Hong Kong authorities have rapidly begun to apply the new National Security Law to prosecute peaceful speech, curtail academic freedom, and generate a chilling effect on fundamental freedoms in the city, Human Rights Watch said today. The law, which China’s government imposed on June 30, 2020, is Beijing’s most aggressive assault on Hong Kong people’s freedoms since the transfer of sovereignty in 1997. The National Security Law also contains provisions whose long-term impact is likely to be devastating to human rights protections in Hong Kong. These include creating specialized secret security agencies, denying fair trial rights, providing sweeping new powers to the police, increasing restraints on civil society and the media, and weakening judicial oversight.
Over the past month, Hong Kong police have invoked the security law at least four times during pro-democracy protests. They arrested 10 people during the annual July 1 pro-democracy protest and another person during a July 21 protest for possessing and displaying printed materials the authorities say promote Hong Kong’s independence. Police now raise a National Security Law flag during protests to warn demonstrators that they can be arrested for “displaying flags or banners” and for “chanting slogans.” On July 2, the Hong Kong government decreed the 2019 protest slogan, “Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our times,” was illegal.
The National Security Law is forcing politically engaged individuals and groups to change how and where they participate in political activities. Hours after the Chinese government passed the law on June 30, one of Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy political groups, Demosisto, disbanded due to concerns over the law. One of its leaders, Nathan Law, left Hong Kong. Two pro-independence political groups run by young people, Studentlocalism and Hong Kong National Front, have also disbanded in Hong Kong, but said they will continue their work abroad. On July 9, days before a planned “democratic primary” – an informal poll organized by Hong Kong’s pro-democracy parties to coordinate candidates for the Legislative Council (LegCo) elections in September – the Hong Kong secretary for mainland and constitutional affairs, Erick Tsang, warned that those who organized and participate in the poll might be in violation of the security law.
The National Security Law is also curtailing the rights to education and freedom of information, opinion, and expression of more than 880,000 schoolchildren in Hong Kong. On July 3, the Hong Kong Education Bureau issued a notice to all schools, including kindergartens, urging them to educate students about the law, stating that the bureau would soon provide “support,” including teacher training, to ensure that students understand the “importance of national security.” On July 6, the bureau ordered schools to review their book collection and remove any that “possibly violate” the new law.
Political censorship extends to the general public’s right to freely access information. On July 4, Hong Kong Public Libraries put at least nine books written by prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy leaders under review to check for compliance with the new law.
The National Security Law’s chilling effects have extended to businesses. On June 30, a prominent participant in the pro-democracy “economic circle,” who had previously received death threats, announced that he would quit the circle because of the new law. On July 2, police officers investigated a Shau Kei Wan restaurant, after receiving reports that the restaurant had “posters and items that violate the NSL.” Since the law was imposed, over a dozen shops that had previously shown support for the pro-democracy movement have taken down pro-democracy posters. Developers of some phone apps that allow people to locate and patronize pro-democracy movement businesses have removed their programs from app stores.
The National Security Law obligates financial service providers to inform the authorities about clients who might be in violation of the law. Reuters reported that global banks, including HSBC and UBS, were scrutinizing their clients for any pro-democracy ties; both banks declined to respond to the specific allegations. Joshua Wong, a prominent pro-democracy leader, said on Facebook that a major bank called him in mid-July about the source of a five-digit sum he received in his account; he said the bank staff refused to respond to his questions about whether the query was related to his political activities. “Hong Kong’s new security legislation is nothing more than a roadmap for repression,” Wang said. “Concerned governments should respond by publicly denouncing the National Security Law, providing safe haven to Hong Kong people, and refusing to cooperate with the law’s applications abroad.”
Source: HRW
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