense again for the first time in decades and pointed out that it was used to accuse academics, journalists and others for exercising “their legitimate right to freedom of speech “.
The Committee also lamented that national security matters had been transferred to Chinese jurisdiction, as well as “excessive power” granted to Hong Kong’s chief executive under the law.
This, he warned, “can effectively undermine the independence of judicial and procedural safeguards for access to justice and the right to a fair trial”.
Once the law is repealed, the Committee called for the legislative process surrounding the enactment of any new national security law to be “inclusive and transparent, facilitating free, open and meaningful participation by civil society and the public.”
A spokesman for Hong Kong’s Office of Constitutional and Mainland Affairs said authorities were “completely dismayed that the committee continues to voice unfounded criticism”.
“The National Security Act was enacted to restore the rights and freedoms that many people [Hong Kong] were unable to enjoy during the period of severe violence between June 2019 and early 2020,” he said.
The commission’s deputy chairman, Christopher Arif Bulkan, told reporters that experts were also concerned that Hong Kong “has not given explicit assurances” that civil society members who participated under the commission’s review would not be prosecuted under the law, although no such retaliation has been reported so far.
Experts have also expressed concern over the widespread use of force against protesters, saying existing guidelines do not comply with international human rights standards.
They reported the use of “rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons containing chemical irritants, against unarmed protesters, including pregnant women, bystanders and journalists, during demonstrations from July to November. 2019.”
The experts also called on Hong Kong to “take concrete measures to effectively prevent and eradicate all forms of excessive use of force by law enforcement.”