AFP (Agence France-Presse): Amnesty International and US urge Hong Kong to drop anti-subversion law

25-Jun-2003 7:20AMááááá

Story from AFP

HONG KONG, June 25 (AFP) - Amnesty International and a prominent United States politician have Wednesday urged Hong Kong's government not to enact a proposed anti-subversion law insisting it could impinge on civil liberties.

Amnesty's Hong Kong branch urged the government to step back from "its headlong rush" towards the enactment of the legislation, which it said would limit the fundamental rights and freedoms of Hong Kong citizens.

It expressed fears that the laws would allow Mainland China's principles of state security to override Hong Kong's independent legal system.

"There is still a window of opportunity for the Hong Kong government to pull back from the brink of this potential human rights disaster and to listen to the hundreds of voices raised in opposition to the serious problems raised by the proposed legislation," it said in a statement.

Amnesty urged the government to allow more debate insisting, "for a government to rush through a hastily worded and poorly drafted bill is both irresponsible and dangerous."

The agreement under which Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997 obliges the territory to pass the legislation banning treason, sedition, subversion and the theft of state secrets.

The law is due to be enacted on July 9.

Rights activists and pro-democracy groups have said they fear China could use the new law to suppress various freedoms, including those of the media, speech and religion.

A government spokesman reacted to Amnesty's call by saying "there is no extension of mainland laws to Hong Kong".

"The proposed law represents a liberalisation of existing laws on treason, sedition and protection of official secrets and compares favourably with similar legislation in other common law jurisdictions," the spokesman said.

Congressman Christopher Cox, chairman of the House Policy Committee in the US House of Representatives also urged the Hong Kong government to withdraw its proposed security law.

The House is expected to vote soon on a resolution introduced by Cox titled "Expressing Support for Freedom in Hong Kong" calling on Hong Kong to withdraw its proposed security laws.

Cox said the resolution was prompted by concern in the US that traditional protection avenues for Hong Kong people were not eroded.

"While I understand the desire to implement to Article 23, as this is a national security responsibility, the manner in which its being undertaken, the looseness of the proposed legislative language, the enormous discretion that is given to the executive branch of government to take away people's rights -- the very basic rights to communicate with one another, to belong to organisations, to publish, speak, be journalists is breathtaking," Cox told local radio.

Cox's comments come a week after US White House spokesman Ari Fleischer raised concerns about the new laws.

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Pro-democracy, religious and professional groups plan to mark the sixth anniversary of the handover of former British colony to China on July 1 with a mass protest march against the article that obliges Hong Kong to pass the subversion law.

http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/bd/Qhongkong-subversion.RrAx_DuP.html