HRW denounces China’s ‘intimidation campaign’ for offering bounties to detain activists in exile

The NGO considers that “the Hong Kong government is going further and further to persecute peaceful dissent”

July 4 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) has denounced China’s “political intimidation campaign” after the Hong Kong authorities have offered up to one million Hong Kong dollars (about 117,000 euros) for information that allows the arrest “without foundation” of eight activists accused of violating the national security law.

“The Hong Kong government is going further and further to persecute peaceful dissent both inside and outside Hong Kong. Offering a cross-border bounty is a weak attempt to intimidate activists and elected representatives outside of Hong Kong who defend the rights of the people against Beijing’s growing repression,” said the organization’s associate director for Asia, Maya Wang, in a statement.

HRW has urged the Hong Kong authorities to drop the charges “immediately” against the defendants, who are former lawmakers Ted Hui, Dennis Kwok and Nathan Law; activists Anna Kwok, Elmer Yuen and Finn Lau; Christopher Mung, trade unionist; and Kevin Yam, attorney.

All of them have been charged with “collusion with foreign forces” and “advocating sanctions against state officials; Mung also faces a charge of “inciting secession” as does Law. For his part, Yuen is accused of “subversion” and organizing a Hong Kong parliament in exile.

In Hui’s case, he stands accused of both “inciting secession” and “subversion” for “initiating the 2021 Hong Kong Charter,” which endorses continued activism from abroad.

While incitement can carry up to ten years in prison, the collusion and subversion charges can carry a life sentence.

PERSECUTION BEYOND CHINA

HRW has shown that the Chinese authorities eliminated Human Rights guarantees after the application of the National Security Law in Hong Kong in 2020; In addition, the Police established that the law would apply beyond the borders of the country.

According to the organization, the Chinese government “has expanded efforts to control information and intimidate activists around the world by manipulating agencies such as Interpol.”

The eight activists, who live or have sought refuge in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, face marginalization both from themselves and from the institutions to which they belong, as the authorities have also warned the population to stop their funding.

Overseas Hong Kong pro-democracy organizations are “increasingly putting pressure on foreign governments to hold senior Chinese and Hong Kong officials accountable” for violating human rights.

“Foreign governments should not only publicly refuse to cooperate with the National Security Law cases, but should take concrete steps to hold senior officials in Beijing and Hong Kong accountable,” Wang said.

CONSEQUENCES OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY LAW

More than 100,000 Hong Kongers have fled the country since the implementation of the National Security Law, which “erased Hong Kong’s vibrant freedoms and liberties.”

The aforementioned law has led to the “arbitrary arrest” of pro-democratic leaders, the dismantling of “civil society organizations and independent unions”, the closure of the “most popular” pro-democratic newspaper, the censorship of films, the imposition of an “education patriotic” and the withdrawal of books from libraries and schools.

HRW has also denounced that no public gatherings have been allowed since 2020 on “key dates” for the city’s pro-democracy movement.

In addition, police data cited by the organization shows that “260 people, between the ages of 15 and 90, have been arrested for crimes against national security. Dozens have been arrested, prosecuted and convicted of ‘sedition’ for posting peaceful comments on social networks or publish books that criticize the government.