(November
25, 2019) The UN’s highest official principally responsible for human rights,
High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet, should publicly denounce the Hong Kong Government
for its systematic violations of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and
freedom of expression, and condemn the unnecessary and disproportionate use of force
by police in Hong Kong.
The Hong
Kong Police Force have systematically suppressed the right to peaceful assembly
by using excessive force against individuals exercising their rights, including
beating peaceful protesters and using tear gas, pepper spray, and rubber
bullets. Police have increasingly denied permits for assemblies and marches and
arbitrarily detained individuals for “unlawful assembly.”
The
Hong Kong and Chinese Central governments have allowed police to operate with
complete impunity. No police officer has faced legal action over excessive use
of force or abuse of power in connection to the violent suppression of the
protests since the demonstrations broke out. In contrast, police have arrested almost
4,500 individuals in connection to the protests since June 9. There has been credible
evidence of torture and ill-treatment of
protestors by police in detention.
On
November 19, the Office of the High Commissioner released a press briefing which
stated incorrectly that the Hong Kong “authorities have by and large respected the exercise of
[the] right [to peaceful assembly].” The Office of the High Commissioner failed
to condemn police violence. This amounts to a denial of the extensive
documentation
from credible sources of violations of human rights in Hong Kong and ignores
concerns raised by other UN
independent experts.
According to the mandate determined by the UN General Assembly, the
High Commissioner has the responsibility to “promote and protect the effective
enjoyment by all of all human rights,” and to “play an active role in removing
the current obstacles and in meeting the challenges to the full realization of
all human rights and in preventing the continuation of human rights violations
throughout the world.”
This mandate asks that the High
Commissioner use her position to raise serious concerns about human rights
abuses everywhere in the world. By not doing so, the Office has harmed its credibility
by ignoring police brutality and the suppression of the Hong Kong people’s
largely peaceful exercise of their fundamental freedoms.
China’s Government in Beijing has increasingly
signalled that it is ultimately in charge in Hong Kong. On November 16, People’s
Liberation Army
soldiers cleared up debris and bricks, without
being invited
by the Hong Kong Government to assist, as required by the Basic Law. On
November 18, China’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom Liu Xiaoming said, “We
[the Central Government] have enough resolution and power to end the unrest.” Holding the China-controlled Hong
Kong Government accountable for its human rights abuses is a key test if the UN
can resist interference in the UN human rights system by an
increasingly powerful China.
Beginning in June, millions of people
in Hong Kong have publicly demonstrated against an extradition bill to Mainland
China that would have undermined
the separate freedoms
that are enshrined in law in Hong Kong. The police have repeatedly responded to these peaceful protests with excessive
force, and the
protests have since morphed into a movement denouncing police violence and
demanding full democratic rights for the people of Hong Kong. Police
inaction in the face
of attacks on protesters, journalists and bystanders at the Yuen Long MTR Station
on July 21 represented a clear failure to protect the rights to life and
security of persons. Journalists trying to cover the protests
have faced violence, intimidation, and threats from police,
including an incident in which police shot an
Indonesian journalist in the face with a rubber bullet while she covered the
protests, permanently blinding her in one eye. Medics and social workers
providing assistance to arrestees and injured individuals have also faced
police obstruction.
The political situation in Hong Kong
has deteriorated since October. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam used
colonial-era emergency
powers to ban
face-masks at assemblies (which was later ruled
unconstitutional)
and police have used live ammunition to shoot three young protesters. The death
of 22-year-old student
Chow Tsz-lok (周梓樂)
on November 8 after being injured close to a police operation sparked the most
recent outbreak of violence; the campuses of Chinese
University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and Polytechnic
University
have been turned into battlefields. While certain protestors have used
violence, including petrol bombs, bricks and arrows, the Hong Kong Police
Force’s response has been severe and disproportionate. Hong Kong police must
distinguish violent elements from peaceful protestors and restrict the use of
force to the minimum extent necessary, in accordance with the UN Basic Principles on the
Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials.
On June 28, four UN independent
human rights experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council sent a communication to the Chinese Government raising
concern over allegations of excessive use of force by Hong Kong police on June
12 against “overwhelmingly peaceful” demonstrators. These same four experts
then issued a public
statement on September 12
stating, “We are seriously concerned
by credible reports of repeated instances where the authorities failed to
ensure a safe environment for individuals to engage in public protest free from
violence or interference.” We are disappointed that this language does not
appear in the Office of the High Commissioner’s November 19 press statement.
On
August 13, the High Commissioner’s spokesperson said the Office has “credible evidence” of law
enforcement officials using some anti-riot measures which are “prohibited by
international norms and standards” and urged the Hong Kong authorities to “act
with restraint.” The failure of Hong Kong authorities to heed this call from
the High Commissioner’s office should have been raised in the latest press
statement. Instead, the statement lacks a sense
of proportion between the violent actions of small groups of protesters and the
systematic use of unnecessary and disproportionate force by police against
unarmed protesters.
The
High Commissioner herself called on the Hong Kong Government to immediately
carry out an “effective, prompt, independent and impartial investigation” into
violence during a press conference on October 5. Hong
Kong has no independent mechanism to
investigate excessive use of force by authorities, as the Independent Police
Complaints Council (IPCC)’s expert advisers themselves
re-confirmed recently. The IPCC does not have investigatory powers such as
subpoenaing documents and summoning witnesses. The Human Rights Committee,
which monitors the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, raised concern
over the lack of independence of the IPCC to the Hong Kong Government in 2013.
The High
Commissioner for Human Rights must call on Hong Kong authorities to take
concrete steps to de-escalate tensions and reduce violence on both sides - police
and protesters. As a minimum first step, Hong Kong authorities must establish an
independent commission of inquiry into excessive use of police force, bringing to
justice any law enforcement official responsible for unlawful use of force, as
well as their superior officers. Any response to allegations of violent attacks
on police must be handled through a fair judicial process. Those detained
solely for exercising their rights to peaceful assembly and free expression
should be unconditionally released and charges against them should be
immediately dropped.
This
statement is endorsed by:
Amnesty
International
Article
19
Australia
Tibet Council
Child
Rights International Network (CRIN)
Chinese
Human Rights Defenders (CHRD)
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
Covenants
Watch Taiwan
CSW
(Christian Solidarity Worldwide)
Free
Tibet
Geneva
for Human Rights
International
Campaign for Tibet
International
Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR)
International
Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
International
Tibet Network Secretariat
International Women's Rights Action
Watch Asia Pacific
Safeguard
Defenders
Students
for a Free Tibet
Taiwan
Association for Human Rights
Tibet
Action Institute
Tibet Justice Center
World
Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
World
Uyghur Congress
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