UN human rights experts express deep concerns over Hong Kong security law in letter to China

Controversial legislation already used to arrest pro-democracy newspaper boss

Jimmy Lai (centre), the pro-democracy founder of a Hong Kong newspaper, being arrested under the national security law

(EPA)

UN human rights officials have warned China its new national security law imposed upon Hong Kong could be used to squash the territory’s freedoms.

In a letter to the Chinese government, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, the UN’s special rapporteur for protecting human rights while tackling terrorism, said the legislation did not meet Hong Kong’s international obligations.

“We are particularly troubled that this legislation may impinge impermissibly on the rights to freedom of opinion, expression and of peaceful assembly as protected by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” the letter states.