Hong Kong News

Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Thursday, Jun 01, 2023

Hong Kong slams UN body over accusations national security law weakened judiciary

Hong Kong slams UN body over accusations national security law weakened judiciary

City authorities express ‘strong objection’ to report by UN body overseeing implementation of multilateral treaty on economic, social and cultural rights.

The Hong Kong government has hit back at a United Nations committee over accusations the Beijing-imposed national security law has abolished the city’s judicial independence, describing the remarks as “distorted narratives” and “unfounded”.

City authorities expressed a “strong objection” to a report released on Monday by the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, issuing a statement at around midnight.

“The committee selectively believed, and made sweeping statements based on certain false information and distorted narratives regardless of the truth, and made one-sided and flawed comments on the human rights situation in Hong Kong in the so-called concluding observations,” the government said.

In the document, the UN committee said it was concerned about reports that the city’s national security law had “de facto abolished” Hong Kong’s judicial independence. The Beijing-decreed legislation, which took effect on June 30, 2020, outlaws acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.

The UN body is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, a multilateral treaty that China has said applies to the city, and features a panel of 18 independent experts.

According to the Hong Kong government, Permanent Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Gracie Foo Siu-wai had earlier led a 10-person team, as part of a wider national delegation, to attend meetings in Geneva, Switzerland, and answer the committee’s questions.

“The [Hong Kong] government strongly deplores and resolutely rejects the concluding observations … which insisted on making inaccurate, biased and misleading statements on various aspects of the situation in Hong Kong,” it added.

The statement on Monday came a day after a Chinese state leader told Hong Kong delegates at the country’s annual meetings of the top legislature and political advisory body to safeguard national security and development interests by countering negative portrayals of the city and wider nation by the West.

The UN body also called for city authorities to abolish a hotline used to report suspected violations of the national security law.


The UN committee also raised concerns over reports of arrests, detentions and trials of community leaders, journalists and human rights defenders, especially individuals linked to Hong Kong’s anti-government protests in 2019.

In Monday’s document, the international body called for local authorities to review the national security law and abolish a hotline used to report suspected violations of the legislation.

“The committee urges the Hong Kong [Special Administrative Region], China to cooperate with the state party to review the law … to ensure the full independence of the judiciary and to ensure that national security legislation is not arbitrarily used to interfere with it,” the report said.

“The committee is particularly concerned about reports of a lack of transparency regarding [the arrestees’] detentions and trials, and the lack of access to lawyers during the proceedings … the national security hotline is used extensively and might have detrimental effects on the work and expression of civil society.”

But a government spokesman dismissed the committee’s suggestions, saying the UN committee had turned a blind eye to the fundamental rights and freedoms provided to Hong Kong residents.

“The recommendations of the committee to review the national security law on various aspects are not only totally unfounded but also utterly perplexing,” he said.

The spokesman also pointed to Article 4 of Hong Kong’s Basic Law, saying it clearly stipulated that human rights should be respected and protected in accordance with the law, while the rights and freedoms enjoyed by residents under the mini-constitution and international covenants must also be preserved.

“We also strongly object to the committee’s groundless smearing of the law enforcement actions taken by the Hong Kong government during the 2019 serious violence,” he said.

“All law enforcement actions taken by Hong Kong law enforcement agencies are based on evidence and strictly in accordance with the law in respect of the acts of the persons or entities concerned, and have nothing to do with their political stance, background or occupation.”

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Hong Kong News
Close
0:00
0:00
America's Got Talent…
Elon Musk has been showered with praise by the Chinese public during his trip to China
Nvidia Joins Tech Giants as First Chipmaker to Reach $1 Trillion Valuation
Drone Attack on Moscow's Wealthiest Neighborhoods Suspected to be Launched by Ukraine
Elon Musk Meets Chinese Finance Minister in Beijing
AI ‘extinction’ should be same priority as nuclear war – experts
Chinese fighter jet buzzes U.S. Air Force spy plane over South China Sea
Prominent Hacker Forum RaidForums Suffers Substantial Data Breach
Nvidia CEO Huang says firms, individuals without AI expertise will be left behind
WPP Revolutionizes Advertising with NVIDIA's AI Powerhouse
Two US Employees Fired For Chasing Robbers Out Of Store As They Broke ''Company Policy''
Pfizer, the EU, and disappearing ink - Smoke, Mirrors, and the Billion-Dose Pfizer Vaccine Deal: EU's 'Open Secret
The Sussexes' Royal Rebound: Could Harry and Meghan Markle Return to the UK?
A provocative study suggests: Left-Wing Extremism and its Unsettling Connection to Psychopathy and Narcissism
Neuralink Receives FDA Approval for First-in-Human Clinical Study
Ukrainian Intelligence Official Admits to Assassination Attempts on Putin
WATCH THIS: democracy in Russia is so bad!
Ed Davey: It is possible for a woman to have a penis
Bernard Arnault Loses $11.2 Billion in One Day as Investors Fear Slowdown in US Growth Will Reduce Demand for Luxury Products
Russian’s Wagner Group leader: “I am not a chef, I am a butcher. Russia is in danger of a revolution like in 1917.”
TikTok Sues Montana Over Law Banning the App
Ron DeSantis Jumps Into 2024 Presidential Race, Setting Up Showdown With Trump
Steve Jobs introducing Apple's iPhone, exactly 16 years ago.
Banking Behemoth vs Ex-Boss: The PMorgan-Epstein Entanglement
China overtakes Japan as world's top car exporter
Talks between US House Republicans and President Biden's Democratic administration on raising the federal government's $31.4tn debt ceiling have paused
Biden Administration Eyeing High-Profile Visits to China: The Biden Administration is heating things up by looking into setting up a series of top-level visits to Beijing by top officials in the coming months
New evidence in special counsel probe may undercut Trump’s claim documents he took were automatically declassified
A French court of appeals confirmed former President Nicolas Sarkozy's three-year jail term for corruption and influence peddling
Debt Ceiling Crises Have Unleashed Political Chaos
Weibao Wang, a former software engineer at Apple, was charged with stealing trade secrets related to autonomous systems, including self-driving cars
Mobile phone giant Vodafone to cut 11,000 jobs globally over three years as new boss says its performance not good enough
Elon Musk compares George Soros to Magneto, the supervillain from the Marvel Comics series.
Warren Buffett Sells TSMC Shares Over Concerns About Taiwan's Stability
New Study Finds That Secondary Bacterial Pneumonia Is a Major Cause of Death in COVID-19 Patients Who Require Ventilator Assistance
The official tapes of Trump's deposition in the E. Jean Carroll battery (rape) and defamation case have been released.
King Charles III being crowned.
Newly released video of Donald Trump’s rape trial deposition:
Video: Ukraine MP Punches Russian Representative At Global Meet
El Paso mayor has declared a state of emergency
Russia accused Ukraine of attacking the Kremlin with drones in an attempt to kill Putin
Dutch court orders man who fathered 550 kids to stop donating sperm
Kim Kardashian Lookalike Christina Ashten Dies Of Cardiac Arrest, Hours After Plastic Surgery
Samsung has banned employees from using generative AI services such as ChatGPT
'Godfather Of AI' Geoffrey Hinton Quits Google To Warn Of The Tech's Dangers
A Real woman
Vermont Man Charged with Stalking After Secretly Tracking Woman with Apple AirTag
Elon Musk Statements About Tesla Autopilot Could Be 'Deepfakes,' Lawyers Claim. Judge Evette Pennypacker Does Not Understand How Far and Advanced This Technology Became
Ukraine More Prepared for Counterattack as Reinforcements Arrive
Tucker Carlson is back, soon!
×