Hong Kong Watch makes submissions for China’s UN Universal Periodic Review

Today, Hong Kong Watch made three joint submissions to the UN Universal Periodic Review of the People’s Republic of China. 

The UN Universal Periodic Review is a mechanism by which the situation of human rights in each state is reviewed by UN Member States. The People’s Republic of China will be reviewed in early 2024, so we have contributed by providing information relevant to the human rights violations in Hong Kong from 2018 until the present. 

The first submission, in collaboration with Hong Kong Link Up, focuses on human rights violations related to the 2019 protests, the National Security Law, civil society, political prisoners, women’s rights, and freedom of the media. 

The submission is available here.

This submission has been informally endorsed by 35 civil society organisations, showing the solidarity and consensus among the Hong Kong diaspora on these violations of rights and freedoms, and illustrating why it is vital that UN Member States seriously consider and respond to the human rights crisis in Hong Kong today. 

These organisations are: Action Free Hong Kong Montreal, AHKF AfricaHongKongFrance, Association of Hongkongers in Western Australia, Australia Capital Hong Kong Association, Australia Hong Kong Link, Birmingham Hongkongers, Bonham Tree Aid CIC, Britons in Hongkong, Canadian Friends of Hong Kong (CFHK), Comité pour la liberté à Hongkong, Democracy For Hong Kong (D4HK), Freiheit für Hongkong e.V., Halifax-Hong Kong Link, HKersUnited, Hong Kong Committee in Norway, Hong Kong Community Focus CIC, Hong Kong Democracy Council (HKDC), Fight for Freedom. Stand With Hong Kong., Hong Kong Liberty, Hongkonger in Deutschland e.V., Hongkongers in Britain (HKB), Hongkongers in Leeds, Japan Hong Kong Democracy Alliance, Netherlands for Hong Kong (NL4HK), NGO DEI, Power to Hongkongers, Scottish Hongkongers, Self-Exile Former District Councillors Hong Kong, Sutton Hong Kong Culture & Arts Society (Sutton 藝文社), The 29 Principles, The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, Victoria Hongkongers Association, Human Rights in China, Humanitarian China, Stop Uyghur Genocide, Uyghur Human Rights Project. 

Hong Kong Watch also made a joint submission with Hongkonger in Deutschland e.V. and Freiheit für Hong Kong e.V., focusing on the human rights violations inflicted by the Hong Kong Kong SAR, in particular the National Security Law, on Hongkongers and other people who advocate for Hong Kong in Germany. 

You can read the full submission here.

Finally, Hong Kong Watch made a joint submission with Self-Exile Former District Councillors Hong Kong, focusing on violations of political rights; rights of emigration; conditions of detention; and the implementation of the National Security Law in Hong Kong. 

You can read the full submission here. 

Anouk Wear, research and policy advisor at Hong Kong Watch, said:

“We are grateful for the opportunity to provide additional information to the United Nations for its reviews of human rights in the People’s Republic of China and hope that the information provided by us and our allies will be taken into consideration. 

We are delighted and very impressed that, despite the risks to their security, so many Hong Kong diaspora civil society groups have been deeply engaged in preparing for this UPR process and are using the opportunity to raise our voices to ensure that Hong Kong features prominently in China’s UPR. 

The joint submissions and the 35 endorsements we have received further show the solidarity, unity and determination that the Hong Kong community has in seeking accountability for the violations of human rights and freedoms, both at home and abroad. We call on as many UN member states as possible to ensure that the serious human rights situation in Hong Kong is raised at every opportunity during the UPR, and that concrete recommendations for change are made during the review.”