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Following is a question by the Hon Paul Tse and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Lai Tung-kwok, in the Legislative Council today (June 8):
Question:
Mr Cheung Tai-on (Mr Cheung), a Hong Kong permanent resident who had been sentenced to 40 years' imprisonment in the Philippines upon conviction of drug trafficking, died in a Philippine prison on the 14th of last month. Mr Cheung's father told the media that he had doubts about the cause of his son's death. He also pointed out that the British Embassy and Mr Cheung's pro bono lawyer had repeatedly contacted and provided assistance to his son over the years. However, not until the Philippine authorities announced the death of Mr Cheung did officials of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region contact Mr Cheung's father, and the State Ministry of Foreign Affairs had never approached him. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it will, given the case that Mr Cheung died in a foreign country allegedly from unnatural causes, review and step up the assistance for Mr Tang Lung-wai (Mr Tang), another imprisoned Hong Kong resident in the same case, and particularly urge the State Ministry of Foreign Affairs to provide appropriate legal assistance in regard to his desperate wait for appeal (as it has been reported that the Philippine Department of Justice has demanded him to first pay a penalty of 500,000 pesos before his application for appeal will be processed and that he has to hire a translator at his own expense); if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2) whether it has reviewed why the assistance provided for Mr Cheung by the Government and the State Ministry of Foreign Affairs over the years was, as claimed by Mr Cheung's father, even less than that provided by the British Embassy; if it has reviewed, of the details, and whether it will, in the light of the review outcome, step up its assistance for Mr Tang and other Hong Kong residents being imprisoned by the Philippine authorities for long periods of time; if it has not reviewed, the reasons for that;
(3) of the current number of Hong Kong residents serving long-term sentences in the Philippines who have applied for returning to Hong Kong to serve their remaining sentences under the transfer of sentenced persons agreement (TSPA) signed between the two governments; their ages, years of sentences, the dates on which the applications were made and the progress of such applications; whether the Government has requested the Philippine authorities through the State Ministry of Foreign Affairs to expedite the processing of such applications, and what difficulties it has encountered in the process;
(4) of the number of Hong Kong residents who have been transferred, while serving sentences in other places, back to Hong Kong to serve their remaining sentences since the Transfer of Sentenced Persons Ordinance (Cap. 513) came into operation in 1997;
(5) of the number of Hong Kong residents serving sentences in places or countries which have signed TSPAs with Hong Kong who have applied for returning to Hong Kong to serve their remaining sentences, apart from those who are serving sentences in the Philippines; and
(6) given that the Government has decided not to disburse the money under the "Scheme $6,000" (i.e. a scheme launched by the Government in 2011 to give each Hong Kong permanent resident aged 18 or above a sum of HK$6,000 on a one-off basis) to the aforesaid persons being imprisoned in the Philippines for long periods of time on the ground that they did not hold a smart Hong Kong Permanent Identity Card, and my repeated appeals to the Security Bureau to fight for the benefit for such persons were also to no avail, yet it has been reported that Mr Tang used his own subsistence money to arrange for the temporary storage of Mr Cheung's body on a stretcher, lest the body would be left on the ground, whether the Government will review if the aforesaid decision is reasonable and consider afresh disbursing at its discretion HK$6,000 to these Hong Kong permanent residents who are staying in foreign places and experiencing imminent financial difficulties?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the six parts of the questions, in consultation with relevant bureau and department, is as follows:
(1) and (2) The HKSAR Government attaches great importance to assisting Hong Kong residents in distress outside Hong Kong. In general, upon receipt of requests for assistance from Hong Kong residents who are detained or imprisoned overseas, the Assistance to Hong Kong Residents Unit (AHU) of the Immigration Department will, having regard to the nature and circumstances of individual cases as well as the requests of the subjects, liaise with the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the HKSAR (OCMFA), the Chinese diplomatic and consular missions (CDCMs) overseas and the relevant government departments to provide practicable assistance. The assistance rendered by the AHU include informing the subjects' families in Hong Kong of their detention upon request, so that their families can make relevant arrangements; approaching local authorities to reflect the wishes of the assistance seekers and to make enquiries on case progress, or providing information on local lawyers and translators, etc. The HKSAR Government and CDCMs will respect and abide by the local judicial systems when following up with the requests for assistance.
