UN Secretary-General raises concern over China’s reprisals against Jimmy Lai, his son and international legal team
The UN Secretary-General has raised concern about reprisals against Jimmy Lai, his son, Sebastien Lai, and their international legal team in his report to the Human Rights Council on ‘Cooperation with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights’ published this week.
Jimmy Lai and Sebastien Lai are represented by an international legal team led by Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, and including Jonathan Price, Tatyana Eatwell, Jennifer Robinson and Sarah Dobbie.
The Secretary-General’s annual report was instituted in response to ongoing intimidation and reprisals against those engaging with the UN human rights system. The Human Rights Council has “condemned all acts of intimidation and reprisal committed by Governments and non-State actors.”
The report references concern about ongoing reprisals and harassment directed at Mr Lai, Sebastien Lai and the international legal team. This builds upon the concern raised in last year’s UN Secretary-General’s report about reprisals towards Sebastien Lai, Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC and Jennifer Robinson for raising Mr Lai’s case during the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council.
The UN-Secretary General this week reports:
“The case of two members of the international legal team supporting Jimmy Lai and his son Sebastian Lai was included in the 2023 report of the Secretary-General on allegations that their statements at the Human Rights Council were considered by the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as intended to interfere with or obstruct the course of justice and could very likely constitute a criminal offence, according to a public statement the Government had made in reaction to their presentation. During the reporting period, the legal team’s family members reportedly received threats over email and social media, while the international legal team continued to receive death and rape threats and to suffer repeated attempts by unknown sources to hack their email and bank accounts.”
The UN sent a note verbale to the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”) about the reprisals against Mr Lai’s international legal team. In response, the Government confirmed that it does consider engagement at the UN about ongoing legal proceedings in Hong Kong would amount to “criminal contempt of court or obstruction of justice”, both criminal offences.
This follows a concerning trend of conduct by the PRC Government in relation to engagement with the UN human rights system. In response to complaints by Mr Lai’s international legal team, the PRC Government has refused to confirm that UN engagement would not constitute a criminal offence under the controversial National Security Law (“NSL”), the same law under which Mr Lai is currently being prosecuted and faces life in prison.
The UN Secretary-General’s report follows the concern raised by UN experts with the PRC that the international legal team had been subjected to “acts of intimidation and harassment, seemingly in response to its advocacy on behalf of Mr Lai.”
Responding to the Secretary-General’s report, Sebastien Lai said today:
“Thank you to the UN Secretary-General for highlighting China’s continuing aggressive attempts to silence me and our international legal team, simply for speaking out for my father. But these intimidation tactics will not succeed. I will not rest until my father is freed.”
Speaking today, Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC said:
“The PRC and HKSAR authorities have long harassed our client, Jimmy Lai, for his work as a pro-democracy campaigner, writer and media owner. They tried to silence him. They failed.
Now those same authorities are also attempting to harass Mr Lai’s son, Sebastien, and us, the international lawyers. They are now trying to silence us. They will also fail.
Reprisals like these – from threats to prosecute us for our human rights work, to hacking attempts, to rape and death threats – are personally unpleasant and distressing. But they are are also an attack on the legal profession and on the international human rights system. Most importantly, they are an attack on our client, Jimmy Lai’s, right to vindicate his internationally protected rights through UN mechanisms. And they send a chilling message to others: if you raise concerns with the United Nations, the PRC and HKSAR authorities may criminalise and intimidate you for doing so. These are bully tactics by a bully Government.”
A PDF version of this statement is available here.
