Ominous Time For Human Rights In HK: Amnesty

Amnesty International warned on Friday that Beijing's "dangerous" national security law plan is a "fundamental attack on human rights" in Hong Kong, as well as a "quasi-existential threat" to the city's rule of law.

The rights group said in a statement that while Beijing claims the law is designed to bring stability to Hong Kong, it will actually fuel further unrest, and the city's people should not have their rights and freedoms taken away "in the name of exaggerated security concerns.”

"China routinely abuses its own national security framework as a pretext to target human rights activists and stamp out all forms of dissent. This dangerous proposed law sends the clearest message yet that it is eager to do the same in Hong Kong, and as soon as possible," said Joshua Rosenzweig, Amnesty's deputy regional director for East and Southeast Asa.

"This attempt to bulldoze through repressive security regulations poses a

quasi-existential threat to the rule of law in Hong Kong and is an ominous moment for human rights in the city," he warned.

Rosenzweig said mainland security legislation in the past has almost always led to a reduction in people's right to a fair trial and sometimes circumvents the normal criminal procedures completely.

"In 2015, China passed a national security law that gave the authorities sweeping powers to crack down on and suppress human rights, covering areas including politics, culture, finance and the internet," he said.

The statement also noted that people charged with national security crimes on the mainland can be held incommunicado and in secret detention, without access to lawyers or their families.