Under normal circumstances, if a Hong Kong resident holding a foreign passport is in distress overseas, the local government will liaise with the local embassy or consulate of the travel document issuing country of the said Hong Kong resident to follow up on the matter. Nevertheless, if such incident comes to the notice of the HKSAR Government, the HKSAR Government will contact the subject's family and liaise and coordinate with the relevant consulate or representative body in Hong Kong, and seek support from OCMFA and CDCM where necessary with a view to providing practicable assistance to the Hong Kong resident in distress.
Concerning the cases mentioned in the question, as the subject entered the Philippines with the British National (Overseas) Passport, the Philippine Government informed the British Embassy in the Philippines of the death of the deceased subject, in accordance with normal practice. Nevertheless, after the case has come to the HKSAR Government's attention, it has been monitoring its development. The HKSAR Government also provided assistance to the subject's family through OCMFA and the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines (the Chinese Embassy).
Over the years, the Chinese Embassy has attached great importance to cases involving Hong Kong people who are serving sentences in the Philippines. Apart from visiting the subjects at prison, the Chinese Embassy has approached the local judicial authorities to understand the case progress and to urge prompt and impartial hearings in accordance with the laws of the country. Besides, the Chinese Embassy has reflected the wishes of the subjects' families to the Philippine authorities on matters such as ensuring the subjects are provided with the basic necessities in prison and provision of translation services. The HKSAR Government will continue to provide practicable assistance to the persons serving sentences.
(3) Hong Kong residents serving sentences in the Philippines may apply to the HKSAR Government or the Philippine Government if they wish to be transferred back to Hong Kong to serve their remaining sentences. We will process their applications in accordance with the Transfer of Sentenced Persons Ordinance (Cap 513) (the Ordinance) and the bilateral agreement on transfer of sentenced persons. In general, an application has to satisfy the following main conditions:
(i) the act, on which the sentence has been imposed, would also constitute a criminal offence according to the laws of Hong Kong if it had been committed in Hong Kong;
(ii) the sentenced person is a permanent resident of Hong Kong;
(iii) the judgment is final and no further proceedings relating to the offence or any other offence are pending in the Philippines; and
(iv) there is a tripartite consent to the transfer given by the HKSAR Government, the Philippine Government and the sentenced person.
According to the agreement, if a Hong Kong resident sentenced in the Philippines applies for transfer back to Hong Kong to serve his remaining sentence, the Philippine Government has to provide the HKSAR Government with specified information on the sentenced person concerned, including the legal documents relating to his conviction and sentence, the length of sentence already served and the remaining sentence, etc.
The HKSAR Government is currently handling seven applications from Hong Kong residents sentenced in the Philippines for transfer to Hong Kong to serve their remaining sentences. The seven applicants are aged from 45 to 70 and have been awarded sentences in the Philippines from 25 years' imprisonment to life imprisonment. Their applications were referred to the HKSAR Government from the Chinese Embassy between 2002 and 2012. The HKSAR Government has approached the Philippine Government a number of times to obtain the documents required for those cases. To date, we are still awaiting responses from the Philippine side. The HKSAR Government will continue to follow up the cases with the Philippine Government through various practicable channels with a view to obtaining the basic information required and confirming the consent of the Philippine Government as soon as possible, so as to proceed with the transfer procedures.
(4) and (5) Since the Ordinance came into operation in 1997, apart from those Hong Kong residents serving sentences in the Philippines, a total of 157 Hong Kong residents sentenced in other jurisdictions which have signed an agreement or arrangement on transfer of sentenced persons with Hong Kong applied for transfer to Hong Kong to serve their remaining sentences. As at April 2016, a total of 87 sentenced persons were transferred back to Hong Kong to serve the remainder of their sentences.
(6) According to the funding proposal approved by the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council on July 8, 2011, the eligibility date for "Scheme $6,000" was March 31, 2012. Any persons who were aged 18 or above and holders of a valid Hong Kong Permanent Identity Card as at March 31, 2012 met the eligibility criteria of the Scheme.
Under the Registration of Persons (Invalidation of Identity Cards) Orders (Cap 177, Subsidiary Legislation), all identity cards issued before June 23, 2003 (i.e. old identity cards) were declared invalid. Registrants holding an invalid Hong Kong Permanent Identity Card on the eligibility date of March 31, 2012 did not meet the eligibility criteria of the Scheme and would not receive payment under the Scheme.
The eligibility date and eligibility criteria were the basic requirements of the Scheme. As there were many people not meeting the eligibility criteria of the Scheme for various reasons, the Government is duty bound to adhere strictly to all promulgated eligibility requirements on the grounds of equity and should not make payment to ineligible persons.
Ends/Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Issued at HKT 16:48
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