Hong Kong
CNN
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The Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF), the pro-democracy group that organized some of the biggest protests in Hong Kong, announced on Sunday that it was disbanding – the latest in a line of civil organizations to disband under a comprehensive national security law.
CHRF, an overarching organization of local pro-democracy groups, organized mass marches according to some estimates, in which up to 2 million participants took part during the pro-democracy and anti-government protests in 2019.
It has long played a vital role in Hong Kong’s civil society as the organizer of the annual July 1st protests marking the anniversary of the city’s handover from Britain to China.
“We have set ourselves the goal of standing up for human rights and the freedom of the people in Hong Kong. We have adhered to ‘legal, peaceful, rational and nonviolent’ principles in organizing mass demonstrations so that everyone in society has the opportunity to speak out on issues that are important to them, ”CHRF said in a statement in which the dissolution was announced.
“Unfortunately, over the past year or so, the government has repeatedly used the pandemic as an excuse to reject requests from the front and other organizations to hold rallies.”
The group said that with leader Figo Chan being jailed for his involvement in the 2019 protests and no one willing to take the lead, the organization had “no choice but to disband.”
Hong Kong police confirmed the breakup of CHRF in a statement but said they would not absolve the group of possible criminal liability. The statement alleged that CHRF, which was founded in 2002, had broken the law by failing to properly register with the relevant Hong Kong government agencies. CHRF did not immediately respond to police allegations.
CNN has reached out to the Hong Kong Police and Government Information Services for further comments.
The mass marches organized by CHRF in 2019 began as peaceful demonstrations – but clashes with police soon led the protests to a six-month long political crisis that often turned violent. The protests were condemned by the central government in Beijing, which watched with growing impatience from across the border.
Ivan Abreu / SOPA Images / LightRocket / Getty Images
Protesters march during the Civil Human Rights Front march in Wan Chai, Hong Kong, on Sunday, July 21, 2019.
When coronavirus restrictions stalled all protests, Beijing passed a national security law in June 2020 criminalizing secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces. All four crimes have a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
The following year, the National Security Police arrested protesters and journalists, raided newsrooms, and censored textbooks and websites.
The authorities have repeatedly denied that they are acting against the political opposition or suppressing dissenting opinions.
“The National Security Act only targets an extremely small minority of criminals and acts that endanger national security, while not affecting the human rights and freedoms enjoyed by the overwhelming majority of citizens,” said Hong Kong Prime Minister Carrie Lam in a speech on July 5th.
However, critics say that the voluntary closure of the CHRF shows the far-reaching impact of the law on various sectors and aspects of society.
CHRF is only the youngest in a line of organizations and groups that have decided in recent months to dissolve or leave Hong Kong, citing declining civil liberties and a shrinking public sphere.
On Tuesday, the PTU, a group of teachers and educators with more than 100,000 members, announced its dissolution – a decision that came under increasing pressure from the authorities.
Last weekend, several state-run Chinese news outlets published articles accusing the union of poisoning children’s minds and posing a threat to national security. Just hours later, the Hong Kong Education Bureau announced that it was officially severing ties with the union, which it called “nothing more than a political group,” according to the public broadcaster RTHK.
In a letter to its members, the union said it was “regrettable” that the political environment has changed so drastically that civil society groups are facing an untenable future, according to the RTHK.
The government’s waiver of the teachers’ union is “absurd” for several reasons, said Joseph Cheng, a prominent Hong Kong political commentator who now lives in New Zealand.
“The PTU certainly has no tendency to support Hong Kong’s independence,” said Cheng. “They are teachers, they are moderate, cautious, they don’t want anything to do with violence.”
“It was only when the Chinese authorities came out to attack the PTU that the (Hong Kong) government felt they had to take action,” he added.
John Burns, professor emeritus in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Hong Kong, pointed to another reason the government might have cut ties with the PTU: to limit its influence in local elections.
Subsector elections will be held next month for the electoral committee, which will select the next board chairman to run the city.
“This was an announcement to the Hong Kong community that (the teachers’ union) was no longer legitimate,” Burns said. “This paves the way for pro-establishment unions to take over the positions that the PTU previously appeared to occupy.”
Other organizations that have recently disbanded include a medical workers union, an advocacy group, and more.
Journalist groups also come under fire. Media officials have already faced tightened controls and restrictions, as demonstrated by the raid on pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, which closed in June after its assets were frozen by National Security Police.
On Friday, pro-Beijing newspaper Wen Wei Po published a glowing article against the Hong Kong Journalists’ Association naming several of its members and accusing the group of inciting hostility towards the government – raising fears that the organization may be considered next turn might be wrinkles.
Ronson Chan, the head of HKJA, told CNN on Friday that the group had no disbandment plans and that they would continue to protect press freedom in Hong Kong.
The large number of resolutions also raises the question of whether the security law can be applied retrospectively.
When the law was first introduced, Beijing and local authorities reassured the public – as well as alarmed international observers and world leaders – that it would not.
But recent events seem to suggest otherwise. Both the Chinese state media and the Education Bureau pointed in their criticism of the PTU to alleged actions in 2019 – even before the law was even drafted.
The Hong Kong Police Commissioner was more explicit, saying on Friday that mass rallies organized by CHRF “are suspected of violating national security law” and that “the police will investigate thoroughly,” RTHK reported.
It found that the government’s promises “are certainly not true because all of these allegations are based on past actions,” said Cheng.
“Of course they are feeling the pressure from the PTU to the CHRF and the union federation,” he added. “There is no longer any tolerance towards civil society, there is no longer any tolerance towards criticism of any kind – even moderate, reasonable criticism.”
In the longer term, this could mean that there are fewer and fewer voices in Hong Kong’s once rich and pluralistic public – and a rapprochement with the system of mainland China.
“The Communist Party uses mainland civil society, but its civil society is being mobilized … where you control information and where you restrict the right to organize and freedom of expression,” Burns said.
Hong Kong has provided a safe space for various groups to prosper for decades, he added – but now “all these actions against unions and associations of various kinds are an attack on civil society”.
CNN’s Angus Watson contributed to this report
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