tirsdag 14. januar 2020

Hong Kong Denies Entry to Rights Group Chief For 'Inciting Violence, Separatism'

Hong Kong immigration authorities on Sunday refused entry to the head of a New York-based rights group ahead of the release of a major humanrights report, prompting renewed concerns over deteriorating civil rights and freedoms in the city. Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), wasturned away by immigration staff at Hong Kong's International Airport,after traveling to the city to launch the group's annual global rights report, HRW said in a statement.

"I had hoped to spotlight Beijing’s deepening assault on internationalefforts to uphold human rights," Roth said of the report, which is to be released on Wednesday. "The refusal to let me enter Hong Kong vividly illustrates the problem." In the report, Roth warns that the Chinese government is carrying out an intensive attack on the global system for enforcing human rights.

"My denial of entry pales in comparison to the harassment that Chineseactivists routinely endure - jail, torture, and enforced disappearance simply for trying to secure basic rights for their fellow citizens," Roth, who has traveled to Hong Kong many times before, including to launch a HRW report, said in a statement on HRW's website.