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HONG KONG – Businesses and human rights groups express concern over proposed changes to the Hong Kong extradition law that would allow suspects to be sent to mainland China, where they could be subjected to torture and unfair prosecution.
According to them, this decision would undermine the attractiveness of the Asian financial hub for international trade.
Hong Kong currently restricts such extraditions to jurisdictions with which it has concluded extradition agreements or to individual agreements under a law pbaded before the transition from the semi-autonomous territory of British rule to Chinese rule. in 1997. China was excluded because of the concerns of its poor record on legal independence and human rights.
However, the amendments to the Fugitive Criminals Ordinance and the Criminal MLA Ordinance would expand the possibilities of transferring criminal suspects to China and would remove the legislator's right to control the individual decisions on extradition rendered by the Hong Kong Director.
"These amendments would increase the risk for human rights defenders and other critics that China is extradited to the mainland for trial," said Sophie Richardson, Human Rights Watch's director for China, on Sunday.
"The amendments would tarnish Hong Kong's reputation for the rule of law and should be removed," said Richardson, adding that the changes to the law would expose Hong Kongers to torture and unfair trials.
These concerns were reflected in a letter to the Executive Director, Carrie Lam, written by Human Rights, in collaboration with the Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor and the local branch of Amnesty International.
The groups have warned that the fear of extradition to China – who regularly use charges of tax evasion or other economic crimes to falsify political critics – could hamper civil society and freedom of expression in Hong Kong, where civil liberties are already attacked pro-Beijing groups. In recent years, several people linked to a publishing house in Hong Kong, which produced unflattering books about China's mainland rulers, appeared in the custody of Chinese police after apparently being abducted, as well as the 39, a major business man wanted on the mainland.
Unlike China, Hong Kong is subject to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, as well as "customary international law", which " forbidden to send people back to places where there is a real risk of torture and other ill-treatment, unfair trials and other serious human rights violations, "the letter says.
In addition, the US Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong issued a letter in which it stated that its members "continued to seriously worry" about the proposed changes, saying that they "would reduce the attractiveness of Hong Kong for international companies that consider Hong Kong as a base for regional operations. "
"Hong Kong's international reputation for the rule of law is its invaluable treasure," the letter says.
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