Pressure groups yesterday attacked the Government for keeping secret a report on human rights, destined for the United Nations, which has already been sent to Beijing for approval.
The report, on whether Hong Kong lives up to the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), will be the first on human rights treaties to be presented after the handover.
Although the draft report by the Hong Kong Government has been submitted to the central Government's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, non-government organisations and the Equal Opportunities Commission have been told they cannot see it until it is presented to the UN in March.
Dr Fanny Cheung Mui-ching, chairman of the Equal Opportunities Commission, said she would ask for a copy immediately.
'It is very important that the views of the Equal Opportunities Commission are included,' she said, adding that, if necessary, the commission would submit a rival report.
A Home Affairs Bureau spokesman said the practice was similar to that operated before the handover.