香 港 人 權 監 察
HONG KONG HUMAN RIGHTS MONITOR
香 港 上 環 孖 沙 街 二 十 號 金 德 樓 4 樓
4/F Kam Tak Building, 20 Mercer Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
電話Phone: (852) 2811-4488 傳真Fax: (852) 2802-6012
電郵地址Email: contact@hkhrm.org.hk 網址Website: http://www.hkhrm.org.hk
Chairperson: Paul Harris Deputy Chairpersons: John Clancey & Vivian To Secretary: Jackie Tang Treasurer: Lai Wing Yiu
Founder members: Johannes Chan John Kamm Philip Dykes Phillip Ross Ho Hei Wah Andrew Byrnes Charles Mok Paul Harris Christine Loh Dr Stephen Ng
Director: Law Yuk Kai Education & Project Officer: Kit Chan Executive Officers: Poon King Yin & Ivy Fung
For immediate release
Enquiries: Mr. LAW Yuk Kai (director) (852) 2811 4488
(Hong Kong: 10 June 2004) Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor today published a draft race discrimination bill.
Paul Harris, chairperson of Human Rights Monitor, said “the purpose of our draft bill is to show that preparation of a bill of this kind is not difficult, and that there is no excuse for further delay by the Government in introducing the legislation to which it is officially committed. We hope that this bill shows that remarks by the Government about the bill presenting great difficulties, and requiring many months of preparation, are just an excuse for inaction, and that we will now see some action.”
Human Rights Monitor’s draft race discrimination bill is closely modelled on Hong Kong’s existing Sex Discrimination Ordinance and Disability Discrimination Ordinance. The Bill would make it unlawful to discriminate on grounds of race, colour or national or ethnic origin. (This form of words has been used in race discrimination legislation in the UK for many years). It would apply to discrimination in relation to employment, education, training, and provision of goods and services, and covers the same range of situations as the existing Sex Discrimination Ordinance and Disability Discrimination Ordinance. Like those Ordinances, the Bill (1) provides an exception for genuine occupational qualifications; (2) prohibits harassment; (3) provides for the Equal Opportunities Commission to have primary responsibility for the enforcement of the law, with the same range of powers and duties which it already has in relation to sex and disability discrimination.
The Bill provides that discrimination on grounds of national origin includes discrimination on grounds of origin in a particular jurisdiction of the People’s Republic of China.