Hong Kong Watch highlights Hong Kong’s political prisoners on 75th anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights

As the international community prepares to mark the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Hong Kong Watch reaffirms the rights and freedoms enshrined within it and calls for the release of political prisoners in Hong Kong.

Human Rights Day on 10 December is also the sixth anniversary of the establishment of Hong Kong Watch, which was launched in Speaker’s House in the UK Parliament in 2017. Over the past six years, Hong Kong Watch has grown considerably, and now works across the world, with advocacy staff in London, Washington, DC and Ottawa as well as regular advocacy engagement with the European Union institutions in Brussels, with policy-makers in Berlin and across Europe, and at the United Nations in Geneva.

To mark these two anniversaries, Hong Kong Watch calls on the international community to demand the release of all political prisoners in Hong Kong. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has concluded that Hong Kong barrister Chow Hang-Tung has been arbitrarily detained and is currently considering the case of pro-democracy entrepreneur and founder of the Apple Daily newspaper, Jimmy Lai. Mr Lai, who marks his 76th birthday today, has been in prison for the past three years on multiple charges and is still awaiting trial under the National Security Law.

Hong Kong Watch’s Patrons, including the last Governor of Hong Kong Lord Patten of Barnes, the former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind, Lord Alton of Liverpool, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, KC, Sir Geoffrey Nice, KC and MPs Fiona Bruce (Conservative), Sarah Champion (Labour) and Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat) have today written to the British Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary to publicly call for the release of Mr Lai, who is a British citizen.

Hong Kong Watch urges the international community to monitor the current and upcoming trials closely, in particular the closing stages of the trial of 47 pro-democracy legislators and activists accused of violating the National Security Law for holding a primary election to choose candidates for the legislature in 2020, and the trial of Stand News editors on colonial-era charges of sedition.

Benedict Rogers, co-founder and Chief Executive of Hong Kong Watch, said:

“While we celebrate the establishment of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 75 years ago, Jimmy Lai’s 76th birthday, and the sixth anniversary of the founding of Hong Kong Watch, we do so with a heavy heart, in the knowledge that human rights in Hong Kong are being severely violated, that hundreds of peaceful former legislators, activists, journalists, lawyers and protesters are wrongfully imprisoned, and that press freedom, civil society space and freedom of expression, association and assembly have been dismantled.

“Over the past six years since we established Hong Kong Watch we have achieved a lot, in particular the establishment of the UK’s British National Overseas (BNO) scheme and the Canadian lifeboat scheme which offer a lifeline to Hong Kongers to build a new life in freedom. However, there is so much more for us to do.

“On this anniversary, we will redouble our efforts to shine a spotlight on Hong Kong and ensure that political prisoners are not forgotten. We call on the British government in particular to demand the release of Jimmy Lai, a British citizen, and we urge all like-minded governments to demand the release of Chow Hang-Tung, whose imprisonment has been described by the UN as arbitrary detention, and all other political prisoners. If the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is to mean anything, it must mean that people should not be jailed for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression, assembly and association or seeking democracy.

“We also take this opportunity to highlight the upcoming Universal Periodic Review of China at the UN Human Rights Council, where we urge UN Member States to make specific recommendations about Hong Kong, to emphasise how much Hong Kong has deteriorated.”

【《世界人權宣言》75週年、香港監察成立六週年、黎智英76歲生日】香港監察促請釋放香港政治犯 前港督彭定康勳爵、前外相聶偉敬爵士等八名香港監察贊助人聯署要求英政府呼籲釋放黎智英

適逢國際社會準備紀念《世界人權宣言》問世75週年，香港監察再次肯定莊嚴載入這份文件的權利和自由，並呼籲釋放香港政治犯。

2023年12月10日是國際人權日，也是香港監察成立六週年的日子。2017年，香港監察在英國國會下議院議長府邸宣告成立。過去六年來，香港監察顯著發展，現時工作遍布世界各地，倡議團隊成員分布英國、美國和加拿大，並定期與歐盟組織、德國以至歐洲的政策制訂者、聯合國聯絡倡議。

為紀念上述兩個週年，香港監察呼籲國際社會要求釋放香港所有政治犯。聯合國任意拘留問題工作小組已確定香港大律師鄒幸彤被任意拘留，現正審議民主派企業家、《蘋果日報》創辦人黎智英的案例。黎智英今日迎來76歲生日，過去三年因多項罪名而入獄，目前仍在等候《國家安全法》案件審訊。

香港監察贊助人，包括前香港總督彭定康勳爵（Lord Patten of Barnes）、前外交大臣聶偉敬爵士（Sir Malcolm Rifkind）、奧爾頓勳爵（Lord Alton of Liverpool）、御用大律師肯尼迪女男爵（Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws）、御用大律師尼斯爵士（Sir Geoffrey Nice）、保守黨國會議員Fiona Bruce、工黨國會議員Sarah Champion和自由民主黨國會議員Alistair Carmichael，同日聯署致函英國首相和外相，要求公開呼籲釋放英國公民黎智英。

香港監察促請國際社會密切關注現正及即將展開的審訊，尤其是47名民主派立法會議員和社運人士因2020年組織及參與立法會初選而被控違反《國安法》案件的最後階段，以及《立場新聞》編輯被控殖民時代煽動罪的案件。

香港監察共同創辦人兼行政總監羅傑斯（Benedict Rogers）表示：

「我們懷着沉重的心情慶祝《世界人權宣言》問世75週年、黎智英76歲生日和香港監察成立六週年，深知香港人權受到嚴重侵害，數百名和平的前立法會議員、社運人士、記者、律師和示威者被錯誤監禁，新聞自由、民間社會和言論、結社及集會自由全被摧毀。

香港監察成立六年來，取得豐碩成果，尤其是促成英國國民海外（BNO）簽證計劃和加拿大救生艇計劃，為香港人提供救生索，讓他們能夠在自由環境中建立新生活。然而，我們還有很多工作要做。

時值六週年，香港監察會加倍努力，讓世界關注香港局勢，確保政治犯不會被遺忘。我們特別呼籲英國政府要求釋放英國公民黎智英，並促請所有志同道合的政府要求釋放聯合國形容其監禁為任意拘留的鄒幸彤，以及所有其他政治犯。若《世界人權宣言》果真有意義，其意義必然在於世人不應因和平行使享有言論、結社及集會自由的權利，也不應因追尋民主而被監禁。

我們亦藉此機會強調聯合國人權理事會即將對中國展開的普遍定期審議，敦促聯合國成員國在審議期間就香港提出具體建議，突顯香港局勢惡化的程度。」