Tell it like it really is, Hong Kong

Hong Kong's lack of autonomy in key areas of human rights was highlighted by the concerns listed by the United Nations Human Rights Committee after a two-day hearing in New York last month.

For a decade, the committee has been telling Hong Kong that its legislative elections do not conform to Article 25 (b) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which says that every citizen has the right 'to vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot, guaranteeing the free expression of the will of the electors'.

Instead of telling the UN committee the truth - that Beijing does not allow Hong Kong to hold such elections - our leaders pretend that they do have such authority, and simply refuse to permit universal suffrage elections. They then argue that Article 25 does not apply to Hong Kong.

This argument is based on the historical fact that Britain, when ratifying the rights covenant in 1976, reserved the right not to apply that provision - since 'it might require the establishment of an elected Executive or Legislative Council in Hong Kong'.

Commenting on that reservation, the UN committee said there is no requirement to have an elected legislature. However, once such a body is established, 'all necessary measures should be taken whereby the Legislative Council is elected by universal and equal suffrage', it said.

But a Hong Kong government statement, issued by the Home Affairs Bureau, declared: 'With every respect due to the [UN] committee, we have to strongly disagree with the committee's view that this reservation lapsed once elections to the Legislative Council were introduced. It is our firm belief that the reservation remains fully operative.'

Another key concern of the Human Rights Committee is the repeated interpretation of the Basic Law by the National People's Congress Standing Committee. In its concluding observations, the committee asserted: 'It should be ensured that all interpretations of the Basic Law, including on electoral and public-affairs issues, are in compliance with the [ICCPR].'