The Hong Kong Human Rights Media Repository systematically organises and categorises news related to human rights issues in Hong Kong under a unified analytical framework. Each news item is tagged using four layers of categorisation: Human Rights Domain, Primary Thematic Topic, Secondary Thematic Topic, and Keywords.

Human Rights Domains

Drawing on the United Nations’ thematic classification of human rights issues, the Repository groups news items into four overarching domains:

1. Civic Space and Democracy
2. Justice and the Rule of Law
3. Equality and Non-Discrimination
4. Living and Developing with Dignity

These domains provide the broad conceptual structure of the Repository and are designed to be exhaustive, ensuring that all human rights–related developments in Hong Kong can be systematically categorised.

A Human Rights Domain represents a wide area of human rights concern, typically relating to key aspects of public life, governance, or social conditions. It serves as the highest-level category under which more detailed thematic topics are organised.

Thematic Topics

Within each domain, the Repository uses 32 thematic areas to describe specific human rights issues. These are divided into:

• Primary Thematic Topic
• Secondary Thematic Topic

Both sets of thematic topics are exhaustive and allow for precise classification. A full list of the 32 thematic topics is provided at the end of this page.

Primary Thematic Topic
The primary topic identifies the single most relevant issue or sub-theme highlighted in a news item. It reflects the main human rights concern at the centre of the report.
Example: If a news article covers a protest demanding electoral reform, the primary thematic topic may be Freedom of Assembly and Association.

Secondary Thematic Topic
The secondary topic captures an additional but related sub-theme that is present in the news item but is not its central focus.
Example: In the same protest story, if online censorship also played a role, the secondary topic might be Digital Space and Human Rights.

Keywords

Keywords are concise terms or phrases that accompany each news item. They serve three main purposes:

1. Summarise the core content and context of the news clearly and accurately.
2. Support quick understanding by highlighting the most relevant issues at a glance.
3. Enhance searchability, enabling users to efficiently locate news items across different domains and topics.

 

List of Thematic Topics

1. Civic space and human rights defenders
2. Democracy, right to participate and the electoral process
3. Digital space and human rights
4. Freedom of assembly and of association
5. Freedom of expression and opinion
6. Business and human rights
7. Climate change and environment
8. Coercive measures
9. Education and cultural rights
10. Health
11. Land and housing
12. Poverty, the right to food and social protection
13. Right to development
14. Sustainable development through human rights
15. Water and sanitation
16. Children and youth
17. Freedom of religion
18. Indigenous Peoples
19. LGBTI people
20. Migration
21. Minorities
22. Older persons
23. Persons with disabilities
24. Racism, xenophobia & intolerance
25. Gender equality and women’s rights
26. Administration of justice and law enforcement
27. Death penalty
28. Detention
29. Disappearances and executions
30. Slavery and trafficking
31. Terrorism and violent extremism
32. Torture, Cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment