Hong Kong Watch Briefing on Human Rights Developments: February 2026

This briefing describes developments in Hong Kong in February 2026 focusing on the rapid deterioration of human rights in the city following the imposition of the National Security Law and the passage of Safeguarding National Security Ordinance.

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Executive Summary

February 2026 marked one of the darkest months for human rights in Hong Kong since the National Security Law came into effect in 2020.

Jimmy Lai received a 20-year prison sentence on 9 February – the longest handed down under the NSL. Given his age and ill health, it is effectively a life sentence. Six former Apple Daily colleagues were sentenced on the same day. The UN, US, UK, EU, Amnesty International, and press freedom organisations worldwide condemned the ruling.

For the first time, a family member of an exiled activist was jailed under the NSL. Kwok Yin-sang, 68, was sentenced to eight months for attempting to cancel an insurance policy held in his daughter’s name. His daughter, Anna Kwok, is an overseas pro-democracy activist under a HK$1 million government bounty. The tactic mirrors the mainland security apparatus’s well-documented use of family coercion – its deployment in Hong Kong marks a significant escalation in transnational repression.

Elsewhere, the Court of Appeal dismissed the final appeals of 12 Hong Kong 47 defendants; the trial of Tiananmen vigil organisers Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung continued at the High Court; and sedition charges were brought against individuals for online commentary about the Wang Fuk Court fire, which killed 168 people.

The Hong Kong Federation of Students – founded in 1958 – announced its dissolution, leaving Hong Kong without a single territory-wide student federation. A university student was expelled weeks before graduation following a national security arrest. Journalism students are to be placed in mainland state media outlets for internships. Released 2019 protesters face mandatory ideological tours of the mainland.

The authorities also announced plans to integrate facial recognition into a network of 66,500 CCTV cameras by 2031.

香港監察香港人權狀況簡報：2026年2月

香港人權狀況在《國家安全法》實施及《維護國家安全條例》（俗稱23條）通過後急速惡化，這份簡報記錄了2026年2月香港的事態發展。

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摘要

2026年2月是自2020年《國安法》生效以來，香港人權狀況數一數二黑暗的月份。

黎智英於2月9日被判處20年監禁，是《國安法》實施以來最長刑期。鑒於他年事已高、健康狀況欠佳，這實際上等同終身監禁。同日，六名前《蘋果日報》同事亦被判刑。聯合國、美國、英國、歐盟、國際特赦組織及世界各地新聞自由組織紛紛譴責裁決。

本月首次有流亡社運人士家人因違反《國安法》而被判入獄。海外社運人士郭鳯儀的父親郭賢生因試圖取消女兒名下保單而被判處八個月監禁。郭鳯儀正被香港政府懸紅100萬港元通緝。這與中國大陸安全機構有案可稽的威逼家人手法如出一轍，這手段用在香港上顯示跨國鎮壓顯著升級。

另外，香港上訴法庭駁回12名47人案被告的上訴；李卓人和鄒幸彤的支聯會被控「煽動顛覆國家政權」案繼續在高等法院審理；多人因網上評論造成168人死亡的大埔宏福苑火災而被控煽動罪。

1958年成立的香港專上學生聯會宣布解散，香港從此再無全港學生聯會；一名曾被警方國安處拘捕的大學生在畢業前幾週被開除學籍；新聞系學生將被安排到中國大陸官方媒體實習；刑滿獲釋的2019年抗爭示威者將被強制參加大陸意識形態交流團。

當局亦宣布計劃於2031年前在裝有6.65萬個閉路電視鏡頭的網絡中引入人臉識別。

Photo: Pakkin Leung, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons