Hong Kong Watch urges United Nations to protect children in Hong Kong
Today, Hong Kong Watch made a submission to the United Nations Human Rights Office’s Committee on the Rights of the Child ahead of its review of the People’s Republic of China, including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), highlighting the systemic impact of Hong Kong’s national security legislation on children’s rights in the HKSAR.
The submission addresses the treatment of children detained under the Hong Kong National Security Law (HKNSL), documenting patterns of physical and sexual abuse in juvenile correctional facilities, the routine use of solitary confinement, and the absence of any independent international body with monitoring access to these institutions. It draws on a September 2025 report by the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (CFHK) Foundation, “We Were Made to Suffer,” which found juvenile facilities to be “especially notorious for excessive violence,” including cases of minors subjected to prolonged assault while in custody.
The submission also sets out how compulsory national security education, now taught from age six across 27 subjects, has been accompanied by the widespread removal of books from school and public libraries, including children’s titles, and the disqualification of teachers over lesson content and personal social media posts. It further highlights how the HKNSL has extended to children’s online activity, citing the December 2025 sentencing of a 16-year-old to three and a half years in prison over online meetings and social media posts, and Hong Kong Watch’s November 2024 report, Invisible Decline: Violations of Digital Rights in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong Watch’s submission urges the Committee to treat these patterns, spanning detention conditions, education, and online expression, as a systemic issue under Articles 3, 12, 13, 17, 19, 37, and 40 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, rather than isolated incidents. It calls on the Committee to request disaggregated data from the State party on the number of children currently detained on national security or sedition-related charges, and to recommend independent international monitoring access to Hong Kong’s juvenile correctional facilities.
Please click here to read the full submission.
Megan Khoo, Policy Director of Hong Kong Watch, said:
“The Hong Kong government’s use of national security legislation against children, whether through imprisonment, curriculum control, or online surveillance, represents a systemic failure to uphold its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. We urge the Committee to press the State party for full transparency on the number of children affected and to recommend independent oversight of Hong Kong’s juvenile detention facilities and classrooms.”
香港監察向聯合國提交意見書 促請保護香港兒童
香港監察今日在聯合國人權事務高級專員辦事處兒童權利委員會審議中華人民共和國（包括香港特別行政區）之前，向委員會提交意見書，重點探討香港國家安全法例對香港兒童權利的系統式影響。
這份意見書處理根據《國家安全法》被拘留兒童的待遇，記錄了少年懲教設施中身體及性虐待的模式、常規使用單獨囚禁的情況，以及缺乏任何獨立國際機構監察這些機構的情形。意見書引用香港自由委員會基金會（CFHK）在2025年9月發表的報告《We Were Made to Suffer》，報告發現少年懲教設施「尤其以過度暴力而聲名狼藉」，包括未成年人在羈押期間長期受到毆打的案例。
意見書亦闡述強制國家安全教育（現時由六歲開始實行，涵蓋27門科目）如何配合學校及公共圖書館將大量書籍下架（包括兒童讀物），以及教師因課堂內容和個人社交媒體帖文而被取消教師註冊資格。意見書進一步指出《國安法》如何延伸至兒童網上活動，援引了2025年12月一名16歲少年因網上會議和社交媒體帖文而被判入獄三年半的案例，以及香港監察在2024年11月發表的報告《隱形衰退：香港數碼權利侵害行為及其影響》（Invisible Decline: Violations of Digital Rights in Hong Kong and their Impact）。
香港監察意見書促請委員會將這些涵蓋拘留狀況、教育和網上言論的模式，視為《兒童權利公約》第3、12、13、17、19、37和40條下的系統式問題，而非個別事件。意見書呼籲委員會要求締約國提供目前因國安或煽動控罪而被拘留兒童人數的分類數據，並建議容許獨立國際機構監察香港少年懲教設施。
請按此處閱覽意見書全文。
香港監察政策總監Megan Khoo表示：
「香港政府針對兒童動用國家安全法例——無論是透過監禁、課程管制，還是網絡監控——均顯示港府未能系統上履行《兒童權利公約》下的義務。我們促請委員會要求締約國完全透明公開受影響兒童的人數，並建議獨立監督香港少年拘留設施和教室。」
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