TNAG-1798-FCO40-2558-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-repatriation--including-Opera-1988 — Page 136

United Kingdom Mission

37-39 rue de Vermont 1211 Geneva 20

Telex 22956

Telegrams Prodrome Geneva

Telephone 34 38 00 33 23 85

P A Sinkinson Esq

UND

FCO

нко 24318

Your reference

X

Our reference UN 241/10

Date

31 October 1988

агг

PA

Dear phil.

TORTURE

Britg

Ј

1. I attach a copy of a letter from Peter Kooijmans, Special Rapporteur on Torture to the Commission on Human Rights, addressed to the Ambassador. Kooijmans' special enquiry relates to the disturbances at Hei Ling Chanuinvolving Vietnamese refugees on 19 July. We do not know who brought this to Kooijmans' attention but since the issue was pursued by Amnesty International and by various American groups its originator may be Amnesty International. We should be grateful for your guidance and form of words to enable us to reply in due course.

2. As you know, this question was also one of the main issues. which will be considered when our Dependent Territories report is examined next week by the Human Rights Committee.

We can, perhaps, await the outcome there before deciding how to reply to Kooijmans.

yous

ever

تسميد

D M B Curtis

cc:

P Millett Esq, UND, FCO Miss J Slater, HKD, FCO

MC Raven Esq, UKMIS New York

M Hanson Esq, Hong Kong Secretariat

RESTRICTED