Nathan Law and 19 UK Parliamentarians call on the UK Foreign Secretary to impose Magnitsky Sanctions on Hong Kong and Chinese officials

Nathan Law, a former Hong Kong legislator and pro-democracy activist, has written today to the British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab welcoming the steps he has taken in response to the crisis in Hong Kong so far, and calling for the imposition of targeted Magnitsky sanctions on Chief Executive Carrie Lam and other Hong Kong and Chinese government officials.

His letter is supported by a cross-party group of 19 British Parliamentarians, including the former Conservative Party Leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Labour Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael, and the former Green Party leader Baroness Bennett.

In his letter Nathan Law said: “As a party to the legally binding Sino British Joint Declaration, the United Kingdom holds a unique position in advocating for Hong Kong. I earnestly hope that the UK government would take the important step to sanction Ms Carrie Lam and other officials involved, so to send a clear signal –– not just to Beijing, but also to other countries in the free world that we ought to stand firm against an oppressive regime which disrespects both their citizens’ rights and the international norms.  Please safeguard our shared belief in freedom and human rights as well as the pursuit of democracy in Hong Kong. Please stand with Hong Kong.”

The Parliamentarians, from the House of Commons and House of Lords, say in their letter to the Foreign Secretary: “We stand with Nathan in this appeal, and hope that you will too and that the United Kingdom will apply targeted sanctions to individuals responsible for the dramatic erosion of Hong Kong’s freedoms, autonomy and the rule of law. We also urge you to apply such sanctions to officials responsible for atrocity crimes against the Uyghurs and others in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) as well.”

Nathan Law said today: “I am very grateful to the Parliamentarians for their support, and to Hong Kong Watch for their work in helping to advocate for Magnitsky sanctions. I hope the British government will act soon.”

Benedict Rogers, co-founder and Chair of Hong Kong Watch, said: “We strongly support Nathan Law in advocating for targeted Magnitsky sanctions against Hong Kong and Chinese government officials responsible for serious human rights violations and for grave breaches of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, and we warmly welcome the support of senior Parliamentarians from all parties in this regard.”

The full text of both letters is available below

Letter from Nathan Law to the Foreign Secretary

Dear Foreign Secretary,

As an activist advocating for Hong Kong’s autonomy and its citizens’ freedom and human rights, I was encouraged by the United Kingdom’s support such as creating an immigration route for Hong Kong BN(O) citizens, suspending the extradition treaty with Hong Kong, and the joint statement on the erosion of rights in my home city.

With Hong Kong SAR government’s recent actions, such as raiding the newsroom of Apple Daily and arresting activists based on the vaguely defined and far-reaching National Security Law, there has never been a more urgent time to act to protect Hong Kong’s freedom as guaranteed by the Sino British Joint Declaration. Considering the rapid deterioration of Hong Kong, I urge the UK government to respond sternly through sanctioning Ms Carrie Lam, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, and other officials who are responsible for the erosion of the city’s liberty through the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020.

As pinpointed by the US Treasury’s sanctions against 11 individuals for undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy on 7th August 2020, Ms Lam is directly responsible for implementing Beijing’s policies to suppress Hong Kong’s freedom in the ongoing protests. Since the onset of the anti-extradition movement in 2019, ample evidence of police brutality–––including the use of disproportionate force against peaceful protesters, arresting first aiders and prohibiting their access to the injured, and even exercising extrajudicial punishment of arrestees in the form of physical assaults and threats of sexual assaults–––has been collated by international media outlets and the citizens. Instead of reviewing the evidence, Ms Lam and other government officials have wilfully ignored and even condoned the gross human rights violations by the police, effectively granting them impunity in their unlawful treatment of the protesters.

This has resulted in an ongoing abuse of power that led to over 9,000 arrests, some of which were made after shooting unarmed protesters with live rounds while some others were followed by bone-shattering beating on top of denial of rights during detention. Non-protesters working at the scene, such as journalists and first aiders, were also subject to bodily harm up to loss of eyesight at the hands of the police who shot rubber bullets at their heads.

In 2020, Ms Lam helped develop and adopt the National Security Law, which not only severely undermines the city’s judicial independence but also enables transfer of arrestees to mainland China where detainees are typically deprived of their rights and often subject to state violence. Her government has also disproportionately postponed the Legislative Council election and disqualified 12 pro-democracy candidates from running in the election.

By condoning state violence and actively undermining the election in Hong Kong, Ms Lam and other government officials bear a striking resemblance to the Lukashenko government in Belarus in how they abuse their respective protesters and how they deny their citizens the rights to vote. I am heartened to see that you have already promised to work with international partners to sanction those responsible in Belarus within days of the appalling human rights violation. I beseech you to do the same for Hong Kong and show that the United Kingdom would be consistent in its willingness to defend human rights regardless of geographies. 

