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TITLE: MACAU HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1993
DATE: JANUARY 31, 1994
AUTHOR: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
MACAU
Macau, a tiny enclave comprised of a peninsula and two islands
on the south China coast and encompassing only 6 square miles,
is recognized by both China and Portugal as Chinese territory
under Portuguese administration. The "Organic Statute" of
1976, which serves as Macau's Constitution, grants it
considerable administrative, financial, and legislative
autonomy. Legislative power is shared by the Portuguese
Government and the territory's Legislative Assembly. Macau's
Governor, appointed by the Portuguese President, holds
expansive powers under the statute. Portuguese metropolitan
law serves as the basis for the legal system, which features an
independent judiciary and jury trials. The police force is
firmly under the control of the civilian authorities. Macau's
economy is fueled by legalized gambling, which has produced a
thriving tourist industry, and by the export of textiles and
other light industrial products. With a population of less
than half a million people, Macau has a per capita gross
domestic product of over $13,500.
Under the 1987 Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration, Macau will
become a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China on
December 20, 1999, and operate under a principle of "one
country, two systems," to remain unchanged for 50 years. The
Macau SAR's future Constitution, called the "Basic Law," was
promulgated on March 31, 1993.
Citizens of Macau enjoy a wide range of rights and freedoms.
The human rights provisions of the Portuguese Constitution
apply in Macau, while Article 40 of the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights has been incorporated into the
Basic Law. The principal human rights problem in Macau
involves the inability of citizens to change their government
or determine their political future: the Governor is appointed
by the Portuguese President, only a third of legislators are
directly elected, and the territory's future path has been set
largely by Lisbon and Beijing.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
Government authorities do not practice these abuses.
b. Disappearance
The authorities do not practice or condone secret arrests or
clandestine confinements.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment
Such abuses are prohibited by law and were not known to occur
in 1993.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
Legal prohibitions against arbitrary arrest exist and are
honored. The examining judge, who conducts a pretrial inquiry
in criminal cases, has a wide range of powers to collect
evidence, order or dismiss indictments, validate and maintain
the detention of suspects, and determine whether to release
accused persons. Persons remanded in custody must be presented
to an examining judge within 48 hours of being detained. The
accused's counsel may examine the evidence. If the judge is
not convinced that the evidence is adequate, he may dismiss the
accused. Exile is not practiced.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
Fair trial is guaranteed and practiced. The courts are
independent of the executive, and juries determine questions of
fact in criminal cases. At present, Macau's courts are
integrated into the Portuguese judicial system, and decisions
are appealable to the superior Portuguese courts. Macau's
Supreme Court, established in April, gives Macau nearly
complete judicial autonomy, although in cases involving "basic
rights of the citizen" defendants may appeal to Portugal's
Constitutional Court, which may overturn all lower court
rulings.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
Laws provide for the inviolability of the home and of
communication, the right of ownership of private property and
of enterprises, and the freedom to marry and raise a family.
There is no indication of any abuses of these rights by the
Government.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
Independent or critical opinions receive consistent airing on
radio and television and in public forums. The Government owns
a majority share of the radio and television service and
ensures that all candidates receive equal time during election
campaigns. However, freedom of the press is more restricted.
Most of Macau's newspapers are pro-China publications that do
not give equal coverage to liberal and prodemocracy forces.
Self-censorship is growing among newspaper reporters, some of
whom express fears that they will lose their jobs if they
criticize China or government policy. The academic community
is free to express its views, though some academics report that
they avoid research on topics that entail criticism of China.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
Legal guarantees of these freedoms are largely observed.
However, the Government restricts demonstrations to a limited
number of "approved locations" with sufficient space to
accommodate the crowds and continues to ban any protests within
50 meters of government buildings. This ban effectively
excludes demonstrations from the city center and relegates them
to the outlying islands.
c. Freedom of Religion
Macau is a predominantly Buddhist society. Members of other
religions exist and practice their religion freely.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
There are no restrictions on movement within the enclave;
emigration and foreign travel are unlimited. The Government
reports that about 105,000 of Macau's 400,000 inhabitants have
the right of abode in Portugal.
The Government's official policy since 1982 has been to refuse
asylum to all Vietnamese boat people arriving in Macau waters
and redirect them to nearby Hong Kong territorial waters.
There were no arrivals of boat people in Macau in 1993. While
awaiting third-country resettlement, the 10 remaining boat
people in Macau live in public housing and work in the local
economy.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
Citizens have only a limited ability to change their
government. In a by-election in the summer of 1992, 6 members
were added to the legislative assembly (2 appointed, 2 elected,
2 indirectly elected through functional constituencies). The
23-member Legislative Assembly is composed of 8 members elected
in universal, direct elections; 8 indirectly elected by local
community interests; and 7 appointed by the Governor. The
Consultative Council, an advisory group to the Governor
composed of elected and appointed members, also provides some
measure of popular representation. The Government, by
tradition, also consults informally on a regular basis with
local business and cultural leaders.
