14 April 2023 – The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (CFHK) Foundation submitted evidence on Hong Kong to be considered at the United Nations’ Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women’s (CEDAW) 85th session and Pre-sessional Working Group for the 87th session in May. The CFHK Foundation’s submission underscores how the Chinese Communist Party and Hong Kong authorities display a persistent and ongoing pattern of violating the rights of women human rights activists, journalists, and politicians in Hong Kong and around the world.
The CFHK Foundation's report details how women human rights activists in Hong Kong and abroad have been stalked, including one woman who was followed by a Chinese man allegedly connected to the Chinese government after a pro-democracy rally in Boston, Massachusetts. The report also sheds light on the plight of women journalists and politicians, including Claudia Mo and Gwyneth Ho, who are among the ‘Hong Kong 47’ who were arrested in January 2021 for participating in Hong Kong’s unofficial democratic primary elections and have remained in custody for more than two years.
The CFHK Foundation’s submission is alongside those from 17 other non-governmental organisations, including 29 Principles, Human Rights in China, and Hong Kong Watch. 29 Principles highlights Hong Kong’s ongoing political persecution against women while Human Rights in China details Hong Kong’s online gender-based violence, particularly towards women journalists and those who take part in pro-democracy protests. Hong Kong Watch urges the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women to ask the Hong Kong government to clarify which women’s rights threaten national security under the National Security Law (NSL) as well as how women’s rights are protected under the NSL.
The CFHK Foundation and other evidence on Hong Kong will be considered by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women in Geneva on 8 May 2023 and formally reviewed on 12 May 2023.
The CFHK Foundation’s Communications Manager, Megan Khoo, said:
“The CFHK Foundation’s evidence alongside 17 other non-governmental organisations' submissions to the United Nations is an important step to call attention to the Chinese Communist Party and Hong Kong authorities’ erosion of women’s rights around the world. It is vital that the rights of women in Hong Kong are safeguarded, and crucial that women activists, journalists, and politicians are shielded from the Hong Kong government’s arbitrary use of the National Security Law. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women should heed the CFHK Foundation’s evidence by questioning the Hong Kong authorities’ treatment and protection of women and ensure that accountability measures are enacted before it’s too little, too late in Hong Kong and around the world.”