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Following is a question by the Hon Chan Hak-kan and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Lai Tung-kwok, in the Legislative Council today (April 22):
Question:
It has been reported that terrorist forces have been expanding incessantly in recent years and emergent terrorist organisations are actively recruiting members from various countries. As pointed out by the United Nations in a report released last year, around 15 000 people had joined the extremist organisation Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and its membership had kept growing. It has also been reported that around 300 Chinese have joined ISIL, and such situation has aroused concerns. In order to stop their nationals from leaving the country to participate in terrorist activities abroad, countries such as the United Kingdom and Canada have enacted legislation to empower law enforcement agencies to prohibit their nationals suspected of intending to join terrorist activities abroad from leaving the country, and to refuse those who have engaged in such activities from returning to the country. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities will, on the premise of not infringing on the freedom to enter or leave Hong Kong granted to Hong Kong residents by Article 31 of the Basic Law, implement departure restrictions to stop Hong Kong residents intending to join terrorist activities abroad from leaving Hong Kong, and to refuse those who have engaged in such activities from returning to Hong Kong; if they will, of the details; if not, the preventive measures the authorities have in place;
(2) whether the authorities have studied if the existing legislation and measures are sufficient to prevent extremist organisations from recruiting members in Hong Kong; if they have, of the details; if not, whether the authorities will draw up relevant legislation and measures; and
(3) of the details of the authorities' efforts to combat terrorist activities; the outcome of the assessments conducted by the authorities' in the past three years regarding the potential threats of terrorist activities; the respective numbers of persons who were arrested and prosecuted in the past three years for participating in terrorist activities; whether the Hong Kong Government has established channels with overseas law enforcement agencies to exchange intelligence on and conduct joint operations against terrorist activities; if it has, of the details?
Reply:
President,
Our reply to the three parts of the question is as follows:
(1) and (2) Article 31 of the Basic Law protects the freedom of Hong Kong residents to travel and to enter or leave Hong Kong. Nonetheless, Hong Kong all along has a strong legal framework and law enforcement capacity to prevent and tackle terrorism. Any person who commits a terrorist offence in Hong Kong is punishable under the common law and various local ordinances, such as the Crimes Ordinance (Cap. 200) and the Offences Against the Person Ordinance (Cap. 212). In addition, a number of international conventions against terrorism have been made applicable to Hong Kong through local legislation to combat terrorist activities such as collection for funds and supply of weapons to terrorists. Under the United Nations (Anti-Terrorism Measures) Ordinance (the Ordinance) (Cap. 575), the authority may, from time to time, specify terrorists and terrorist bodies in accordance with the latest announcement of the United Nations. The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant has been specified as a terrorist body under the Ordinance. According to section 10 of the Ordinance, a person commits an offence if he becomes a member or recruits another person to become a member of a specified body, and is liable to imprisonment for seven years on conviction. Section 3 of the Ordinance stipulates that such an offence applies to a Hong Kong permanent resident outside Hong Kong. In other words, it is against the law for a Hong Kong citizen to join in any places such terrorist bodies as a member.
(3) Strengthening counter-terrorism work is one of the operational priorities of the Commissioner of Police in 2015. The Hong Kong Police Force will continue to monitor trends of terrorist activities to ensure readiness at all times. They will also provide security advice for critical infrastructure and sensitive premises, and arrange counter-terrorism patrols. The Police will also conduct training and multi-agency exercises regularly to practise and enhance counter-terrorism contingency plans to prepare for emergencies.
The Police have been conducting timely assessments of the terrorist threat for Hong Kong and maintaining close liaison with law enforcement agencies (LEAs) of other regions to exchange intelligence and threat assessments. At present, there is no specific intelligence suggesting that Hong Kong is a potential target of terrorist attack. The threat of terrorist attacks for Hong Kong remained at the "moderate" level in the past three years. During the period, no one was arrested or prosecuted for terrorism activities. It is not appropriate for the Police to disclose details of intelligence exchange with overseas LEAs.
Ends/Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Issued at HKT 16:52
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