Throughout the year, the authorities rapidly expanded the national security legal regime in Hong Kong, further extending the application of the overly broad definition of “endangering national security” to disproportionately restrict human rights. In March, mainland China’s legislature passed a decision to reduce directly elected seats in the Legislative Council elections in Hong Kong and allowed national security police to vet all candidates before they run for elections.
In October, the Legislative Council passed a law allowing the government to censor films deemed to “endanger national security.”
National Security Law
The National Security Law (NSL) introduced in 2020 enabled human rights violations unprecedented since the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 1997. There was a rapid deterioration of freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, association, and other human rights in Hong Kong after the enactment of the law.11
At least 61 civil society organizations disbanded in response to the threat generated by the law, including Hong Kong’s largest professional union and organizers of major peaceful protests. The political opposition in Hong Kong was effectively obliterated following the arrest of 55 people, mainly pro-democracy lawmakers and activists, under the NSL on 6 January. There was clear evidence that the human rights safeguards set out in the NSL were effectively useless. Peaceful political expression was disproportionately restricted and even criminalized under the NSL.
The prosecution used incidents preceding the enactment of the law as evidence when pressing NSL charges, contradicting the legal principle of non-retroactivity. Article 42 of the NSL stipulates that individuals suspected of violating the NSL are to be denied bail “unless the judge has sufficient grounds for believing that they will not continue to commit acts endangering national security.” This effective reversal of the presumption of bail violates core principles of the rights to a fair trial and to liberty and security of the person.
Between 1 July 2020 and the end of 2021, police arrested or ordered the arrest of at least 161 people in relation to the NSL. At least 82 people were formally charged, of whom 60 were in pretrial detention at the end of the year.
Freedom of Assembly and Association
The authorities used other repressive laws, such as the Public Order Ordinance, to prosecute and imprison activists for taking part in peaceful assemblies and exercising their right to freedom of expression. Police continued to use Covid-19 as a pretext to arbitrarily ban peaceful assemblies.
During the year, 24 activists were sentenced to between four and 16 months in prison for “unauthorized assembly” for their participation in Hong Kong’s annual vigil to commemorate the Tiananmen Square crackdown of 4 June 1989. Human rights lawyer and activist Chow Hang-tung was charged with “inciting others to knowingly participate in a banned rally” after publishing a social media post asking people to commemorate the date in a private manner. Despite allowing other large-scale open-air events to take place, police banned the June 4th candlelight vigil for the second year running.
The national security police used extensive powers granted by the NSL to investigate activists and civil society organizations. From August onwards, they sent letters to civil society organizations demanding information, including the personal details of their members, staff, and partner organizations, as well as their finances and activities. Members of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China (the Alliance) and the Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) were charged under the NSL after they refused to comply with these requests.
The authorities targeted civil society groups with broad support and the capacity to mobilize people. The city’s largest teachers’ union, the Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union, and the largest pro-democracy labor rights group, the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, ceased operation in August and September, respectively, due to “enormous pressure” from the authorities. The police accused the Alliance and the CHRF of “being a foreign agent” and “colluding with foreign forces.” The police used the annual June 4th candlelight vigil as evidence of the Alliance “endangering national security.” On 6 September, the Alliance and four of its recently resigned committee members were charged with inciting subversion. The police also froze the assets of the Alliance.
In October, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive ordered the Alliance to be struck off the Company Registry on the grounds that the group’s goal to end one-party leadership in China threatened national security. On 25 October, Amnesty International announced the closure of its two offices in Hong Kong because of risks and restrictions posed by the NSL.22
Freedom of Expression
The Hong Kong government further tightened controls over freedom of expression in the media, online, and in schools and universities. From January onwards, the authorities ordered internet service providers to sever access to websites that allegedly “endanger national security.” In July, police arrested five speech therapists for conspiracy to distribute seditious materials after they published children’s books depicting the government’s crackdown since 2019. The government later revoked the registration of the speech therapists’ union.
In August, four university students were charged with “advocating terrorism” after passing a motion at a student union council meeting to mourn a man who stabbed a police officer before killing himself. The authorities continued to arrest, charge, and imprison individuals solely for their legitimate peaceful expression and association. On 6 January, police arrested 55 members of the political opposition under the NSL in relation to their organization and participation in self-organized “primaries” in 2020 for the subsequently postponed Legislative Council election. Forty-seven of them were later charged with “conspiracy to subversion.”
Under the NSL, the High Court and District Court imposed heavy sentences on individuals peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression. Activist Ma Chun-man was convicted of “inciting subversion” and sentenced to five years and nine months’ imprisonment for chanting slogans, posting on social media, and giving interviews. Student activist Tony Chung was sentenced to three years and seven months’ imprisonment for trumped-up charges of sedition and money laundering.
Media Restrictions
Apple Daily, the only pro-democracy daily newspaper in Hong Kong, was forced to cease operation on 24 June after police arrested the paper’s founder, Jimmy Lai, five senior executives, and two editorial staff under the NSL. Police accused the newspaper of “colluding with foreign forces” by publishing articles relating to sanctions imposed on Chinese and Hong Kong government officials by foreign governments. The authorities subsequently froze HK$18 million (US$2.32 million) of assets owned by companies linked to Apple Daily. On 29 December, senior executives and board members of Stand News were arrested for “seditious publications,” an archaic colonial-era provision last amended in the 1970s. National security police officers raided the online news outlet, and authorities confirmed that they froze more than HK$61 million (approximately US$7.8 million) in assets. Stand News ceased operation on the same day.
The government heavily restructured public broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), removing all the videos in its online archive, dismissing hosts critical of the government, and canceling shows that did not follow official lines.
LGBTI People’s Rights
The government failed to grant same-sex couples in Hong Kong equal rights and continued to recognize same-sex partnership rights in a piecemeal manner. In March, a gay widower filed a judicial review against the government after he was not recognized as the next-of-kin of his late husband, preventing him from identifying his spouse’s body or making funeral arrangements. He later withdrew the legal challenge as the government clarified that there was no distinction between same-sex couples and heterosexual couples in policies related to such matters. In June, the High Court ruled that the subsidized housing policy constitutes discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation, and that same-sex couples should be allowed to own subsidized housing.
Despite setting up an inter-departmental working group on gender recognition in 2014 and carrying out a consultation in 2017, the Hong Kong government made no progress toward drafting a gender-recognition law. The Taiwan Gay Sports and Movement Association decided not to send any teams to join the Gay Games to be held in Hong Kong in 2023 because of the risks posed by the NSL.