CIVICUS global civil society alliance condemns the guilty verdict against Chow Hang-Tung. The human rights defender was criminalised for ‘subversion’ under the draconian national security law. We reiterate our longstanding calls for her immediate and unconditional release and demand an end to the repression against human rights activists in the territory.
Chow Hang-Tung is a human rights lawyer and pro-democracy activist featured in CIVICUS’ Stand As My Witness Campaign. She was one of the four vice-chairs of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement of China (HKA). The HKA led the organisation of the annual Tiananmen vigils marking the brutal Tiananmen Massacre in 1989.
On 21 August 2026, Hang-Tung, together with Lee Cheuk-yan, another former leader of the Hong Kong Alliance, was found guilty of ‘incitement to subversion.’ They were sentenced under a Beijing-imposed National Security Law passed in 2020, which gravely violates international human rights law and standards. It has been used to arrest and prosecute scores of activists for their peaceful activism and deny them bail. The two activists have been detained since 2021, with Hang-Tung detained at times in solitary confinement.
“The verdict against Chow Hang-Tung and Lee Cheuk-yan clearly shows how the Hong Kong government has used the National Security Law. Authorities have also used other vague and overly broad laws to repress human rights activism."
“CIVICUS calls for the activist’s release. The draconian national security law must be scrapped, and people must be allowed to exercise their civic freedoms without fear of harassment or criminalisation,” said Josef Benedict, Asia-Pacific Researcher for CIVICUS.
In June 2023, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) found that Hang-Tung’s detention and deprivation of her rights were in retaliation for the peaceful exercise of fundamental freedoms. They noted that authorities specifically targeted her for expressing her political opinions.
The conviction of the two human rights defenders highlights a wider pattern of repression that the CIVICUS Monitor has documented since 2020. Security laws have been used to arrest and charge individuals for their activism, including social media posts critical of the government. The government has increasingly deployed transnational repression, targeting human rights defenders in exile and their families at home.
Protests have dwindled following the passage of the security laws, which have also undermined the right to freedom of association, with many civil society organisations, political parties, social movements and trade unions disbanding.
"The repression in Hong Kong since 2020 has led to the destruction of civil society, jailing of activists and brutally silencing those who want to speak up in Hong Kong. The international community, especially countries in Asia, must stop turning a blind eye and speak up on behalf of activists and democracy in the territory”, added Benedict.
The CIVICUS Monitor downgraded Hong Kong's civic space to ‘closed’ in 2023, the worst rating for a country or territory.
