Canada’s foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, has called China’s detention of Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor a “worrying precedent” but for many China watchers it is all too familiar. Consular access, like access to a lawyer, is a procedural safeguard against abuse in custody. China detains second Canadian citizen as Huawei row intensifies Read moreChina routinely denies such fundamental rights through its system for arbitrary and secret detention. A statutory basis does not make something permissible under international law where it violates fundamental human rights. Earlier this year, human rights groups Safeguard Defenders, the International Service for Human Rights, Network for Chinese Human Rights Defenders, and Rights Practice sent a submission on RSDL to the UN.

Source: The Guardian January 04, 2019 01:52 UTC