SAR government hits out at US report on human rights

The SAR government said safeguarding human rights and freedoms was a constitutional duty. Photo: RTHK

Richard Pyne reports

The SAR government on Thursday rejected comments about Hong Kong contained in the 2019 US State Department's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. The wide-ranging US report covered subjects that included civil rights, the integrity of the person, the political process, people trafficking and workers' rights.



Although Hong Kong escaped major criticism, a number of concerns were flagged.



It mentioned accusations of police brutality, including the August 31 beating of passengers by riot police on a train at Prince Edward Station, though it said were no credible reports of unlawful killings. It also pointed to the alleged delayed response by police to an attack in Yuen Long by what it described as vigilantes on July 21. Both incidents were linked to the large scale social unrest here, sparked by the now withdrawn extradition bill.



Under a section on Respect for Civil Liberties, it noted that the Electoral Affairs Commission had barred democracy activist, Joshua Wong, from running in the November district council elections.



On press freedom it noted that many journalists had said they had been harassed while covering protests and that the home of the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper owner, Jimmy Lai, had been attacked. But it also mentioned the vandalising of the Hong Kong offices of Beijing’s state-controlled Xinhua News Agency in November.



In a statement, the government hit back saying the 'One Country, Two Systems' principle has been successfully implemented and that safeguarding human rights and freedoms was a constitutional duty. It also praised the police, saying they had been facing unprecedented violence and were duty-bound to take appropriate action.



The government said foreign governments should not interfere in the internal affairs of the SAR.