Although women traditionally have played a minor role in local
political life, they increasingly are being found in senior
positions throughout the administration. A woman is the
President of the Legislative Assembly, the second most senior
position in Macau after the Governor, and the Under Secretary
for Health and Social Affairs is a woman.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
of Human Rights
Local human rights organizations operate freely in Macau. The
Government received an Amnesty International delegation sent to
study a final draft of the Basic Law.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
Disability, Language, or Social Status
Women
Women are becoming more active and visible in business and
government, and some enjoy considerable influence and
responsibility in these areas. Anecdotal information indicates
women do not receive equal pay for equal work, but firm
statistical evidence on this issue is not available.
Cases of violence against women are not common. For cases that
are reported, Macau's criminal statutes prohibiting domestic
violence are enforced and violators prosecuted. Police and
doctors report abuses to the Social Welfare Department, which
investigates them. If hospital treatment is required, a
medical social worker counsels the victim and informs her about
social welfare services. Until their complaints are resolved,
battered women may be placed in public housing, but no
facilities are reserved especially for them.
Children
Child abuse and exploitation are not widespread problems in
Macau. While some funds for children's welfare and protection
services are provided by the Government, most such services are
provided by nongovernmental entities such as churches and
community organizations. Moreover, the Government has not
promulgated any statutes specifically to protect the rights of
children, relying on the general framework of civil and
political rights legislation to protect all citizens.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Freedom from discrimination is guaranteed by law. However, in
practice Macau's governmental and legal systems place a premium
on knowledge of the Portuguese language, which is spoken by
less than 4 percent of the population. Thus, about 60 percent
of the approximately 130 senior government officials come from
Portugal. Most of the other middle and upper ranking civil
servants are Macanese-Eurasians of Chinese and Portuguese
descent. There is significant public pressure for the
Government to speed up the process of making the civil service
more representative of the population. In January the
Government gave the Chinese language official status and the
same legal force as Portuguese.
People with Disabilities
The extent to which physically disabled persons are
discriminated against in employment, education, and the
provision of state services is not known. There does not
appear to be much governmental concern about the subject, and
there is little funding for special programs aimed at helping
the physically and mentally disabled gain better access to
employment, education, and public facilities. Accessibility
for the disabled has not been mandated legislatively or
otherwise.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
Macau labor law recognizes the right and freedom of all workers
to form and join trade unions and of private sector unions to
strike. The Government neither impedes the formation of trade
unions nor discriminates against union members. A garbage
strike was the only major strike in 1993. The police are
legally prohibited from striking but occasionally engage in
massive "job actions" which are strikes in all but name.
Local trade union activities, including the selection of union
leadership, are heavily influenced by mainland Chinese
interests, which stress the importance of stability and minimum
disruption of the work force. Nearly all of Macau's 7,000
private sector union members belong to a pro-China labor
confederation. Many local observers claim that this
organization is more interested in furthering the Chinese
political agenda in Macau than in addressing classic trade
union issues. A few private sector unions and two of the four
public sector unions are outside of Chinese control.
Macau unions may freely form federations and affiliate with
international bodies. Three civil service unions are
affiliated with the major non-Communist Portuguese Union
Confederation, which itself has international labor ties.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
Unions tend to resemble local traditional neighborhood
associations, promoting social and cultural activities rather
than issues relating to the workplace. Local customs,
moreover, normally favor employment without the benefit of
written labor contracts--except in the case of importation of
labor from China. Reflecting influence by China, unions
traditionally have not attempted to engage in collective
bargaining. While Portuguese laws protecting collective
bargaining apply to Macau, the Government does not impede or
discourage it.
There are no government mechanisms to promote voluntary
negotiations.
The law prohibits antiunion discrimination, and there were no
complaints about it in 1993.
There are no export processing zones in Macau.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
Compulsory labor is illegal and does not exist.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
Minors under the age of 15 are forbidden to work except in
businesses operated by their families. The law is enforced by
the Macau Labor Department, which refers offending employers to
the judicial authorities for prosecution. The Labor Department
claims that the incidence of child labor has declined radically
since effective enforcement began in 1985. There were two
prosecutions for child labor violations in 1992.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
In the absence of any statutory minimum wage or publicly
administered social security program, some large companies have
provided private welfare and security packages. Calls for
labor reform, medical insurance, a social security system, and
increases in employee compensation figure regularly in
political campaign platforms. To offset a current labor
shortage, the Government allows the importation of labor from
China under contract, while at the same time imposing heavy
fines on employers harboring illegal immigrants. Roughly
12,000 imported Chinese laborers are now in Macau, most of them
working on construction of the new airport. The number of
imported workers in other jobs totals between 2,000 and 3,000
out of an estimated work force of 195,000.
Labor legislation provides for a 48-hour workweek, an 8-hour
workday, overtime, annual leave, medical and maternity care,
and employee compensation insurance. The Department of Labor
provides assistance and legal advice to workers on request but
government enforcement of labor laws is lax because of limited
resources.
Laws on occupational safety and health are enforced by the
Department of Labor, which reported 1,171 infractions of
occupational safety and health laws through mid-November,
mostly in the construction sector. Failure to correct
infractions leads to government prosecution.
[end of document]
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