P
amnesty international
INTERNATIONAL SECRETARIAT
1 Easton Street London WC1X 8DJ
United Kingdom
The Right Honourable Margaret Thatcher, MP
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London SW1
TG EUR 45/88.17
19 July 1988
Prime Minister,
I enclose for your consideration a copy of a memorandum concerning the Draft Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, which Amnesty International sent on 15 July 1988 to the Drafting Committee for the Basic Law in Hong Kong.
The memorandum examines the provisions of the Draft Basic Law which relate to the protection of human rights and suggests various ways of improving them.
It also makes a number of suggestions concerning ways of ensuring the continued protection in Hong Kong of the internationally recognized human rights set forth in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), which currently applies to Hong Kong by virtue of its ratification by the Government of the United Kingdom. We are concerned that the Draft Basic Law fails to make clear how the Covenant will remain in force after 1997 - as pledged in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration.
We note that last week the Foreign Secretary, Sir Geoffrey Howe, stated during a House of Commons debate on the Basic Law that the Government of the United Kingdom was concerned about the adequacy of the guarantees of civil liberties in the Draft Basic Law, and had the right to assure itself that the principles embodied in the Joint Declaration would be faithfully implemented.
We believe that the most concrete means of demonstrating to the people of Hong Kong and to the international community a fundamental commitment to ensuring the continued protection of human rights in Hong Kong would be for Hong Kong to adhere without delay to the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (either by becoming a Party in its own right or through the United Kingdom including Hong Kong becoming a Party), and for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to be allowed to become a party after 1997 (either in its own right or through the People's Republic of China including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region becoming a Party).
In our view, it would be particularly desirable for individuals in Hong Kong to be given the right of individual petition under the Optional Protocol, since Hong Kong is currently excluded from the application of the European Convention on Human Rights to which the United Kingdom is a Party.
01-833 1771 Telegrams: Amnesty London WC1 Telex: 28502
Amnesty International is an independent worldwide movement working impartially for the release of all prisoners of conscience, fair and prompt trials for political prisoners and an end to torture and executions. It is funded by donations from its members and supporters throughout the world. It has formal relations with the United Nations, Unesco, the Council of Europe, the Organization of African Unity and the Organization of American States.