Human Rights Watch
Centre-left
Hong Kong: Activists Convicted for Tiananmen Vigils
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Thousands of people attend a candlelight vigil for victims of the Chinese government's brutal military crackdown in June 1989 on protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square at Victoria Park, Hong Kong, June 4, 2019.
© AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File
(New York) – The Hong Kong High Court convicted two activists who have long advocated for justice for the victims of China’s 1989 Tiananmen Massacre, Human Rights Watch said today. Hong Kong authorities should quash the convictions, which violate the defendants’ rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.On August 21, 2026, the court convicted Chow Hang-tung, 41, and Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, former leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, the now-disbanded organizer of the city’s annual vigil commemorating the massacre. They were convicted of “inciting subversion” under Hong Kong’s National Security Law. A third former leader, Albert Ho, 74, had pleaded guilty to the same charge in January. They face up to 10 years in prison.“The conviction of these Tiananmen vigil organizers shows that public displays of mourning have become a crime in Hong Kong,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “These activists exposed how the Chinese government fears the memory of its own atrocities and treats remembrance as a national security threat.”Under article 22 of the National Security Law, “subversion” refers to acts that seek to “overthrow” the Chinese government through “force,” “threat of force,” or other unspecified “unlawful means.”The court ruled that the Hong Kong Alliance’s mission to “end one-party dictatorship” in China constitutes an attempt to “overthrow” the Chinese government.The court acknowledged that the group had never used or advocated the use of violence to achieve that goal; nonetheless, the group’s advocacy amounted to “unlawful means” because its goal contravenes the Chinese Constitution. The court held that the Chinese Constitution has established the Chinese Communist Party’s perpetual rule and ruled out “the possibility of Western-style rotation of political parties in power.”The court added that the activists “stirred up hostility” toward the Chinese Communist Party by comparing the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre with Hong Kong’s 2019 pro-democracy protest movement, thereby “eroding and undermining the public’s confidence in the leadership” of the Chinese Communist Party.The defense had argued that the Hong Kong Alliance’s call to “end one‑party dictatorship” expressed its vision of a democratized China, and that the alliance had never advocated any specific means—let alone unlawful means—to achieve that goal. The defense maintained that the defendants were merely exercising their free expression rights.During the trial, the government-designated judges rejected Chow’s requests—who is a lawyer and spoke in her own defense—to summon several academics and activists as witnesses, repeatedly interrupted her examination of defense witnesses, and barred the defense from submitting photographs and audio recordings relating to the Tiananmen Massacre.In her closing statement, Chow denounced the political nature of the trial: “Speaking the truth is branded as inciting hatred… demanding accountability and limits on power is portrayed as violating the constitution, and returning power to the people is condemned as subversion.”A hearing to consider mitigating circumstances is scheduled for August 28, with sentencing to follow. Under article 23 of the National Security Law, defendants face 5 to 10 years in prison if the offense is considered “serious,” and up to 5 years if it is considered “minor.”Prosecuting someone for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which is incorporated into Hong Kong’s legal framework through the city’s de facto constitution, the Basic Law, and is reflected in the Bill of Rights Ordinance. Hong Kong’s national security legal regime is incompatible with these human rights guarantees.Chow’s social media platform also reported on August 20 that she has been transported to court hearings in a highly restrictive chain system—handcuffs, leg irons, waist chains, and a leash-like chain—that immobilized her joints in unnatural positions and caused sustained pain and muscle strain. Under international human rights law, this treatment may amount to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.Since 1990, the Hong Kong Alliance had organized annual vigils to commemorate the Tiananmen Massacre of peaceful pro-democracy protesters. These vigils became an iconic event in Hong Kong’s democracy movement, drawing hundreds of thousands of participants. Such commemorations have long been banned in mainland China, where the Chinese government has failed to hold those responsible for the killings accountable, provide information to victims’ families, or offer them compensation.Hong Kong’s unique role in keeping alive the memory of the Tiananmen Massacre ended after Beijing imposed the National Security Law on the city in 2020 and rapidly dismantled Hong Kong’s once-vibrant civil society and fundamental freedoms.Hong Kong authorities banned the annual vigil on Covid-19 grounds in 2020 and 2021. In 2021, they forced the Hong Kong Alliance to disband. Since 2020, every year around June 4, authorities have arrested people who attempted to commemorate the massacre in public, and some have been imprisoned on dubious charges.“For decades, tens of thousands of Hong Kongers stood up for those who lost their lives demonstrating for liberty in China,” Pearson said. “Governments around the world now need to stand up for Hong Kongers being punished for holding Beijing to account.”
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