(New York) – China’s proposed national security law for Hong Kong is a devastating assault on human rights and should be abandoned, more than 86 civil society organizations groups said today in a letter to Li Zhanshu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPCSC).
The proposed national security legislation is likely to be discussed at the NPCSC session from June 18 to 20, 2020, or at a special session by the end of June. The proposed law could come into force soon afterward, and quickly be used to crack down on Hong Kong’s freedoms.
“China should abandon this effort to impose a national security law on Hong Kong immediately,” said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch. “No government should invoke national security as a justification for repression.”
The groups emphasized that:
- While the details of the forthcoming legislation remain unclear, comparable legislation in the mainland criminalizes overly broad, vague ‘offenses’ that can encompass any criticism of the government and be used against people peacefully exercising and defending their human rights
- The law may allow agencies such as the Ministry of State Security and the National Security Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security – long known for serious rights violations in China – to operate in Hong Kong
- Beijing’s imposition of the security legislation in Hong Kong contravenes the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s functional constitution, and violates international human rights protections in Hong Kong
The groups said in their letter that the NPCSC should:
abandon plans to introduce national security legislation for Hong Kong, as what is known about the draft law so far and the experiences with respective national security laws in mainland China strongly indicate that neither the law nor its application would conform to international human rights law and standards.
Signatories to the letter include:
2047 HK Monitor
Amnesty International
Article 19
Asia Monitor Resource Centre
Australia Hong Kong Link
Baptist Oi Kwan Social Service - Fellow Workers Social Action Concern Group
Beyond the Boundary-Knowing and Concerns Intersex
Borderless Movement
Brisbane International Student Solidarity with Hong Kong
Canadian Friends of Hong Kong
Canberra Hong Kong Concern Group
China Criticism Society of Denmark
China Labour Bulletin
Chinese Human Rights Defenders
Chinese Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group
Christian Social Workers
Christians for Hong Kong Society
Citizen Power Initiatives for China
Citizens’ Radio
Civil Human Rights Front
Civil Rights Observer
Civil Society Development Resources Center
Covenants Watch
Equality Project
Forthright Caucus
Forum Worlds of Labour / Forum Arbeitswelten e.V.
Freedom House
Friends of Conscience
General communication worker union
Grassroot Cultural Centre
Hong Kong Affairs Association of Berkeley
Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China
Hong Kong Christian Fellowship of Social Concern
Hong Kong Christian Institute
Hong Kong Committee in Norway
Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions
Hong Kong Forum, Los Angeles
Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor
Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council Workers Trade Union
Hong Kong Unison Limited
Human Rights in China
Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan
Human Rights Watch
Humanitarian China
International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute
International Human Rights Council – Hong Kong
International Service for Human Rights
Justice and Peace Commission of the HK Catholic Diocese
Kwai Chung Estate Christian Basic Community
Labour Education and Service Network
McMaster Stands With HK
Netherlands for Hong Kong
New School for Democracy
New Yorkers Supporting Hong Kong
Northern California Hong Kong Club
One Body in Christ
Open Data Hong Kong
Planet Ally
Power for Democracy
Progressive Lawyers Group
Queer Theology Academy
Rainbow Action
Reclaiming Social Work Movement
Reporters Without Borders
Retail, Commerce and Clothing Industries General Union
Right of Abode University
Scholars’ Alliance for Academic Freedom
Sheng Kung Hui Lady MacLehose Centre Staff Social Movement Concern Group
Sounds of the Silenced
SRACP Staffs Union
Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty
Taiwan Association for Human Rights
Taiwan East Turkestan Association
The Academic Staff Association of The Education University of Hong Kong
The Association for the Advancement of Feminism
The Hong Kong Society for Asylum-seekers and refugees
The Norwegian Taiwanese Friendship Association
The Norwegian Tibet Committee
The Rights Practice
Torontonian HongKongers Action Group
TWGHs Staff Social Movement Concern Group
United Nations ECOSOC NGO International Career Support Association
Uyghur Human Rights Project
Vancouver Society in Support of Democratic Movement
Worker Empowerment
World Uyghur Congress
