Human rights in Hong Kong occasionally come under spotlight of international community because of its world city status, while it is also acting as a gauge on whether People's Republic of China has kept the promise of the "One Country, Two Systems" under the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Human rights are rights which some hold to be inalienable and belonging to all humans. ... One country, two systems (Simplified Chinese: 一国两制; Traditional Chinese: 一國兩制; pinyin: yì; guó liǎng zhì; Jyutping: jat1 gwok3 loeng5 zai3; Yale: yāt gwok leúhng jai), is an idea originally proposed by Deng Xiaoping, then Paramount Leader of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), for the unification of China. ... The Sino-British Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong ( Chinese: (Trad. ...

Legal Basis

Sino-British Joint Declaration

Under the Annex I (Section XI) of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, it stated that: The Sino-British Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong ( Chinese: (Trad. ...

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.

Basic Law

In the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, the constitutional document of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, enshired human rights as in the Chapter III : Fundamental Rights and Duties of the Residents in the law, which includes but not limited to the following articles: Cover of Index to the Basic Law The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China serves as the constitutional document of Hong Kong. ... The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China (中華人民共和國香港特別行政區), mostly referred to as Hong Kong (香港; pronunciation), is one of the two Special Administrative Regions of the Peoples Republic of China, the other being Macau. ...

''Chapter III: Fundamental Rights and Duties of the Residents of Basic Law protects the human rights in Hong Kong

Article 27 Image File history File links Download high resolution version (434x622, 43 KB)Index to Basic Law cover This image is protected by the Hong Kong interpretation of the British Crown copyright. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (434x622, 43 KB)Index to Basic Law cover This image is protected by the Hong Kong interpretation of the British Crown copyright. ...

Hong Kong residents shall have freedom of speech, of the press and of publication; freedom of association, of assembly, of procession and of demonstration; and the right and freedom to form and join trade unions, and to strike.

Article 28

The freedom of the person of Hong Kong residents shall be inviolable.

No Hong Kong resident shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful arrest, detention or imprisonment. Arbitrary or unlawful search of the body of any resident or deprivation or restriction of the freedom of the person shall be prohibited. Torture of any resident or arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of the life of any resident shall be prohibited.

Article 29

The homes and other premises of Hong Kong residents shall be inviolable. Arbitrary or unlawful search of, or intrusion into, a resident's home or other premises shall be prohibited.

Article 39

The provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and international labour conventions as applied to Hong Kong shall remain in force and shall be implemented through the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is a United Nations treaty based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, created in 1966. ... This page is a candidate to be moved to Wikisource. ...

The rights and freedoms enjoyed by Hong Kong residents shall not be restricted unless as prescribed by law. Such restrictions shall not contravene the provisions of the preceding paragraph of this Article.

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 Chapter 383 Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance of the law in Hong Kong. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is a United Nations treaty based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, created in 1966. ...

Freedom of demonstration

Suddenly large numbers of police officers, which massively outnumbered the protestors, encircle them.

Police officers employ violent hypoglossal nerve pressure technique that causes pain to peaceful protestors and remove them from the scene. All protestors were later charged for Public Place Obstruction but later acquitted by the Court of Final Appeal. Picture courtesy of renminbao.com

Article 27 of the Basic Law has stated that: Hong Kong residents shall have..... freedom of association, of assembly, of procession and of demonstration. Image File history File links Suddenly large numbers of police officers, which massively outnumbered the protestors, encircle them. ... Image File history File links Suddenly large numbers of police officers, which massively outnumbered the protestors, encircle them. ... Image File history File links This file has been listed on Wikipedia:Images and media for deletion. ... Image File history File links This file has been listed on Wikipedia:Images and media for deletion. ... The hypoglossal nerve is the twelfth cranial nerve. ... A court of final appeal is the court with the final adjudication power on the local laws in a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the Peoples Republic of China. ...

However, heavy-handed and extremely violent tactics is sometimes being used by Hong Kong Police (HKP) on peaceful protesters, who either protest against controversal local government's policy, or causing embarrassment to the central government of People's Republic of China (e.g. Falun Gong). The Hong Kong Police Force (香港警察) (from 1969 to 1997, Royal Hong Kong Police Force (皇家香港警察) is the police force of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Falun emblem. ...

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. 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 the Chinese mainland. Amnesty International (commonly known as Amnesty or AI) is an international, non-governmental organization with the stated purpose of promoting all the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international standards. ... Chater Garden (遮打花園), located in the Central District of Hong Kong, is a park directly east of the Legislative Council building. ...

