Concerns raised over proposed changes to Hong Kong extradition law

Proposed changes to Hong Kong’s extradition law, allowing suspects to be sent to mainland China, have been met with concerns from business and human rights groups.

Opponents to the move, which could see suspects subject to torture and unfair prosecution, have said it will harm the Asian financial hub’s attractiveness to international business.

Hong Kong currently limits such extraditions to jurisdictions with which it has existing extradition agreements or to others on an individual basis under a law passed before the semi-autonomous territory’s handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997.

China was excluded because of concerns over its poor record on legal independence and human rights.

Thousands of members of the city’s beleaguered pro-democracy camp marched to government headquarters on Sunday, an unusually large turnout for such events in recent years.

“The number of people turning up highlights the concerns of Hong Kong people,” Alan Leong, chairman of the Hong Kong Civic Party, told participants.

“Hong Kong people have complete lack of confidence in the independence and impartiality of the judicial system in China,” Albert Ho, chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement in China, said.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch, said: “These amendments would heighten the risk for human rights activists and others critical of China being extradited to the mainland for trial on fabricated charges.

“The amendments would tarnish Hong Kong’s reputation for the rule of law, and should be scrapped.”

She added that the legal changes would put Hong Kong people “at risk of torture and unfair trials”.

These concerns were reflected in a letter to Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam authored by Human Rights Watch along with the Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor and the local branch of Amnesty International.

In recent years, several people connected with a Hong Kong publishing house that produced unflattering books about mainland Chinese leaders have appeared in Chinese police custody after apparently being abducted, along with a prominent business person wanted on the mainland.

Unlike China, Hong Kong is subject to the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, as well as “customary international law”, which “prohibit returning people to places where there is a real risk of torture and other ill-treatment, unfair trials, and other serious human rights violations,” the letter said.

Separately, the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong issued a letter saying its members “continue to have serious concerns” about the proposed changes, stating they would “reduce the appeal of Hong Kong to international companies considering Hong Kong as a base for regional operations”.

“Hong Kong’s international reputation for the rule of law is its priceless treasure,” the letter stated.