Press Release

The 2023 District Council election (“Election”) was held on December 10, which is the first “patriot-only” election under revamped election system with only 19% of the seats were returned by direct election.

HKCHR published a report on the Election today, documenting in detail the violations of international human rights standards in the Election.

“In recent years, the government has further tightened the power and democratic procedures of the remaining District Council elections. The HKCHR urges the Hong Kong and Chinese governments to fulfil their obligations under the ICCPR. We urge the immediate abolition of the non-compliant nomination and selection mechanisms, and advocate for the full universal suffrage for the District Councils, the Legislative Council and the Chief Executive, so as to safeguard the public’s right to participate in political affairs and their basic rights.”

The Centre believes that the statement of the UN experts reflects that the Hong Kong government’s persistent abuse of the law to suppress human rights is of great concern to the international community. The mass trial and bounties placed against human rights defenders have further tarnish Hong Kong’s international image, causing Hong Kong to be boycotted by the international community that supports the rule of law, democracy and human rights.

Hong Kong Centre for Human Rights urges the Hong Kong government to fulfil its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to stop harassing members and organisations of civil society. Hong Kong government should end the criminal investigation of the 612 Humanitarian Support Fund, and to drop all allegations and restrictions against those arrested.

Hong Kong Centre for Human Rights finds that this joint communication reflects the UN human rights experts’ concern that the Hong Kong government is actively using legislative and administrative measures to stifle the civil society in Hong Kong; the analysis also reveals the purpose of such measures to be decapacitating civil society in Hong Kong. We urge the Hong Kong government to withdraw this legislative proposal immediately, and to review existing legislation for the purpose of creating and maintaining an enabling environment for the enjoyment of civil society organizations’ right to seek, receive and use resources.

Hong Kong Centre for Human Rights (“HKCHR”) made a submission regarding Hong Kong to the HRC on 18 July 2023. The submission focuses on the human rights situation in Hong Kong since the last UPR review (the third cycle) in 2018, consisting of 9 major human rights aspects, namely national security, police violence, rule of law, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, right to political participation and immigration detention.

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (“Working Group”) issued an opinion (A/HRC/WGAD/2023/30) on 1 May 2023 (“Opinion”) concerning Chow Hang-tung, a Hong Kong human rights lawyer and former vice-chairperson of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China (“Alliance”). The Working Group concluded that the deprivation of liberty of Chow is arbitrary detention.

Hong Kong Centre for Human Rights publishes the Report of the 34th Anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Based on public information, this report has compiled and studied in detail the events that took place before, on and after June 4, which also includes an in-depth legal analysis. We discovered a worrying trend that the Hong Kong government has adopted a number of new strategies which lack a solid legal basis. Its actions in a number of areas have clearly infringed basic rights of individual citizens, and violated local laws as well as international human rights standards.

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (“Committee”) completed its latest review of China, including Hong Kong and Macau, on their implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (“Convention”). The Committee issued its concluding observations yesterday (30 May) in Hong Kong time, which elaborated the its concerns and recommendations for the three governments.

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (“Committee”) finished its review sessions of human rights situations of Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China yesterday (12 May) in Hong Kong time. The Committee will issue the concluding observations later to elaborate the Committee’s concerns and recommendations for the three governments.

Hong Kong Centre for Human Rights (“HKCHR”) is very concerned about the accusations made by the Hong Kong government at the meeting and in previous press statements that civil society organizations (CSOs) have submitted false information to the Committee. It is an attempt to discredit civil society engagement. The Centre is also worried that CSOs will face reprisal from the government.