TNAG-2716-FCO40-3922-House-of-Commons-Select-Committee-on-Foreign-Affairs-enquiry-1993 — Page 165

1

Kong Government to establish before we get to 1997 a specific mechanism

whereby the reporting arrangements to the Human Rights Committee could be

continued beyond 1997 and also whereby individuals might be able to

continue to get access to that Committee.

Are you saying, therefore; that

it would be desirable in human rights terms for the Hong Kong Government to

put into place a procedure which would safeguard the continuation of

reporting and continuing access for individuals for Hong Kong to the Human

Rights Committee?

final

Her

(Mr Duffy) There is one issue I ought to clarify in case any

misunderstanding occurred as a result of my previous answer to your

question: currently the peoples of Hong Kong do not have access to an

individual petition system. Such a system does exist under the

International Covenant but it is contained in the optional protocol.

Majesty's Government has not made the necessary declaration in order to

bring that right of petition into play. As regards the obligations

therefore on the Government of China by virtue of Article 13,

sentence of the first annex, that obligation cannot, as a matter of strict

law, encompass an obligation to introduce something which previously did

not exist, namely, the right of individual access to the Human Rights

Committee under the optional protocol. However, certainly as a matter of

international human rights protection, and I am sure as a matter of

reassurance to the people of Hong Kong, it would be desirable for such a

measure to be taken, but that will be a measure that would have to be taken

with the agreement of the People's Republic of China, and I am not aware

that any such agreement has been made or would be likely to be made. The

strict legal level, the obligation we are talking about, is the reporting

obligation which currently exists; it is certainly my construction of

Article 13, final sentence, that a mechanism needs to be found to ensure

that that will continue; and if such a mechanism is not found then there

46

Page 165Page 166