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Human rights
Hong KongPolitics

Take concerns over Hong Kong’s human rights status to UN, British politicians tell their government

Jailing of pro-democracy activists and disqualification of lawmakers prompt letter to Foreign Secretary urging action against China at Human Rights Council

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British politicians have written to their Foreign Secretary urging the government to raise their concerns over Hong Kong at the UN. Photo: Reuters
Alvin Lum
Members from both houses of the British Parliament have signed a letter urging their government to raise the “erosion of rule of law and basic freedoms” of Hong Kong in the United Nations.

The UN’s Human Rights Council periodically reviews the status of countries around the world, and the 31 signatories from across the political spectrum want Prime Minister Theresa May’s government to raise China’s approach to the former British colony with the council, as well as through high-level diplomacy.

In a letter addressed to the British Foreign Secretary, and released through Hong Kong Watch, the human rights NGO, the letter said the city’s human rights issues had been neglected in a previous review of China.

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They urged the British government to make a recommendation this time around, and said the country had a duty to Hong Kong after the handover in 1997.

The letter was signed by members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Photo: AFP
The letter was signed by members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Photo: AFP
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The members from the House of Commons and House of Lords cited the high-profile prosecution of pro-democracy activists, including Edward Leung Tin-kei, who was jailed for six years for rioting in Mong Kok, and the National People’s Congress Standing Committee’s interpretation on oath taking in the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution, which led to the disqualification of six democratic lawmakers.
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