Condemning Recent Arrests of Pro-Democracy Advocates in Hong Kong

The City Bar is alarmed that these arrests violate domestic and international law, appear politically motivated, and reflect a general erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy despite China’s commitment to maintain the city’s separate common law legal system and basic freedoms.

Hong Kong is guaranteed the rights of peaceful assembly and free speech under international and municipal law.  The Sino-British Joint Declaration, a binding international agreement between China and the United Kingdom, guarantees that Hong Kong shall enjoy separate legal and economic systems through 2047 under the policy of “One Country, Two Systems.”  Among the fundamental rights to be preserved are: freedom of speech, of the press, and of publication; freedom of association, of assembly, of procession, and of demonstration.  Moreover, Hong Kong’s Basic Law, which implements the agreement, incorporates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights into local law, including the ICCPR’s guarantee that “[t]he right of peaceful assembly shall be recognised.”  Any arrest and prosecution must comport with these fundamental guarantees.[3]

The arrests were ostensibly based on suspicion of organizing and taking part in peaceful yet “unauthorized assemblies” on August 18, October 1, and October 20, 2019 under the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Public Order Ordinance.  The authorities have offered no explanation for the over five-month delay in making the arrests.  Conversely, the apparent crackdown comes in the immediate wake of several developments suggesting a tightening of control by central authorities in Beijing, including: the PRC’s Liaison Office in Hong Kong commenting on recent Hong Kong Court of Appeal decisions in apparent contravention of Article 22 of Hong Kong’s Basic Law; and the Hong Kong government issuing statements that the Liaison Office is not bound by Article 22’s provision that, “No department of the Central People’s Government and no province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government may interfere in the affairs which the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region administers on its own in accordance with this Law.”[4]

More generally, these recent arrests represent a dramatic escalation in an already troubling erosion of the rule of law despite the “One Country, Two Systems” pledge as well as the erosion of core international human rights protections in the city.  Among other disturbing developments, the PRC government’s failure to widen the franchise in the selection of Hong Kong’s Chief Executive led to mass protests known as the “Umbrella Movement” in 2014.  More recently, the Hong Kong government’s own attempt to enact a law that would allow for extraditions from Hong Kong to China led to another round of mass protests throughout 2019, which, despite the regrettable actions of a violent minority, were overwhelmingly peaceful.  These protests were nonetheless met by police use of tear gas and water cannons, firing of rubber pellets, pepper spray and baton charges by the police, and credibly reported violence upon arrest.  The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, among others, has called for an investigation into these apparent uses of excessive force, but no investigation has been forthcoming.

The City Bar calls upon the Hong Kong government to drop all charges against and release all those arrested in this crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong for their involvement in peaceful assemblies.  We further urge authorities both in Hong Kong and Beijing to honor their obligations under international and domestic law and renew their commitments to the rule of law and human rights under their pledge to maintain “One Country, Two Systems.”