Throughout the protests and the recent National Security Law legislation, Ms Lam has continuously demonstrated gross negligence of human rights violation by law enforcement and her willingness to turn a blind eye to the fate of those who would be transferred to mainland China for National Security trials. This is why I believe the recently legislated Magnitsky-style Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020, which provides the legal ground for sanctioning individuals who have committed gross human rights violation, would be apt for Ms Carrie Lam and other officials who have been involved in the ill treatment of Hong Kong protesters and the continuous dismantling of the city’s rights, freedom, and autonomy.

I do not take pleasure in calling for these sanctions against my own government. Yet, there exists no more checks and balances within the Hong Kong government that could safeguard the citizens’ rights to voice their dissent without fear of reprisal. If the international society does not act, Beijing would be free to accomplish any political persecution they desire in Hong Kong. Such persecution will only aggravate unless it is responded not only with condemnation but actions to deter Beijing from further encroaching on Hong Kong citizens’ rights and freedom.

As a party to the legally binding Sino British Joint Declaration, the United Kingdom holds a unique position in advocating for Hong Kong. I earnestly hope that the UK government would take the important step to sanction Ms Carrie Lam and other officials involved, so to send a clear signal –– not just to Beijing, but also to other countries in the free world that we ought to stand firm against an oppressive regime which disrespects both their citizens’ rights and the international norms.

Please safeguard our shared belief in freedom and human rights as well as the pursuit of democracy in Hong Kong. Please stand with Hong Kong.

Yours faithfully,

Nathan Law

Letter to the Foreign Secretary from UK Parliamentarians

Dear Foreign Secretary,

In light of events in Hong Kong last week, including the arrests of nine activists and a raid by 200 police officers of Apple Daily newsroom, we are writing in support of a recent letter to you by Nathan Law, the highest profile activist to leave Hong Kong since the national security law was imposed on 1 July, in which he appeals to you to apply the United Kingdom’s new Magnitsky sanctions to Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam and other senior officials responsible for violations of human rights and flagrant breaches of the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

We warmly welcome the steps you have taken so far, including the generous offer to British National Overseas (BNO) passport holders, the suspension of the United Kingdom’s extradition arrangements with Hong Kong and your recent statements on behalf of the government and those issued jointly with your counterparts from like-minded countries.

Now, only a little over six weeks since the national security law was imposed on Hong Kong, the situation is rapidly deteriorating, with grave implications for fundamental rights and freedoms in Hong Kong. Those arrested last week, including the entrepreneur Jimmy Lai, the young activist Agnes Chow and the freelance journalist Wilson Li (who worked for ITN), potentially face very severe prison sentences if convicted under this draconian new law.

In his appeal to you, Nathan Law writes: “I do not take pleasure in calling for these sanctions against my own government. Yet, there exists no more checks and balances within the Hong Kong government that could safeguard the citizens’ rights to voice their dissent without fear of reprisal. …. As a party to the legally binding Sino-British Joint Declaration, the United Kingdom holds a unique position in advocating for Hong Kong. I earnestly hope that the UK government would take the important step to sanction Ms Carrie Lam and other officials involved, so to send a clear signal –– not just to Beijing, but also to other countries in the free world that we ought to stand firm against an oppressive regime which disrespects both their citizens’ rights and the international norms. Please safeguard our shared belief in freedom and human rights as well as the pursuit of democracy in Hong Kong. Please stand with Hong Kong.”

We stand with Nathan in this appeal, and hope that you will too and that the United Kingdom will apply targeted sanctions to individuals responsible for the dramatic erosion of Hong Kong’s freedoms, autonomy and the rule of law. We also urge you to apply such sanctions to officials responsible for atrocity crimes against the Uyghurs and others in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) as well.

Yours sincerely,

The Rt Hon Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP

Co-Chair, Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC)

Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws QC

Co-Chair, Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC)

The Rt Hon Alistair Carmichael MP

Chair, All Party Parliamentary Group on Hong Kong

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

Co-Chair, All Party Parliamentary Group on Hong Kong

The Rt Hon Lord Adonis

Lord Alton of Liverpool

Chris Bryant MP

Judith Cummins MP

The Rt Hon David Davis MP

Peter Dowd MP

Tim Loughton MP

Stuart M McDonald MP

The Rt Hon John McDonnell MP

Kate Osamor MP

Andrew Rosindell MP

Andrew Selous MP

Virendra Sharma MP

Alyn Smith MP

Lord Shinkwin