通訊事務管理局辦公室，香港各大電視新聞部，各位聾人/弱聽朋友，各位廣大市民：To Office of the Communications Authority, all News Division of Hong Kong television broadcasting companies, Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing friends, and citizens,
我們是一群熱心香港事務的聾人/弱聽人士，以及健聽的同路人。今天，大量市民因不滿政府硬推《逃犯條例》 ，前往金鐘立法會聚集和示威，換來警方鎮壓。 我們在心痛之餘，希望一盡公民之力，參與此等重要的公共事務，實時接收準確的新聞消息，與八百萬香港市民一起共渡這困難之時。
We are a group of Deaf and Hard-of-hearing individuals, as well as hearing allies, who love our home, Hong Kong. Today, rallies at Legislative Council (LEGCO) in Admiralty were drawn by the Government’s proposal to the amendment of the Extradition Bill. Peaceful assembly and protests by Hong Kong citizens were labelled as riots and responded with unnecessary excessive police violence. With our hearts all falling to pieces, we would like to participate like the other eight million Hong Kong citizens through watching live news. In such a way, we are able to exercise our civil rights by participating in social movements.
是次《逃犯條例》修訂案重要且影響深遠，政府有責任確保有關資訊能清晰、正確地傳達至社會各階層及群體。然而，政府既沒有在討論議案的法案委員會中設手語傳譯及即時字幕，令聾人群體無法有效獲得相關資訊、剝奪其知情權。因此，有一群關心香港事務的聾健譯者必須於上星期自發邀請立法會議員，參加聾人/弱聽人士聚會，通過手語傳譯，向聾人/弱聽朋友解說《逃犯條例》的由來。
The Extradition Bill has a far-reaching impact to all Hong Kong citizens. Our Government should be responsible for ensuring that all related-information is clearly and accurately released to all sectors and communities of our society. It means that public information should be accessible to the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community. However, we see neither sign interpretation nor real-time captioning for the meetings of the LEGCO Bills Committee and all live news broadcasting. Our information accessibility rights have been deprived. Some of us self-initiated a meeting with the LEGCO members last week. Through sign language interpretation, Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing participants were able to understand the goals and content of the Extradition Bill amendment and the discussion around it.
今天在金鐘立法會發生的示威行動， 聾人/弱聽人士跟廣大市民一樣，急切於從電視獲得即時資訊，有聾人/弱聽人士更是示威者之一，必須靠著準確新聞資訊部署行動。然而，各大電視新聞播出的片段，均無手語傳譯及即時字幕，政府高級官員，警方，以至特首公開講話的直播，只聞聲音，試問聾人/弱聽人士如何得知講話內容？
Today, as we see the protests that happened outside of the LEGCO in Admiralty, Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing individuals urged to receive instant information from TV like all other citizens. Some of the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing individuals were protestors themselves, and accurate, instant information was essential for them to plan their action on-site. The lack of sign language interpretation and real-time captioning in all broadcasting TV news reflects the lack of awareness to the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing community. All live broadcasting of government officials, police, and the Chief Executive speeches are only accessible through sounds. How do we expect a Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing individual to understand anything from these TV broadcasts?
此聯署公開信，是我們自發地團結要求政府各部門協調，安排在電視新聞以及重要官員，示威者發表講話時，加入手語傳譯及實時中文字幕。這都是香港政府在簽署《聯合國殘疾人權利公約》時的承諾。保障香港市民的資訊通達權，是政府的責任。
This petition is initiated to urge different divisions of the Government to provide sign interpretation and real-time Chinese captioning in all TV news, including both speeches of government officials and demonstrators. This is to fulfill the promises made by the government in ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). It is our Government’s responsibility to ensure all citizens enjoy their rights of information access.
自《逃犯條例》修訂案開始，聾人/弱聽人士已錯過了太多資訊，請政府及各大電視台堅守資訊通達的原則，為聾人/弱聽人士提供與廣大市民同樣的權利。
Since the very beginning of the amendment of the Extradition Bill, the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing community has been missing out so much information. We urge the Government and all TV broadcasting companies to uphold their responsibility and provide Deaf and hard-of-hearing citizens with the rights of access.
一群聾人/弱聽人士及健聽同路人
2019年6月12日
Members of the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing community in Hong Kong and hearing allies
12 June, 2019
