Business and human rights groups are expressing concern over proposed changes to Hong Kong's extradition law that would allow suspects to be sent to mainland China, where they could be subject to torture and unfair prosecution.
Hong Kong currently limits such extraditions to jurisdictions with which it has existing extradition agreements or to others on an individual basis under a law passed before the semi-autonomous territory's handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997. China was excluded because of concerns over its poor record on legal independence and human rights.
“These amendments would heighten the risk for human rights activists and others critical of China being extradited to the mainland for trial on fabricated charges,” Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement on Sunday. Those concerns were reflected in a letter to Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam authored by Human Rights Watch along with the Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor and the local branch of Amnesty International.
Unlike China, Hong Kong is subject to the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, as well as “customary international law,” which “prohibit returning people to places where there is a real risk of torture and other ill-treatment, unfair trials, and other serious human rights violations,” the letter said.
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