CONFIDENTIAL
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH
RM Amos Esq
DS5
Ministry of Defence
Main Building
Whitehall SW1
Telephone 01- 233 4439
00346
E19
Your reference
D/DS5/7/14/75 E
Our reference
HKK 243/1
Date
24 September 1982
##
DSS copy
Dandours,
VIETNAMESE REFUGEES :
1.
OPPOSED TOWING OF CRAFT
(8515(4)
Thank you for your minute of 11 August enclosing a copy of a draft Operational Order from the Royal Hong Kong Police Force.
2. Our Legal Counsellors have pointed out that the UK is signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 19 December 1966, which subject to a reservation made in relation to Article 13, applies to Hong Kong. Article 10(1) of the Covenant reads as follows:
3.
'All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.
f
Refugees against whom the order was implemented, whether on board the towed vessel or towing vessel, would appear to be deprived of their liberty (see paragraph 17 of the draft Operational Order). The question would therefore arise of whether they were being treated with humanity. The draft Order requires the vessels to be refuelled, reprovisioned and certified as seaworthy; moreover, in paragraph 13 it is stated
to make a safe landfall that an officer of the Marine Department must assess whether the vessel could be 'reasonably expected
at a place other than Hong Kong or the People's Republic of China'.
4. If all these things were done conscientiously and
However, it would efficiently, we might be able to defend ourselves against a charge of being in breach of Article 10. be an additional safeguard if the officer were also required to satisfy himself that the towed vessel was not overloaded. Moreover, we should need to be able to satisfy ourselves that the officials concerned had done all that could be reasonably expected of them to ensure the safety of the refugees.
CONFIDENTIAL
/5.