IBA condemns China's new Hong Kong law
A statement protesting at the "fundamentally objectionable" imposition of the National Security Law by China on Hong Kong has been issued by office bearers of the International Bar Association.
The five signatories condemn the new law as contrary to the norms of international law, incompatible with the rule of law and fundamental human rights, inconsistent with the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) – and "a grave departure from the fundamental principles upon which the People’s Republic of China (PRC) agreed with the United Kingdom to govern Hong Kong after its transfer to the PRC".
They add that the law, "enacted by the PRC without meaningful engagement with the people of Hong Kong SAR in the legislative process... bodes ill for the survival of even the attenuated conditions of democracy and human rights that have been practised in recent times in Hong Kong SAR".
A further concern is that, despite the text of the law not being released to the people of Hong Kong, in the first hours after it was enacted, prominent Hong Kong activists shut down their campaign groups and deleted their social media profiles for fear of being arrested and sent to mainland China to be tried.
Legal experts are unable to review the compatibility of the law with Hong Kong SAR’s legal and constitutional framework, and China’s international legal obligations; the law is stated to have retrospective effect; it has been reported to take precedence over Hong Kong SAR law; the Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR will be given the power to appoint former judges and magistrates to particular National Security Law cases; and the criteria for identifying cases which will result in rendition to mainland China are opaque, with insufficient safeguards.
"Effectively, law is being used to curtail the democratic freedoms of the semi-autonomous territory", the statement concludes. "This is a sad and deeply worrying time for the people of Hong Kong SAR and for their friends across the globe."
The statement is signed by IBA President Horacio Bernardes Neto, executive director Mark Ellis, Michael Kirby and Anne Ramberg, co-chairs of its Human Rights Institute, and Baroness Helena Kennedy QC,
director of the Institute.