Amnesty International Hong Kong Overseas
Press Release
14 April 2026
Amnesty International Hong Kong Overseas today publishes the Year-end Hong Kong Human Rights Review 2025, which documents key trends and observations in Hong Kong’s human rights landscape over the course of 2025, assessed against international human rights standards.
The report finds that Hong Kong’s national security legal framework has been further entrenched over the past year, with the overall human rights situation continuing to deteriorate. It identifies five key trends: the ongoing erosion of freedom of expression; restrictions on freedom of association and assembly; prolonged pre-trial detention and inhuman treatment in custody; the escalation of transnational repression; and limited progress on the rights of LGBTI people and workers.
Throughout the year, the Hong Kong authorities continued to introduce or amend legislation under the pretext of “national security”, imposing further restrictions on human rights. These measures include: subsidiary legislation under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, creating six new criminal offences; the Protection of Critical Infrastructure (Computer Systems) Ordinance, granting authorities sweeping powers to access private data; amendments to the Prison Rules, authorising the Correctional Services Department to restrict detainees’ right of access to a lawyer; and amendments to the Trade Unions Ordinance, undermining the independence of trade unions and their ability for international cooperation.
The report also observes that the application of national security legislation has broadened beyond political dissidents to affect society at large, further curtailing freedom of expression, association, and assembly. In one such instance, citizens who called for accountability following the Wang Fuk Court fire were targeted by the authorities on charges of “sedition”. Meanwhile, through censorship, funding withdrawals, and administrative obstruction, authorities have continued to suppress independent artistic and cultural expression, progressively eroding Hong Kong’s previously vibrant creative freedom and diversity.
Transnational repression has continued to intensify. Notably, the prosecution of the father of overseas activist Anna Kwok under “Article 23” represents the first national security case targeting a family member of an exile activist in Hong Kong, marking a dangerous escalation in reprisals against human rights defenders.
While recent judicial decisions have yielded incremental advances for LGBTI people, including court rulings recognising parental rights for same-sex couples and affirming the right of transgender people to use public restrooms which aligned with their gender identity. These developments constitute rather piecemeal and limited progress. The Legislative Council’s rejection of the Registration of Same-sex Partnerships Bill has left same-sex partnerships without comprehensive legal recognition and protection.
Amnesty International Hong Kong Overseas calls on the Hong Kong SAR Government to:
- Immediately cease the use of national security laws to suppress legitimate expression, peaceful assembly, and freedom of association, and release all those detained solely for exercising their human rights;
- End the routine use of prolonged pre-trial detention in national security cases, and ensure that all those in custody are treated humanely and with dignity;
- Cease all acts of transnational repression targeting overseas activists, and end the harassment and reprisals against their family members in Hong Kong;
- Enact legislation without delay to provide comprehensive equal rights for same-sex couples, and repeal restrictions imposed on trade unions on national security grounds;
- Stop using censorship and administrative measures to suppress artistic and cultural expression.
Amnesty International has for many years assessed human rights conditions across the globe, in more than 100 countries, and publishes an annual report identifying worldwide trends. With the launch of the Amnesty International Hong Kong Overseas in 2025, the new team will continue the systematic documentation of the human rights situation in Hong Kong.
Speaking at the launch of the report, Luk Chi-man, the Executive Director of Amnesty International Hong Kong Overseas said:
“In the current era, impartial human rights documentation is itself a form of important action. We document to safeguard the first draft of history — pushing back against the authorities’ attempts to whitewash the human rights situation in Hong Kong.”
“Over the past year, the Hong Kong government has, under the pretext of national security, intensified its introduction and amendment of legislation, further entrenching the institutional tools of repression and instilling fear.”
“In the aftermath of the Wang Fuk Court fire, which claimed 168 lives, the authorities moved swiftly to arrest citizens calling for accountability on charges of ‘sedition’ and to pressure the media.”
“This reveals that the authorities do not merely suppress political dissent — they are intolerant of any voice in society that seeks to scrutinise or comment on matters of public concern.”
“The prolonged pre-trial detention faced by national security defendants, as well as inhuman treatment including solitary confinement, is deeply alarming.”
“Under international human rights law and the presumption of innocence, pre-trial detention should be the exception, not the norm. Yet as of 2025, courts have denied bail in 89% of national security cases. Chow Hang-tung, Lee Cheuk-yan, and Jimmy Lai have each been held for more than 1,600 days without conviction.”
“We again call on the Hong Kong government to stop using national security laws to suppress freedoms, to release all those detained solely for exercising their human rights, and to end the routine use of default prolonged pre-trial detention in national security cases, and ensure that all those in custody are treated humanely and with dignity.”
In an era where things may appear normal on the surface—but where reality is routinely distorted—we hope to remember, alongside the people of Hong Kong, what a society that respects human rights, the rule of law, and freedoms should look like, so that we can imagine the possibility of change.”