|
Human Rights Issues -- October 2000
Bishop was angry at the intervention of the Liaison Office on Freedom of Religion (4 October 2000)
Bishop was angry at the intervention of the Liaison Office on Freedom of Religion (4 October 2000)
The row between the Catholic Church in Hong Kong and the Chinese Government became a hot issue in Hong Kong. The row was over the Vatican's canonization of 120 Chinese and missionary martyrs.
Pope John Paul on Sunday named 120 new saints from China, 87 Chinese and 33 missionaries-who were killed between 1648 and 1930, most during the Boxer Uprising.
The Chinese government spoke publicly against the canonization, saying most of those deserved to die, most of them committed crimes and abused their powers in the Mainland. The Rome ceremony also was a gross insult to China, especially as it coincided with the National Day of China.
Beijing was accused of intervening the freedom of religion in Hong Kong. Bishop Joseph Zen Ze-kiun wrote an article in Mingpao on 4 October. In it, Bishop Zen claimed that the officer of the Liaison Office warned that the Catholic Church in Hong Kong should make the celebration of canonization "low-key", in a lunch meeting with different Hong Kong religious groups last Saturday in connection with the 51st anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic. Bishop Zen also felt upset when he knew that Beijing was very dissatisfied with him after his telephone conversation with the president of the Mainland Chinese Catholic Bishop's College, Bishop Liu Yuanren, early this year.
No response was given by the Liaison Office after the publication of the article.
A Notification System of Detainees was established between Hong Kong and Chinese Government (14 October 2000)
A notification system of detainees between two authorities was going to launch on 1 January 2001. Under this system, the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities agreed to share information of prosecution, detentions and unnatural deaths. For the Chinese, all public security officers will have to report to Beijing's Public security Ministry if they have detained a Hong Kong people over a criminal case. The ministry will then inform Hong Kong Police, who will ask the Immigration department notify the family concerned. In Customs cases, Hong Kong Police will be notified directly by the Customs anti-smuggling investigation unit in Beijing. For Hong Kong side, any mainlander's prosecution case in Hong Kong will be informed to Beijing. However, civil cases and arrest for immigration offences will not included in this system due to the huge caseload-about 30000 per year. Apart from this, no clear timetable for notifying families is guaranteed in the system as it would be done as soon as possible.
Secretary for Security Bureau Regina Lp Lau Suk-yee admitted that this system did not mean that detainee would have a higher chance to be released. "We have never exaggerated the effect of the notification system, which should by no means be taken as an elixir.
A leading activist on the issue of Hong Kong people being detained in the Mainland, Society for Community Organization director Mr. Ho Hei-wah, welcomed to the establishment of the system but he criticized that this system acted as "centralized information office" only. He was also disappointed that the time limit of notifying families is backward than what lies in Chinese Law. In accordance with the Article 78 of the Chinese Law, it stated that families of detainees should be informed within 24 hours about the reason and place of detention. He finally urged that the system should include civil cases and deal with complaints from detainees and their families.