On 12 August 2002, a group of Falun Gong practitioners who were protesting peacefully outside the Liaison Office of Central People's Government in HKSAR were being forcibly removed from the street by Hong Kong Police with controversal, and peceived violence, tactics. All were later charged with the offence of Public Place Obstruction but the defendents vigorous contest the case and appealed all the way to the Court of Final Appeal, the highest court of territory. On 5 May 2005 all defendants in this case (Yeung May-Wan & others v Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, FACC 19/2004) were accquited acquitted by the Court of Final Appeal on the basis of rights enshired under Article 27 of the Basic Law. Falun emblem. ... The Hong Kong Police Force (香港警察) (from 1969 to 1997, Royal Hong Kong Police Force (皇家香港警察) is the police force of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China. ... A court of final appeal is the court with the final adjudication power on the local laws in a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the Peoples Republic of China. ... A court of final appeal is the court with the final adjudication power on the local laws in a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Cover of Index to the Basic Law The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China (中華人民共和國香港特別行政區基本法; or in short 香港基本法 or 基本法) serves as the constitutional document of Hong Kong. ...

There are sayings that the HKP's suboridination to the Hong Kong SAR government is the very fact that HKP has to use forces on protestors in a bid to maintain their status or, to a lesser extent, avoid being rebuked by the government. It is also said that the use of tactics are being instructed by the highest hierarchy of government, which is politically motivated.

However, as in the judgement handed down by the Court of Final Appeal in the case Yeung May-Wan & others v Hong Kong Special Administrative Region: A court of final appeal is the court with the final adjudication power on the local laws in a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the Peoples Republic of China. ...

The freedom to demonstrate is a constitutional right. It is closely associated with the freedom of speech. These freedoms of course involve the freedom to express views which may be found to be disagreeable or even offensive to others or which may be critical of persons in authority. Those freedoms are at the heart of Hong Kong's system and the courts should give them a generous interpretation.

- Chief Justice Li, Mr Justice Chan PJ, Mr Justice Ribeiro PJ and Sir Anthony Mason NPJ

It is yet to see how would HKP handle similar case in wake of the above court ruling.

Police brutality and accountability

Although police officers from Hong Kong Police are being described by some locals as "licensed thugs" (有牌爛仔), especially in the old days, documented human right abuses committed by Hong Kong Police are mainly on the handling of peaceful demonstrations (as described in previous section), death in custodies, and its lack of accountability to the public.

Alleged and confirmed police brutality

Suspects are often complains to the use of torture or perhaps to bluff suspects with charges in order to obtain confessions. Cases on torture and death in custody, while increasing in numbers, are not being properly investigated even in face of heavy criticism by United Nations Commission on Human Rights (as claimed by the Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor). At the meanwhile violent police officers involved are let go lightly by court assisted by prosecution who intentionally charge them with the lighter offence of grievous bodily harm, instead of torture which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment under local legislation. The Iron Maiden of Nuremberg is an infamous and rarely used torture device. ... The United Nations Commission on Human Rights, a commission supervised by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, is composed of representatives from 53 member states, and meets each year in regular session in March/April for six weeks in Geneva. ... Grievous bodily harm or GBH is a type of assault resulting in, for example, broken bones or cuts to the skin. ... The Iron Maiden of Nuremberg is an infamous and rarely used torture device. ... Life imprisonment is a term used for a particular kind of sentence of imprisonment. ...

It is worth to noticed that in any circumstances torture is disallowed by the virtue of Article 28 under the Basic Law: Torture of any resident or arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of the life of any resident shall be prohibited.

Accountability of Hong Kong Police Force

Unlike their counterpart in democratic countries like United Kingdom where all regional police forces are being governed by a police authority which consists of elected local councilors and local members of public, HKP only reports to the Security Bureau of HKSAR government, headed by appointed civil servants from the executive branch of government. Members of the public cannot influence their local policing policy as the government is (practically) not required to answer to the Legistlative Council. Police authority - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... A civil servant or public servant is a civilian career public_sector employee working for a government department or agency. ... The Legislative Council (abbreviated as LegCo; Chinese: 立法會, Pinyin: Lìfǎ Huì; formerly 立法局, Lìfǎ Jú) is the unicameral legislature of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China. ...

