Date: 12 April 2023
UN Treaty Body Database: https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=INT%2FCEDAW%2FCSS%2FHKG%2F52309&Lang=en
Submission to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
This submission is prepared by the 29 Principles (referring to the 29 “UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers”), a UK-based organisation supporting lawyers facing human rights oppression. The 29 Principles is committed to providing support to lawyers to help them fulfil the roles described in the Basic Principles, in particular on promoting the rule of law.
Executive Summary
This submission highlights concerns regarding the oppression of Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) in Hong Kong, China, (“HKSAR”) specifically in the context of the Hong Kong National Security Law (HKNSL). The submission emphasizes that the HKNSL, unilaterally imposed by the Chinese Central Government, has significantly impacted human rights protection in the territory. Instances of suppression and threats against female human rights lawyers and WHRDs have become prevalent, with the HKNSL causing political persecution, prolonged detention, prosecution, and gender-based violence.
The submission calls for the HKSAR Government to clarify its commitment to and compliance with its treaty obligations under CEDAW, despite evidence suggesting the contrary. It urges the HKSAR Government to address the negative consequences of the HKNSL on WHRDs and to uphold human rights protection as demanded by CEDAW and other human rights conventions that the territory has signed and ratified.
Oppression against Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) in the Exercise of Social, Political, and Human Rights (Articles 1, 3, 7)
We refer to the State Party's Report prepared by HKSAR (CEDAW/C/CHN-HKG/9) for this current review. In paragraph 9 of the Report, the HKSAR Government claims that the Hong Kong Basic Law and the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance "continue to protect the fundamental rights of all residents of the HKSAR", with paragraph 156 similarly reiterating that rights as noted in the Bill of Rights "are enjoyed by everyone without distinction".
The HKSAR Government did not include any content relating to the Hong Kong National Security Law (HKNSL) in its Report, understandably because the law was not enacted in the territory when the HKSAR Government submitted its report. However, the purpose of this bulletin is to provide information occurring after the submission of the State Party's Report to ensure the Committee is equipped with the most up-to-date understanding of the HKSAR Government's fulfilment of its obligations stipulated in the CEDAW. We would like to draw the Committee's attention to the implementation of the HKNSL in the territory, which was unilaterally imposed upon HKSAR by the Chinese Central Government through its legislative authority, as it has significantly impacted the HKSAR's fulfilment of human rights protection. The HKNSL has become a major concern of human rights violation for numerous human rights experts and mandate holders in the UN, as evidenced by the fact that there were already four communications issued to the HKSAR Government specifically concerning the HKNSL itself (OL CHN 13/2020; OL CHN 17/2020; AL CHN 9/2021; and OL CHN 3/2022).
In OL CHN 13/2020 above, special rapporteurs and working groups expressed their concern over the "lack of specific definitions for what conduct 'seriously endangers national security' [which] may result in the criminalisation or restriction of fundamental freedoms protected by the ICCPR, and in particular, the rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly." Similarly, the UN's Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), in paragraph 100 of its Concluding Observation published in March 2023 (E/C.12/CHN/CO/3) concerning its recent review of the HKSAR, had concluded that since the promulgation of the HKNSL, the HKSAR "has de facto abolished the independence of the judiciary of Hong Kong SAR".
We recognise that in the Committee's previous Concluding Observations on China and the HKSAR Government published in 2014 (CEDAW/C/CHN/CO/7-8), the "independence of the judiciary and access to justice" and protection of human rights defenders were principal areas of concern only for China but not for the HKSAR. It is submitted by our organisation that the Committee may now wish to question the same for the HKSAR, as instances and reports on the possible encroachment of the "independence of the judiciary and access to justice" have become prevalent in the HKSAR, as echoed by all UN human rights experts above. We have also been witnessing instances of suppression and threats generated against female human rights lawyers and WHRDs resembling those seen in China happening in the HKSAR, and these instances were all relating to the HKNSL.
Challenges Faced by WHRDs under the HKNSL: Political Persecution and Gender-Based Violence
Similar to what was observed in China, we have been witnessing WHRDs in the HKSAR being subjected to reprisals, prolonged and incommunicado detention, prosecution, and conviction on politically related charges, as well as imprisonment. For instance, Dr Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee, a recipient of the International Bar Association's award for her outstanding contribution to human rights, who is also a barrister-at-law and human rights lawyer, and a WHRD advocating for democracy in Hong Kong, was arrested alongside other pro-democracy activists on 18 April 2020 for her participation in a protest. Their arrest was addressed by human rights experts and mandate holders from the UN human rights office in a communication issued to the HKSAR Government in May 2020, describing the protest as peaceful (https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=25187). Dr Ng was convicted of inciting unlawful assembly on 1 April 2021 and was sentenced to one year of imprisonment, with a two-year suspended prison sentence.
