Update: BHRC received a response from Ms Lam on the 2 December 2019. Click here to read it.
BHRC has today urgently written to Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam expressing grave concern at the situation at the Hong Kong Polytechnic and across the city.
The letter calls on Ms Lam to take urgent steps to de-escalate the crisis which has been growing over recent months and has deepened intensely in recent days.
The letter expresses particular concern for reports that the use of live ammunition by police is being considered, which would be in breach of UN Basic Principles on the use of force by law enforcement and constitute a gross and unwarranted escalation of violence by the Hong Kong authorities.
BHRC first wrote to Ms Lam on the 14 June 2019 with regarding joint observations on the Extradition Bill, considering it to be ill-conceived and that it would fundamentally imperil the operation of the rule of law in Hong Kong. On 13 September 2019, BHRC called for the Hong Kong police to refrain from using disproportionate and deadly force, and for a full inquiry into serious and wide-ranging allegations of police brutality.
Schona Jolly QC, BHRC Chair said:
“BHRC calls again on the Hong Kong authorities to initiate an urgent and independent investigation into the allegations of police brutality, to call for the police and state authorities to exercise maximum restraint in the use of force and to take steps to ensure that the rule of law in Hong Kong, and public confidence in the same, is neither eroded nor impeded.”
Read the letter in full here.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
- For an interview with our spokesperson, please contact Josie Fathers, Project Coordinator on coordination@barhumanrights.org.uk or +44 (0)7854 197862
- For more information on the Bar Human Rights Committee (BHRC), visit our website at http://barhumanrights.org.uk
- The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC) is the international human rights arm of the Bar of England and Wales, working to protect the rights of advocates, judges and human rights defenders around the world. BHRC is concerned with defending the rule of law and internationally recognised legal standards relating to human rights and the right to a fair trial. It is independent of the Bar Council.