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

However Compliants being made to CAPO are being handled casually and outcomes are mostly biased towards HKP. While the official mission of Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC) is to independently review every case handled by, in fact it only acts as a de facto rubber stamp - it has no investigative power, nor even hear appeals to CAPO rulings. The rulings of CAPO is seldom being challenged by IPCC. Rubber stamp, is a political metaphor referring to an institution that has little power and rarely disagrees with more powerful organs, though usually it formally has much greater power. ...

Calls for reform, from both local non-government organisations, political parties as well as the UNCHR, have gone into deaf ears of HKSAR government. These calls are strongly opposed by the police officer trade unions, who view civil liberty and human rights as an erosion of their power. A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an organization that is not part of a government and was not founded by states. ...

Identity cards

After the riot in 1967, Royal Hong Kong Police gained a sweeping power for its officers to stop the person for the purpose of demanding that he produce proof of his identity for inspection by the police office, when he/she finds any person in any street or other public place, or on board any vessel, or in any conveyance, at any hour of the day or night, who acts in a suspicious manner.

This power is generally considered controversial. Whether or not Suspicious manner is solely on the determination of the police officer, and members of public in blonde hair, 'suspicious' dress style, new immigrants who don't look like locals, and ethnic minorities are much more likely subject to intimidation by rogue police officers. However, in the book Criminal Procedure in Hong Kong (Published by Longman, ISBN 962-00-4013-9), the writer suggested that the police officer must be able to articulate how the person was behaving such that it could be reasonbly suspicious. Also to note is that- The International Standard Book Number, or ISBN (sometimes pronounced is-ben), is a unique identifier for books, intended to be used commercially. ...

the only things police are authorized to do by s54 PFO is to seek production of proof of identity, detain for a reasonble period while police records enquiries are bing made, and search only as appropriate. Quite litmited search powers only may be exercised under S54 PFO.

(Page 23, Criminal Procedure in Hong Kong)

Capital punishment

Unlike mainland China, no capital punishment has been carried out since 1966 and it has been formally abolished for all crimes in 1993. Use of the death penalty around the world. ...

Special Branch

The Special Branch of Royal Hong Kong Police, was disbanded in 1995 prior to the transfer of sovereignty. However in 2005 it has been rumoured that it the government is planning to re-establish the Hong Kong Police Special Branch, as instructed by central government of PRC. In 1982, the governments of the United Kingdom and the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) initiated talks regarding the sovereignty of Hong Kong, which led to the transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong. ...

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. A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an organization that is not part of a government and was not founded by states. ...

See Special Branch Special Branch is the arm of the British, Irish and many Commonwealth police forces that deals with national security matters. ...

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, which stated that: Security measures taken to protect the Houses of Parliament in London, England. ...

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the Central People's Government, or theft of state secrets, to prohibit foreign political organizations or bodies from conducting political activities in the Region, and to prohibit political organizations or bodies of the Region from establishing ties with foreign political organizations or bodies.

However it is controversial on how to implement the Article 23 in local legislation, where many suspected that Article 23 provides a backdoor for the government to introduce legislation which suppress any people, organisation or activities who oppose the policy of either the Special Administrative Region itself, or the Central Government.

See Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23 Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23 is the basis (parent statute) of a security law proposed by the Hong Kong 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 [1]
• Full-text of Basic Law Chapter III : Fundamental Rights and Duties of the Residents [2]
• Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance 1991 [3]

Freedom of Demonstration

• Amnesty International Press Release Hong Kong: Police must exercise restraint in handling protesters [4] 26 April 2002
• Judgement Summary, Yeung May-Wan & others v Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Court of Final Appeal [5] 5 May 2005

Alleged and Confirmed Police Brutality

• Press release from Hong Kong Human Right Monitor: Statement on yet another death in police custody[6] 12 August 1999
• Press release from Hong Kong Human Right Monitor: Light Punishment to Harbour Violent Police Officers?[7] 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 [8] (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 [9] (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 [10]
• Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor: HK People Paying the Price for Government Obstruction of Legal Reforms of Police Powers[11]
• Call for reform on police complain procedures from United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 1995[12]

(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)[13]

See also

• Human rights in the People's Republic of China

The situation of human rights in the Peoples Republic of China has been criticized by various sources, including other nations - particularly Western democracies - as well as international organizations, as being poor in many respects. ...

External links

Official Web Pages

• Basic Law by Hong Kong SAR government
• Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC), Hong Kong SAR

Non-Government Organisations

• Amnesty International Hong Kong
• Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor