An international human rights organization has released data on the human rights situation in more than 30 countries and regions globally, showing that China ranks poorly on multiple indicators. The human rights situation in Hong Kong is also deteriorating, approaching levels seen in mainland China.
According to the latest survey by the Human Rights Measurement Initiative based in New Zealand, China’s human rights conditions are deemed dire. China has ranked at the bottom for two consecutive years in the overall score for “protection against state threats”, scoring only 2.6 out of 10. In the subcategories under this indicator, “the right to be free from enforced disappearance” and “the right to be free from the death penalty”, China also holds the lowest rankings.
In terms of overall scores for civil rights, China scored 1.9.
The overall human rights rating in Hong Kong has also decreased compared to the previous year, with the total score for “protection against state threats” dropping from 7.2 to 6.3. Meanwhile, the total score for civil rights declined from 3.2 to 2.2, only slightly higher than that of mainland China.
Both mainland China and Hong Kong scored 2.2 in the freedom of assembly and association under civil rights.
Thalia Kehoe Rowden, spokesperson for the Human Rights Measurement Initiative, told Voice of America that this survey has been carried out in China for four years, with China often ranking among the lowest regions.
She stated, “China has seen a significant drop in its score for the right to be free from the death penalty, indicating an increase in executions and a higher visibility of these cases. There have been no improvements in other areas, remaining relatively stable.”
She added, “The repression in Beijing has been ongoing for a long time, whereas in Hong Kong, this repression has only emerged in the past five years. We have observed that in recent years, Hong Kong’s scores in civil rights have been steadily approaching those of China.”
The respondents of this report include human rights workers, human rights lawyers, journalists reporting on human rights issues, and more from the countries surveyed. For security reasons, the Human Rights Measurement Initiative did not disclose the number or identities of the interviewees.