In December 2021, Dr Ng was arrested once again, along with others, for her involvement in Stand News, a non-profit Hong Kong news outlet which was prosecuted by the Hong Kong Police Force National Security Department for publishing seditious materials. In May 2022, Dr Ng, along with others, was arrested for "colluding with foreign powers" under the HKNSL for her role in administering the "612 Humanitarian Relief Fund", a fund established to finance the medical, psychological, and legal needs of protestors who were injured and/or prosecuted during the 2019-2020 protests in Hong Kong. In November 2022, they were convicted for failing to apply for local society registration in connection with the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund.
We draw attention to the situation of Ms Chow Hang Tung, a barrister-at-law, human rights lawyer, and WHRD actively advocating for democracy in China. Ms Chow served as the vice-chairwoman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China ("the Alliance") from 2015 until its disbandment in 2021. The Alliance, a Hong Kong non-profit organisation, advocated for democracy in China, and held the June Fourth Vigil annually since 1990, commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre until it was banned in 2020 and 2021 due to "pandemic prevention."
Chow was convicted of inciting others to knowingly participate in an unauthorised assembly and sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment after she and dozens gathered on 4 June 2020, despite the ban. In June 2021, Chow posted on social media that she would be at the usual vigil venue and encouraged people to commemorate the day in their own way. She was arrested on 3 June 2021 and charged with the same offence, initially convicted but later acquitted on appeal. The ultimate outcome of this charge is pending, as the HKSAR Government has appealed against the acquittal.
Chow is now awaiting trial for two other offences under the HKNSL, primarily due to her involvement with the Alliance. Chow and other members of the Alliance's standing committee were arrested on 8 September 2021 for refusing to provide information demanded by the Hong Kong Police Force when they alleged that the Alliance was a foreign agent. Moreover, Chow and two leading Alliance members were charged with incitement to subversion of state power.
On 24 September 2021, numerous human rights experts and mandate holders communicated their concerns to the HKSAR regarding Chow's arrest and treatment, highlighting its political motivation and the curtailing of her fundamental freedoms of expression and association, as well as contravening Hong Kong's obligations under the ICCPR (https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=26658).
In a separate HKNSL case regarding Mr Lai Chee-ying, whose son along with Mr Lai’s legal team gave testimony to the UN Human Rights Council to address Mr Lai's prolonged detention, the HKSAR Government issued a statement to condemn the attempt, effectively phrasing Mr Lai's son's attempt to adopt the UN human rights mechanism as "abuse of the United Nations mechanisms by soliciting the United Nations Human Rights Council to interfere in the judicial proceedings of Lai Chee-ying's case concerning the NSL" (https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202303/15/P2023031500686.htm). As described by a member of Mr Lai's legal team, Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, "[w]e have had very clear threats in Chinese state media that even the very act of bringing an appeal to the United Nations to protect Jimmy Lai's internationally protected human rights, in itself might constitute an offence under the national security laws."
As in this example, it is highly concerning that the appearance of Dr Ng and Ms Chow in the UN's special procedure mechanisms may lead to possible reprisals from the HKSAR Government, as proven by the fact that in the same statement above, the HKSAR Government effectively characterised the use of UN human rights mechanisms, including the Human Rights Council where at the current time China is one of the Member States, as an abuse and interference in the judicial proceedings.
Moreover, the HKNSL has become more concerning for its extra-judicial impacts and the threats of gender-based violence it has generated towards female human rights lawyers and WHRDs. The aforementioned Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, one of the members of Mr Lai's legal team, had received at least three rape threats, one death threat, and multiple impersonating emails (https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/hong-kong-activists-london-lawyers-receive-rape-and-death-threats/5114786.article). Although it remains to be verified whether these threats were orchestrated by the Chinese or the HKSAR Government, as noted by Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, it is worrying that the implementation of the HKNSL has undermined the HKSAR Government's commitment to protecting human rights as demanded by the CEDAW and other human rights conventions that the territory signed and ratified.
In view of this, we strongly urge the HKSAR to clarify its commitment and compliance with its treaty obligations under the CEDAW, despite the information and the established facts above which suggest otherwise.