City Bar Writes to Hong Kong Chief Executive on Protests

Yesterday, the City Bar sent a letter, signed by President Debra L. Raskin, to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Leung Chun-ying, expressing “grave concern regarding the treatment of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.” The letter urges the government of Hong Kong “to take all necessary measures to protect the right to freedom of expression and assembly, and to ensure that Chief Executive electoral reforms for 2017 provide for meaningful universal suffrage in a manner consistent with the Basic Law, the Joint Declaration, the aspirations of the Hong Kong people, and international legal principles. As the letter notes, the City Bar has been a longtime observer of developments in Hong Kong. In 2000, the Association’s International Human Rights Committee issued its report “Post-Handover Hong Kong: One Country, Two Legal Systems,” and it issued an interim report in 2002. Yesterday’s letter was reported on in today’s South China Morning Post. The letter may be read here: http://bit.ly/1Eui6hG