This statement was originally published on hrw.org on 17 June 2020.
China’s proposed national security law for Hong Kong is a devastating assault on human rights and should be abandoned, more than 86 civil society organizations groups said today in a letter to Li Zhanshu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPCSC).
Joint Letter to NPCSC Chairman Li Zhanshu, June 16, 2020
The proposed national security legislation is likely to be discussed at the NPCSC session from June 18 to 20, 2020, or at a special session by the end of June. The proposed law could come into force soon afterward, and quickly be used to crack down on Hong Kong’s freedoms.“China should abandon this effort to impose a national security law on Hong Kong immediately,” said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch. “No government should invoke national security as a justification for repression.”
The groups emphasized that:
The groups said in their letter that the NPCSC should:
abandon plans to introduce national security legislation for Hong Kong, as what is known about the draft law so far and the experiences with respective national security laws in mainland China strongly indicate that neither the law nor its application would conform to international human rights law and standards.
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Source: MEDIA FEED
