Struggles behind prison walls and in the de facto prison that Hong Kong looks to be fast becoming

No where to go but down?

 

The blows to Hong Kong's civil society have been coming thick and fast; so much so that it's well nigh impossible to keep track of everything that's going on anymore.  And if anything, it feels like the pace of Hong Kong's descent into an open prison has increased these past two days.  To see what I mean, bear in mind that this post is not an exhaustive recap of what's happened over the past 48 hours in Hong Kong.

 

The first piece of news that caught my eye on Monday (yesterday) morning was a Washington Post piece about an American man jailed in Hong Kong for being a good Samaritan.  Currently out on bail and appealing the verdict, Samuel Bickett's "fate has come to embody fears about a diminished rule of law in the Chinese territory and the unchecked power of the police force, after he was convicted and jailed for assaulting an officer who identified himself as such only after arresting Bickett".  And, notes the article's author, Shibani Mahtani, "As China remakes Hong Kong in its authoritarian image after anti-government protests in 2019, Bickett’s experience offers a glimpse into a prison system filling with political detainees."

 

The article contains quotes by Bickett, a trained lawyer who was working for the Bank of America at the time of his arrest.  Those interested in learning more about his experiences and thoughts can do so straight from the horse's mouth -- in that Bickett is now active on Twitter.  Among his Tweets yesterday was this one -- "My prison experience was survivable thanks to the immense moral support I received from both other prisoners and people outside. The Police realize that, and seem to be moving to cut off any support for political prisoners to increase our suffering inside" -- made in response to one by Mahtani's discussion of the repression of political activists and politicians within prison walls rather than just outside of it.    

 

Within 24 hours of Bickett Tweeting this, news broke that prisoner rights support group Wall-fare is disbanding, prompting him to Tweet the following: "When I was in prison, encouraging letters from supporters were just as critical as food and water to my survival. Wallfare was the organization through which most of them were sent—which is why the police are forcing them to shut down"; "I want people to understand how utterly cruel it is for the Police to now be targeting Wallfare. This is an organization that simply tries to provide prisoners with their basic needs—letters, shampoo, m&ms—all of which they are legally entitled to"; and "We all know the police who rule this city do not care about the law or fundamental rights. But the raw cruelty here is extraordinary, even for them. Denying letters & shampoo to already-suffering prisoners: this is the face of these brutes that the world must see."   

 

A former political prisoner himself as well as ex-legislative councillor, Wall-fare founder Shui Ka-on must have been under terrible pressure to disband the group.  Otherwise, he surely would not have made the decision that he did -- and issue the following statement when announcing his decision: "It’s more important than anything else for Hongkongers to stay alive- be safe and sound, that’s the most important thing."

 

Someone else who appears to have buckled to some extent under the strain is Albert Ho.  Yesterday, the veteran democrat announced his resignation from his leadership positions – and halted his membership – of the embattled Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, the China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group, and the New School for Democracy.  In view of his having been a founding member of all three groups, his decision surely was not taken lightly and had to be effected under great pressure.

 

For now though, the also embattled Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) appears determined to not roll over and die.  Its chairman, Ronson Chan, announced today that Hong Kong's main journalist union will do its best to remain in operation as long as possible, and also directly refuted claims by security minister Chris Tang that it has has been "infiltrating schools" to recruit students as journalists.  

 

A note on Hong Kong student journalists: Not only does Hong Kong have a number of universities that offer journalism degrees but student journalists also have done sterling work here.  Some extradition bill protest examples: a team of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology student journalists captured footage of riot police pinning a young girl to the ground after she tried to flee during a demonstration in Mongkok on September 6th, 2020; Hong Kong Baptist University student journalists captured the moment when a protester stabbed a police officer in the arm on July 1st, 2020; and it was student journalists from the University of Hong Kong who recorded graphic footage of police shooting an 18-year-old protester with a live round in Tsuen Wan on October 1st, 2019.       

 

So there shouldn't be anything amiss if the HKJA had student members -- which it has but, not that many: just some 60, or around 13 percent of its total membership.  And should there be any doubt re the respect that the HKJA has internationally: Consider the following statement of support from Reporters sans frontières  (AKA Reporters Without Borders (RSF) which points out that the HKJA is "an independent Hong Kong association [that] has been advocating for #pressfreedom since 1968, whose role has never been so essential in this period of constant attacks against independent journalism."      

 

Not that its detractors, among them Chris Tang, will care.  Speaking of Hong Kong's security minister: another announcement he made today was that Hong Kong will create a host of new national security offences.  It seems that it's not enough to be able to accuse people of subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces -- and put them behind bars for months on end before they are even brought to trial.  Rather, the powers that be also want to be able to accuse people of treason, sedition and theft of state secrets, and have "new measures to stop "foreign political organisations" operating in Hong Kong -- or Hong Kongers contacting them".

 

Remember when Carrie Lam told the United Nations that the national security law would affect only an "extremely small minority of people"?  Check out the still growing thread by the Hong Kong resident who goes by the handle Poohsticks over on Twitter to see how much of a lie this has proven to be even prior to the stated creation of the additional national security offences; this not least since the national security law is so vaguely worded that it can seem like pretty much anything (think illustrated children's books about brave sheep and nasty wolves by speech therapists!) could be a national security offence in Hong Kong!