Closed petition Demand the immediate release of the 5 missing Hong Kong booksellers

Closed on 11 July 2016

British citizen Paul Lee, the owner of a Hong Kong bookstore selling critical books of China, disappeared last week. He is the fifth person connected to the bookstore to have vanished since October. The British Government must stand up to Beijing authorities by demanding for their immediate release.

Article 27 of the Hong Kong Basic Law guarantees freedom of press in Hong Kong. As a co-signatory to the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, Britain has a moral and legal obligation under international law to ensure the principle of 'one-country, two-systems' is upheld in Hong Kong. Therefore, the extrajudicial abduction and prolonged detention of the 5 booksellers by Mainland authorities are flagrant breaches of the treaty, the rule of law and international human rights standards.