The United Nations Human Rights Committee called on Hong Kong to repeal the controversial national security law enacted in June 2020.
According to the UN Human Rights Committee’s report released yesterday, Hong Kong should «reconsider its position and take concrete steps» to repeal the national security law (NSL) while refraining from applying it in the meantime, citing issues such as lack of consultation with the city’s civil society and restriction of internationally recognized rights.
One of the areas the committee focused on was the call to repeal colonial era sedition provisions and «refrain from using them to suppress the expression of critical and dissenting opinions». The committee underlined concerns about academics, journalists and representatives of civil society being arrested and charged with such sedition offenses after exercising their right to free speech.
In response, the Hong Kong government issued a statement rejecting the findings and calling them «unfair criticisms».
NSL in Finance
Politics aside, the controversial law has also caused additional risk for Hong Kong’s financial sector, such as rules that conflict with other rules enacted elsewhere.
While the US has imposed a number of sanctions against individuals and entities in Hong Kong and mainland China, the security law prohibits adherence to sanctions from any foreign countries, effectively placing some financial institutions at the risk of having to choose between compliance with Beijing or Washington.
