SCMP: Detained SAR residents 'highlight legal loophole'

August 13, 2001

At least one Hong Kong resident on the mainland detention list has received no help from the SAR Government and the case of another was only taken up after a relative in China asked for help.

The cases highlight growing concern among human rights activists and legislators who believe there are inadequate safeguards to protect Hong Kong residents detained in China.

Security officials said the rule not allowing them to act unless asked to do so by family members was to protect people's privacy.

But the activists and legislators said it was simply a loophole.

The notification system, under which the mainland is supposed to inform Hong Kong if citizens are arrested, was set up between Beijing and the Government to help protect Hong Kong residents. Those arrested on national security charges are not included.

SAR permanent resident Chu O-ming, who is in his 30s, is being detained after being arrested in Beijing for trying to lodge a lawsuit against President Jiang Zeming for cracking down on Falun Gong. He has no family in Hong Kong and the SAR Government would not accept his friends' requests for help.

In April, fellow resident and single mother Huan Yueshao, 32, was arrested by Shenzhen Public Security officers for debts allegedly owed by her boyfriend.

Her estranged husband in Hong Kong has refused to go to the SAR Government for help.

Human Rights Monitor director Law Yuk-kai said: "Nobody in Hong Kong could tell what happened to her. The Government did not try to check out her situation until her sister on the mainland filed a request."

Mr Law said the notification system meant Hong Kong residents were helpless if they had no family to care for them and the situation violated the Basic Law.

"The Government has the responsibility to actively find out the situation of Hong Kong residents who have been imprisoned in other places and provide them with necessary help," he said.

"Even if the family, for one reason or another, is unwilling or unable to request help, the Government still needs to find out why they were arrested, and then provide help if needed. The Chinese Government has never actively talked about that."

His group was aware of other cases concerning people whose families went to the SAR Government or those whose stories were followed by the media.

Legislator Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee said the Government should review the notification system and close the loophole.

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