On 6 March 2023, The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (“Committee”) issued the concluding observations (“CO”) on Hong Kong’s implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (“ICESCR”). The Committee’s observations are strong and clear, including concerns about reports that that the National Security Law (“NSL”) has de facto abolished the independence of the judiciary, and was used to undermine the academic freedom and the right to form trade unions.
Before the Committee expressed its concerns over Hong Kong human rights situations, the United Nations Human Rights Committee had also made critical comments on the NSL and other issues last year. Hong Kong Centre for Human Rights (“HKCHR”) believes the fact that two authoritative committees have made similar observations shows that human rights in Hong Kong is under serious and systemic attacks, and that the policies and acts of the Chinese and Hong Kong governments are inconsistent with international laws.
The spokesperson of HKCHR said: “Despite the guarantee of rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the ICESCR made by Article 4 of the NSL, ironically, the committees under both covenants (i.e. the Committee and the Human Rights Committee) have criticised the NSL for violating the very rights that should be protected according to the covenants. It is therefore clear that most of the independent human rights experts believe that the NSL does seriously infringe on human rights in Hong Kong, and that such infringements cannot be cured or avoided by the current regulations and policies. We demand the Chinese and Hong Kong governments to repeal the NSL immediately, and to cease any existing prosecutions.”
HKCHR deplores the Hong Kong government’s strong response to the CO, which called it as unfounded and misleading. It must be noted that the Committee consists of 18 independent human rights experts coming from different countries across the world. Their observations are based on international human rights standards and the reports submitted by a large number of civil society groups including HKCHR, which are substantiated by public information and facts. While the Hong Kong government claimed that the CO is unfounded and misleading, it has never commented on individual incidents of human rights violations. Such vague and blanket denial of the Committee’s findings indicates that the Hong Kong government is unwilling to oblige with the ICESCR and the United Nations’ human rights mechanisms.
The spokesperson of HKCHR said:
“Repeatedly rejecting the comments from international organisations does not and cannot change the fact that the Hong Kong government has violated human rights of Hongkongers. According to the Basic Law, the ICESCR is applicable to Hong Kong and it is the responsibility of the Hong Kong government to fully comply with it as well as to respect the oversight mechanisms”
HKCHR urges the Hong Kong government to adopt the Committee’s observations and recommendations, and repeal the NSL immediately as recommended by the Human Rights Committee last year.
HKCHR also thank the Committee for their hard work. The spokesperson of HKCHR said:
“The last review was conducted in 2014. We are therefore grateful for the instant review in which the Committee has studied and discussed the human rights situations in the last 9 years, despite the other heavy workload and the very limited time for preparation and discussion.”