August 15, 2021
Cited article by Jessie Yeung, CNN
HRRC's Response:
The pro-democracy group, Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF), which has organized some of the largest protests in Hong-Kong, announced that they are disbanding. The organization has advocated for human rights, utilizing principles that abided with laws and policies, and endorsed nonviolence, which encouraged voices be heard.
Since the pandemic, CHRF found it more difficult to establish protests. The addition of the 2020 national security law by Beijing increased concerns as the law criminalizes "secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces". Since the law was passed, arrests of press and censoring of textbooks and newsrooms has increased. The closure of the CHRF is only the most recent in a list of groups disbanding or leaving Hong Kong, citing civil liberties and a decreasing public forum.
HRRC supports freedom of speech and the organizations that support and give voice to those that may otherwise go unheard. In addition, HRRC recognize that Beijing's 2020 national security law is extremely worrying. HRRC joins the international community in demanding the Chinese government cease its implementation of the law as it will be applied retroactively to punish and silence groups like CHRF.