It is with sadness and dismay we witness how our trade union colleague Lee Cheuk-Yan, General Secretary of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, HKCTU, is today being brought to trial. His only ”crime” is to have stood up for trade union and other fundamental human rights.
Lee Cheuk-Yan was arrested last autumn because of his participation in the popular protests against the new so-called security laws that the Beijing regime wanted to introduce in Hong Kong. The laws were adopted at the end of May this year and clearly limit the freedom and political rights of Hong Kong citizens, including the right to form free and independent trade unions. The laws also allow Chinese security forces to operate freely in Hong Kong, which has already led to further reprisals against the population and an increased number of attacks against political dissidents. By enacting the security laws, the Chinese leaders are also violating the solemn commitments they made in 1997 on “one country, two systems”, when Hong Kong’s sovereignty was transferred from Britain to China.
The Swedish Trade Union Confederation will never remain silent when a regime claims the right to threaten its own population for exercising its fundamental democratic rights. The right to speak and to freely organise trade unions is universal and inviolable. We stand up in solidarity for our comrades in Hong Kong and will continue to do everything in our power in international solidarity to support their continued struggle for democracy and human rights.
The Congress of the Swedish Trade Union Confederation calls for:
- The immediate release of Lee Cheuk-Yan
- The cessation of all restrictions on freedom of speech, the right to organise and civil law abuse of peaceful protesters.
- That the international community condemns China’s actions in Hong Kong and demands that the Chinese authorities respect trade union and other human rights.