Deeming “impossible” to work freely in Hong Kong because of the draconian national security law imposed last year by Beijing, the NGO Amnesty International announced the closure of its offices in the country on Monday. “The Hong Kong National Security Law (…) makes it practically impossible for human rights organizations in Hong Kong to operate freely and without fear of serious reprisals from the government,” the government said in a statement. president of the NGO, Anjhula Mya Singh Bais.
Two offices on site
The former British colony returned to China in 1997 has long benefited from its legal system separate from the rest of the country and guaranteeing freedom of expression and assembly. As a result, many non-governmental organizations and the media have chosen the city as their regional base.
“But the fact that local rights groups and trade unions have recently been targeted is a signal of an intensified campaign by the authorities to rid the city of any dissenting voice,” added the president of Amnesty. It is increasingly difficult for us to continue working in such an unstable environment. Amnesty International, which has been in Hong Kong for more than 40 years, has two offices there: its local chapter and its regional headquarters for South East Asia and the Pacific. The local will close on October 31, and the regional office, by the end of the year.
“Repressive environment”
Adopted in June 2020, the National Security Law, which according to Beijing has allowed Hong Kong to regain stability after the gigantic and often violent pro-democracy protests of 2019, has radically transformed the political, cultural and legal landscape of the territory. The text punishes any constitutive act of “secession”, “subversion”, “collusion with foreign forces” or “terrorism”. Written in a very vague way, it makes it illegal to express almost any form of opposition. Certain crimes against national security are punishable by life imprisonment.
“The repressive environment of perpetual uncertainty created by the national security law makes it impossible to know what activities could lead to criminal sanctions,” Amnesty International said. Last July, the first Hong Kong man tried under the new law, a 24-year-old waiter, was sentenced to nine years in prison for running at a police officer on a motorcycle while waving a flag bearing a slogan considered subversive. A second defendant, a 31-year-old food delivery man, was found guilty on Monday of “secession” for chanting slogans such as “Free Hong Kong, revolution of our time”, or “Hong Kongers, build your own country”.
More than 70 people charged
Jailed since his arrest ten months ago, the young man, the first person to be sentenced for a non-violent national security offense, will face his sentence later. He faces seven years in prison. Trials under the National Security Act take place without a jury and before magistrates specially selected by the government, which constitutes a real break with the Hong Kong legal tradition inherited from the British system. Most of the defendants await trial in prison, as they are rarely granted bail.
More than 70 people, many of the city’s most prominent pro-democracy activists, have been charged, most of them for expressing political views. Many others have fled abroad. Several dozen associations and unions in Hong Kong have also scuttled in recent months for fear of being worried by the authorities. And the city’s main pro-democracy daily, Apple Daily, closed in June after its leaders were jailed and its assets frozen.