XN000022-1993-07-15 — Page 15

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THURSDAY, JULY 15, 1993

VIOLENT CRIME, ANY LEVEL OF VIOLENT CRIME IS TOO HIGH. TRUTH TO TELL, THE FIGURES FOR VIOLENT CRIME IN HONG KONG, UNUSUALLY, IF YOU LOOK AROUND THE WORLD, ARE ACTUALLY FALLING. THE OVERALL LEVEL OF CRIME IN THE LAST QUARTER FELL BY 2% OVER A SIMILAR PERIOD LAST YEAR. THE FIGURE FOR VIOLENT CRIME FELL BY 6%. NOW, THAT IS NOT A MATTER WHICH ANYBODY CAN BE COMPLACENT ABOUT. FOR ANYBODY WHO SUFFERS FROM VIOLENT CRIME, THERE'S A 100% INCREASE, AND PARADING STATISTICS FOR THE WHOLE COMMUNITY DOESN'T HAVE VERY MUCH EFFECT. SECONDLY, I RECOGNISE THAT INDIVIDUAL CALLOUS BRUTAL CRIMES, MURDERS, RAPES,

GREATLY DISTURB THE COMMUNITY AND I SUSPECT THAT THE PICTURES OF SOME OF THOSE CRIMES WHICH APPEARS IN THE MEDIA FROM TIME TO TIME, ALSO RATHER DISTURB THE COMMUNITY. THEY CERTAINLY DISTURB ME. I THINK THAT THE BEST DETERRENT TO VIOLENT CRIME IS TO CATCH THOSE WHO COMMIT IT, WHICH IS WHY I'M GOING TO CONTINUE TO GIVE SUPPORT FOR THE POLICE SUCH A HIGH PRIORITY. I ALSO THINK THAT WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT THE SENTENCES PASSED ON THOSE WHO COMMIT THESE CRIMES ARE ADEQUATE TO THE OFFENCE; AND I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL SHOULD HAVE THE POWER, AS HE DOES, TO APPEAL AGAINST SENTENCES WHEN THEY SEEM INAPPROPRIATE. INAPPROPRIATE IN EITHER DIRECTION, OF COURSE, BUT CERTAINLY INAPPROPRIATE IF TOO LENIENT AND IF RAISING SERIOUS ISSUES OF PRINCIPLE AND CONCERN TO THE OVERALL COMMUNITY. I REALISE THAT PROBABLY IN HONG KONG, AS WAS THE CASE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, MY OWN PERSONAL MORAL OBJECTIONS TO CAPITAL PUNISHMENT ARE NOT SHARED BY THE MAJORITY. I THINK THE MAJORITY OF THIS CHAMBER PROBABLY SHARES MY VIEWS ON THE SUBJECT, BUT I'M NOT SURE THAT THAT IS NECESSARILY TRUE OF THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE. BUT THERE ISN'T, IN MY JUDGMENT, WHATEVER ONES VIEWS ABOUT THE MORAL ARGUMENT FOR CAPITAL PUNISHMENT, THERE ISN'T MUCH EVIDENCE, WHEN YOU LOOK AROUND THE WORLD OF ANY CORRELATION BETWEEN THE AVAILABILITY OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT AND THE LEVEL OF VIOLENT CRIME. WERE IT OTHERWISE, THEN THE UNITED STATES, I GUESS COULD

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LOOK AT LEVELS OF VIOLENT CRIME SUBSTANTIALLY BELOW THOSE THAT EXIST IN HONG KONG, WHERE OUR OVERALL LEVEL OF CRIME IS NOW PROBABLY LESS THAN IN TOKYO, SINGAPORE, OR ALMOST ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD. SO I DON'T THINK THAT THERE IS A SORT OF MECHANICAL ARITHMETICAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE AVAILABILITY OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT AND DECLINE IN VIOLENT CRIME. THERE ARE CRIMES, I REPEAT, WHICH GREATLY AFFECT THE COMMUNITY. I THINK THAT SOME OF THE RAPES WHICH HAVE AFFECTED ONE PART OF OUR COMMUNITY RECENTLY MUST HAVE BEEN PARTICULARLY DISTURBING. WE MUST ALL HOPE THAT THE POLICE ARE ABLE TO DEAL WITH THOSE ATTACKS AS RAPIDLY AS POSSIBLE. RAPE IS, OF COURSE, AN ESPECIALLY DISGUSTING AND DEGRADING CRIME, AND SHOULD HAVE NO PART IN ANY SORT OF CIVILISED SOCIETY.

MR MARTIN BARROW: SIR, HAVING BEEN IN EUROPE OVER THE PAST WEEK, IT IS CLEAR THAT THERE REMAIN INTERNATIONAL MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT OUR STATE OF LAW AND ORDER. AS YOU'VE JUST SAID, WE MUST NOT BE COMPLACENT, BUT COULD YOU TELL US WHAT STEPS ARE BEING TAKEN TO PUT OVER THE MESSAGE INTERNATIONALLY THAT HONG KONG IS A SAFE CITY WITH LOWER TOTAL AND VIOLENT CRIME RATES THAN IN MANY OTHER SIMILAR CITIES?

/GOVERNOR