Amnesty International offices in Hong Kong will close by the end of the year. The Chinese security law makes it “impossible to work freely and without fear of serious reprisals from the government,” it said.
The human rights organization Amnesty International is withdrawing from the Chinese Special Administrative Region in response to the controversial Hong Kong Security Act.
The law, introduced in June 2020, “made it virtually impossible to work freely and without fear of serious government reprisals,” said Amnesty Chairman Anjhula Mya Singh Bais, according to a press release. It was therefore with a heavy heart that it was decided to close the two Amnesty offices in Hong Kong by the end of the year.
The city has long been an ideal regional base for international civil society organizations. However, the recent attacks on local human rights and trade union groups have signaled “an intensification of the authorities’ campaign to rid the city of all dissenting voices.” “It is becoming more and more difficult for us to continue working in such an unstable environment,” it said.
After sustained demonstrations and calls for more democracy in Hong Kong, the communist leadership in Beijing passed the security law. It targets the pro-democratic opposition and is vaguely directed against activities that Beijing sees as subversive, separatist, terrorist or conspiratorial. More than 100 activists have been arrested or awaiting trial. Some were convicted. Many opposition members have fled abroad for fear of prosecution.
Since July 1, 1997, the former British crown colony of Hong Kong has been part of China again and is governed autonomously as a special administrative region. Actually, the seven million Hong Kong residents should enjoy “a high degree of autonomy” and many more political freedoms by 2047.
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