Briefing: Human rights developments in Hong Kong in June 2021

This briefing describes developments in Hong Kong in June 2021 focusing on the rapid deterioration of human rights in the city following the introduction of the National Security Law in July 2020.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

POLITICAL PRISONERS: ARRESTS, CHARGES, & TRIALS

Throughout June 2021, Beijing has continued its crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, with:

- The arrest of seven journalists under the National Security Law.

- Confirmation by the police of the creation of a National Security ‘watch list’ of over fifty journalists and individuals, who will be arrested if they attempt to leave the city.

- The banning of the June 4 vigil marking the Tiananmen Square Massacre and the July 1 annual march marking the handover.

- The arrest of Chow Hang-tung, the pro-democracy activist and organiser of the annual June 4 vigil.

- The arrest of two individuals for displaying Liberate Hong Kong banners.

- The disbanding of more than six civil society groups following the latest crackdown in Hong Kong.

- The movement of two high-profile National Security cases to the high court, which will allow Beijing to push for the maximum sentence of life in prison.

CENSORSHIP OF THE PRESS, INTERNET, ARTS & CULTURE

In the last month, the Hong Kong Government and Beijing have moved to censor the free press, internet, and arts and culture in Hong Kong, with:

- Apple Daily closing after the Hong Kong Police refused to unfreeze its bank accounts.

- StandNews reporting that it will no longer accept paid subscriptions or donations and that it has removed content from its website published before May 2021.

- The pro-democracy website, Winandmac, announcing that it will relocate out of Hong Kong as a result of the National Security Law.

- Public libraries removing copies of the pro-democracy newspaper, Apple Daily, from their archives and books authored by Jimmy Lai, its founder and former proprietor.

- Facebook, Twitter, and Google threatening to leave Hong Kong if the Government moves ahead with a new data law, which could make staff liable to prosecution and fines for users’ posts online encouraging doxing.

- HK Charter 2021, a group set up by pro-democracy activists abroad, reporting that their website has been blocked in Hong Kong under the National Security Law.

- The Hong Kong’s Art Development Council announcing the withholding of HK$700,000 in funding for Ying E Chi Cinema for distributing a documentary featuring clashes between protestors and the Hong Kong Police at Polytechnic University in 2019.

- RTHK continuing to cut programs from its schedule, including its current affairs radio program Open Line Open View.

- Hong Kong authorities closing a museum marking the Tiananmen Square Massacre.

THE STATE OF THE RULE OF LAW

  • The Financial Times has reported that pro-Beijing lawmakers have successfully intervened in the appointment of a senior judge to the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, in what appears to be an attempt to undermine the independence of the judiciary.

  • The Deputy-Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office has told a legal summit that the denial of bail and the principle of no juries under the National Security Law “must come first” ahead of Hong Kong’s Basic Law.

  • The newly appointed Hong Kong Chief Secretary and former Security Minister, John Lee Ka-chiu, has been appointed to head a newly created vetting committee to ensure candidates running for Legislative Council seats are sufficiently “patriotic”.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS

  • Forty-four countries signed a statement led by Canada at the United Nations raising concern about the National Security Law and urging China to abide by its human rights obligations.

  • G7 leaders called on China to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, especially in relation to Xinjiang and those rights, freedoms and high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong enshrined in the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law.

  • The Canadian Government has announced new pathways to citizenship for Hong Kongers, as part of its lifeboat package previously announced back November 2020.

  • A cross-party group of twenty Canadian lawmakers have written to the Minister of Foreign Affairs to call for the Government of Canada to undertake an audit of the Canadian assets of Hong Kong officials and their families.

  • The Home Affairs Select Committee in the UK Parliament has called for the Government to extend its BNO visa scheme for those born after 1997, by allowing a young person with a BNO parent to apply separately.

  • A growing number of Hongkongers with BNO passports who fled to the UK in fear of Beijing’s ongoing crackdown say their requests to withdraw their pension funds provided by some of the world’s biggest multinational banks and insurers have been rejected.

  • Thirty-one European parliamentarians have written to the Hong Kong Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, to protest the closure of Apple Daily and to call for the release of all journalists arrested under the National Security Law.

  • The Hong Kong Government has banned direct flights from the UK to Hong Kong, citing the rising number of COVID-cases in the UK.

Reports, Briefing, NewsSam GoodmanHong Kong, democracy, Rule of Law