Join the fight for freedom in Hong Kong
In 2020, Beijing imposed a draconian national security law on Hong Kong that put fundamental freedoms at risk. Five years later, the fight to preserve human rights and civic space in Hong Kong is more important than ever. Sign the petition now and call on the Chinese and Hong Kong governments to stop enforcing the National Security Law.
What’s the problem?
The state can lock up people but not their thinking, just as it can lock up facts but not alter truth.
Chow Hang-tung, Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and prisoner of conscience
The imposition of the National Security Law (NSL) on Hong Kong by the Chinese government five years ago placed harsh restrictions on the exercise of freedoms – those that the Hong Kong authorities were obligated to protect. Since then, the NSL has been systematically weaponized to suppress dissent, erode civil liberties, and dismantle civil society. Freedoms of expression, assembly, and association—once pillars of Hong Kong’s identity—have been severely curtailed. Political opposition has been crushed, independent media silenced, and once-thriving civil society organizations forced to disband.
Many activists who have stood up for human rights have been silenced, prosecuted and imprisoned. Owen Chow is one of the youth activists who found himself a target of the NSL. In 2020, the nursing graduate, along with 52 other opposition figures, organized and participated in unofficial election “primaries” aimed at pressuring the government to implement universal suffrage. However, the authorities saw these as “subversive”, and prosecuted Chow and other 46 figures for “conspiracy to commit subversion”. He was found guilty and sentenced to 7 years and 9 months imprisonment in 2024. With an additional sentence from a separate public order conviction, Chow is now facing a total prison term of more than 12 years and 10 months — solely for peacefully exercising his freedoms of expression and assembly.
Amnesty continues to campaign for those unjustly detained in Hong Kong, including:
- Chow Hang-tung
- Jimmy Lai
- Leung Kwok-hung (Long Hair)
- Owen Chow
As long as the NSL remains in force, these activists and others like them will continue to face intimidation or imprisonment, or be forced to choose exile in order to continue their work to defend human rights. But even ordinary people will be affected too, as the chilling environment means self-censorship, fear and fewer ways to raise concerns about what their own government is doing.
People in Hong Kong no longer feel safe if they want to freely express themselves, living in fear of crossing a ‘red line’ whose exact location is, seemingly by design, undefined. Students, activists, politicians and unionists have been arrested and in some cases jailed for posting on social media, shouting pro-democracy slogans, or even subscribing to opposition politicians’ digital platforms.
What can you do to help?
Sign the petition now and call on the Chinese and Hong Kong governments to stop enforcing the NSL, and take concrete steps toward its repeal.