The New Zealand-based non-governmental organization Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) recently released its latest report on the human rights performance of various countries. Hong Kong scored “very bad” in several human rights categories, while China scored very bad in nine out of ten human rights and civil liberties categories.
As for “Empowerment,” Hong Kong’s overall score is only 3.2 points. Three out of four sub-categories are rated as “very bad,” with ”Right to assembly and association“ receiving only 2.7 points, ”Right to participate in government“ receiving 2.9 points, and ”Right to opinion and expression“ receiving 3.1 points—all lower than Thailand’s ratings—while”Right to assembly and association“ is even lower than Vietnam’s rating. Hong Kong scored an 8 for the “Right to freedom of religion and belief,” which is rated ”fair.”
The total rating of “Empowerment” in Hong Kong is only 3.2. (Screenshot from HRMI Rights Tracker via The Epoch Times)
The report evaluated that Hong Kong’s score for empowerment is lower than the average score of other countries in this category, indicating that many people do not enjoy their rightful political freedoms and liberties, including freedom of speech, assembly and association rights, and democratic rights.
The report also lists which groups of people in Hong Kong are considered by human rights experts to be most vulnerable to having their rights violated in certain areasRegardingof the “right to assembly and association,” those most vulnerable to having their rights violated include human rights advocates, protesters or non-violent political activists, those with particular political affiliations or beliefs, and members of a labor union or worker’s rights advocates. As for freedom of opinion and expression, those most vulnerable to having their rights violated include human rights advocates, those with particular political affiliations or beliefs, protesters or non-violent political activists, and journalists.
China Scores the Lowest in ‘Safety from the State Rights’ and ’Empowerment’
As for China, in the category of “Safety from the State Rights” category, China received only 2.8 points out of a total of 10 points, the worst performance among 30 countries. Of the five sub-categories, four were rated as the lowest level, including “Right to freedom from arbitrary arrest” (3 points), “Right to freedom from forced disappearance” (3.5 points), “Right to freedom from the death penalty,” (1.2 points), and “Right to freedom from torture and ill-treatment” (2.8 points). The “Right to freedom from extrajudicial execution” rating was also “bad” (5.7 points).Regarding “empowerment,” the overall score was only 1.9 points, the lowest among the 30 countries. China was rated as the lowest level in all aspects of assembly and association, opinion and expression, participation in government, and religion and belief.
The report noted that a wide range of people in China have lost their right to assembly and association, and minority religious groups cannot even freely assemble for small social gatherings at home, which are often broken up by authorities. In terms of advocating and expressing rights issues, there has been no improvement in the past three years, even on the Internet, where no one can speak freely without facing a series of punishments and retaliation.
The report also noted that the Chinese Communist Party restricts all religious activities, suppressing minority religions and spiritual practices such as Falun Gong and Uyghur Muslims, in particular.
