U.S. Department of State | Human rights report says political dissidents targeted

The Macau Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2016 has been published by the U.S. Department of State, expressing some concern over troubling developments in the Macau SAR.

The 2016 report showed a general improvement over previous editions and included a less severe assessment than last year’s edition, which stated that the “legal system was being abused to target political dissidents through exaggerated or misapplied charges.”

Instead, the latest edition noted only that activists had “expressed concern that the Macau Government abused prosecutorial procedures to target political dissidents”, but also pointed out that police forces maintain “they [only] charged those they arrested with violations of the law.”

Other areas of concern in last year’s report were reiterated this year, with the U.S. Department of State report implying that little progress had been made in the year under review.

Although the U.S. Department of State welcomed the MSAR government’s respect for freedom of speech and expression, as well as the fact that there were no significant instances of violence or harassment directed at journalists, it highlighted concerns expressed by Macau-based activists over “misused criminal proceedings to target government critics.”

“Activists critical of the government reported the government monitored their telephone conversations and internet usage,” the report continued.

The activists also provided information which led the department to conclude that media self-censorship is present in the territory, on the basis that certain critical coverage might impact government funding to media outlets.

In regards to the role of police forces in the territory, the report simply noted that between June 2015 and July 2016, there were only seven complaints of police mistreatment acknowledged by the authorities, including two complaints lodged with the Commission Against Corruption.

“All complaints were dismissed for lack of evidence,” concluded the report.

The report added that there had been no reports of unlawful or arbitrary killings by the government or its agents, and no reports of politically motivated disappearances.

The government issued a condemnation of the report via the Government Information Bureau, expressing the government’s “strong opposition to the content” and claiming that it was “groundless and baseless.”

“Foreign countries have no right to interfere in China’s domestic affairs and should not interfere in any form in the internal affairs of Macau,” the report stated.

With regard to the Greater China region, the report additionally highlighted a worrying trend of China “encroaching” on Hong Kong’s autonomy, including an “unnecessary and unsolicited” Basic Law interpretation.

The Hong Kong government issued a statement, almost identical in its phrasing to Macau’s, which condemned foreign interference in Hong Kong as a part of China.