Human rights in Hong Kong in rapid decline, global non-profit group claims in report
City’s branch of Amnesty International cites missing booksellers, Legco oath controversy, and government’s unwillingness to meet it as evidence
Hong Kong’s human rights situation is rapidly deteriorating, reaching its worst level since the former British colony’s handover in 1997 to mainland China, non-profit human rights group Amnesty International said on Wednesday.
The organisation released a report reviewing human rights in the city last year, and outlined major concerns over guarantees of Hong Kong’s rule of law, freedom of speech, and human rights education.
“Hong Kong’s legal situation is a cause for concern,” the report said. “Hongkongers’ human rights situation has violations on almost every front.”
“There are escalating cases of violence against reporters and there are very, very confined spaces for press freedom or freedom of expression,” Raees Baig, chairwoman of Amnesty International Hong Kong, said on Wednesday. “If we do not do anything or we do not have any response from the government, we can’t project whether we are going to get worse.”