K
CONFIDENTIAL
Continued Application
機密
Annex K
of the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights in Hong Kong
Background
The British and
Chinese Governments have agreed in
the provisions of the
the Joint Declaration that
International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
as applied to Hong Kong shall remain in force in Hong Kong
after 1997 (JD 156).
This provision is reflected in
Article 39 of the Basic Law.
2.
The
the rights
under the
July 1997.
accedes to
territory.
legal effect of JD 156 is that China will assume
and obligations currently devolving on the UK
Covenant in respect of the Hong Kong SAR from 1
This is So, whether or not China separately
the Covenant in respect of the rest of her
One of the obligations contained in the Covenant
is the obligation under its Article 40 to make regular
reports to the UN Human Rights Committee. Another is the
obligation under Article 41 to deal with complaints made to
the Committee by other parties to the Covenant. Thus, from 1
July 1997 China will be obliged by the Joint Declaration to
comply with all the provisions of the ICCPR including
Articles 40 and 41.
3.
In an effort to ensure that China fully understands
the implications of what she has already agreed in the Joint
Declaration, in particular her reporting obligation and the
obligation to deal with complaints from other states parties,
the British side handed over some papers in October 1992 in
which We explained how we had ourselves discharged our
various obligations in respect of Hong Kong, including our
obligation to report to the UN Human Rights Committee. The
papers were written on the assumption that the Chinese would
be accountable for their actions under the ICCPR from 1 July
1997.
has SO far been no reaction from the Chinese
side.
There
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