51 UN Special Rapporteurs, Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights call for UN Mechanism on Hong Kong
51 UN SPECIAL RAPPORTEURS, FORMER UN HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND 8 FORMER UN RAPPORTEURS CALL FOR UN MECHANISM ON HONG KONG
Hong Kong Watch welcomes the statement today by 51 United Nations Special Rapporteurs, calling for the establishment of a UN special mechanism for Hong Kong, as well as a statement released yesterday, signed by the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein and eight former UN Special Rapporteurs, calling for the United Nations to establish a new UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in Hong Kong and for the UN Secretary-General to appoint a Special Envoy for Hong Kong, in view of the imminent imposition of the new national security law in Hong Kong.
Today over 50 UN Special Rapporteurs, including on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions (Agnes Callamard), freedom of expression (David Kaye), human rights defenders (Mary Lawlor), the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism (Fionnuala D. Ni Aolain), freedom of religion or belief (Ahmed Shaheed), peaceful assembly and association (Clement Nyaletossi Voule), independence of judges and lawyers (Diego Garcia-Sayan), torture (Nils Melzer) and members of several UN working groups, called for a special session of the UN Human Rights Council to evaluate human rights in China including Hong Kong. They called on the UN “to act with a sense of urgency to take all appropriate measures to monitor Chinese human rights practices” and recommended “the establishment of an impartial and independent UN mechanism”, such as a UN Special Rapporteur, a Panel of Experts or a Special Envoy appointed by the Secretary-General.
This follows a statement released yesterday, signed by former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al-Hussein and the former UN Special Rapporteurs on human rights and counter-terrorism (Ben Emmerson QC), torture (Juan Mendez), freedom of religion or belief (Heiner Bielefeldt), extreme poverty and human rights (Philip Alston) and violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (Vitit Muntarbhorn), as well as by Marzuki Darusman, former UN Special Rapporteur on North Korea and former Chair of the UN Independent International Fact-finding Mission on Myanmar, Miklos Harazti, former UN Special Rapporteur on Belarus and former OSCE representative on freedom of the media, and Yanghee Lee, former UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar and former Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
They express "grave concern about the immediate threats to human rights" from the imminent implementation of the new national security law, which they describe as "a flagrant breach" of the UN-registered Sino-British Joint Declaration. They argue that "it is imperative" that the UN and member states should act urgently to establish a mechanism for monitoring and reporting on the human rights situation in Hong Kong.
Their statement follows the release on Wednesday of an official communication to the People’s Republic of China by seven current serving UN Special Rapporteurs whose mandates include the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and association, human rights defenders and the Vice-Chair of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, who "express serious concern" that the new National Security Law fails to "comply with international human rights law, in particular the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights."
These initiatives build on calls first made by the last Governor of Hong Kong Lord Patten, the Director of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, Lord Alton of Liverpool and the chief prosecutor of Slobodan Milosevic Sir Geoffrey Nice QC almost a month ago, and by the chairs of the parliamentary foreign affairs committees in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand earlier this month.
Hong Kong Watch’s co-founder and Chair Benedict Rogers, commenting on these developments said:
“It is clear that momentum is building behind the idea of a UN mechanism to monitor the deteriorating grave situation in Hong Kong, which Hong Kong Watch first proposed a month ago. We warmly welcome the efforts of so many serving UN Special Rapporteurs, as well as the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and eight former rapporteurs, to turn this proposal into a tangible reality, and we call on the UN Secretary-General, the UN Human Rights Council and all relevant mechanisms of the UN to give urgent attention to these recommendations and to act swiftly to defend human rights in Hong Kong.”
UN Press release here: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26006&LangID=E