TNAG-0109-FCO40-145-Detainees-and-prisoners-following-19671968-disturbances-1968 — Page 121

all had a chance to appeal to an independent

Committee of Review:

Mr. Grey has had no

chance to plead his case before any authority

Fourth, no-one knows, least of all Mr. Grey,

when he may be released.

Detention orders

are for one year and many detainees have been

released before the year was up. One has

Good

been redetained for cause for one year and

given a further chance of appeal to the

Committee of Review. Last, Mr. Grey has

had one visit only during his incarceration.

Detainees in Hong Kong may be, and are,

visited at least once a month by relatives

and friends and can be visited more frequently

if occasion warrants. Nor are they held in

virtual solitary confinement as is Mr. Grey.

I could elaborate the dissimilarities

further, but I believe the above is enough to

answer

demolish Mr. Rear's highly tendentious

arguments. Nobody likes detention procedures, least of all the Hong Kong authardices,

least of all myself, but at least they have

been used in Hong Kong with the greatest

moderation bearing in mind the scale and

severity of the events of 1967. At the

height of the trouble, the maximum number of

detainees ever in custody was fifty four,

which I suggest compares very favourably

with the similar measures other governments

in the area have found it necessary to take

Similar but

when subjected to certainly no more dangerous

or violent situations.

Yours faithfully,

X

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