Letter from BSCC to Hikvision 15 March 2022 (accessible)
Updated 15 November 2023
© Crown copyright 2023
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/never-again-the-uks-responsibility-to-act-on-atrocities-in-xinjiang-and-beyond/letter-from-bscc-to-hikvision-15-march-2022-accessible
Justin Hollis
Marketing Director Hikvision UK & Ireland
By e-mail
15 March 2022
Dear Justin
Re: Surveillance-Enabled Human Rights Atrocities
I write further to my letter of 16 July 2021 responding to your invitation of questions arising from the report of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee “Never Again: the UK’s responsibility to act on atrocities in Xinjiang and beyond.”
Since then we have exchanged some further inconclusive correspondence and I agreed to meet with you and your representatives to discuss the content but I was unable to agree to the pre-conditions of non-disclosure that you felt it necessary to impose. I have yet to receive any answer to the questions I raised in my original letter, which I have linked above and published on my website.
The issues raised by the Committee and the questions I have asked subsequently have assumed even greater relevance and importance in light of the findings of the Uyghur Tribunal’s judgment delivered on 9 December 2021 by Sir Geoffrey Nice QC.
You will be aware that I have been invited to provide the keynote speech at the forthcoming CCTV User Group Conference in Northampton next month, an event for which your company is a sponsor. I have accepted the invitation in principle and am always keen to contribute to proper public and professional debate around key considerations in surveillance. Given the level of public attention that has arisen from the treatment of Uyghurs and the inextricable contribution made by surveillance technology, I think this will attract a great deal of interest at the conference. Noting once again your assurance of Hikvision’s commitment to openness and transparency, I would therefore be very grateful if you would answer the questions that I asked of you some 8 months ago in order that I can address the issues in the content of my speech. In the event that you remain unwilling to answer those questions, I will feel obliged to decline the invitation to address a conference of which your company is a principal beneficiary.
I sincerely hope that you are now in a position to provide these answers and look forward to taking part in the ensuing discussions.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Fraser Sampson
Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner