Amnesty International is preparing to leave its local office in Hong Kong by the end of the month, while its regional headquarters will close by the end of the year, as China’s national security laws escalate.
Amnesty says the laws have been used as a “pretext to restrict rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, as well as to repress dissent and political opposition especially from human rights groups.”
Staff safety is said to be among the reasons for leaving the city without the human rights organisation’s presence for the first time in 40 years.
The national security laws broadly but deliberately target local human rights, trade union groups, school curriculum, public art, marathon attire and even the possession of pro-democracy or independence paraphernalia.