Event Summary
On 18 July 2025, the Hong Kong government gazetted sweeping amendments to prison regulations, bringing them into immediate effect. The amendments were first proposed on 3 July 2025, and formally announced on 16 July 2025, with the government confirming their intention to bypass detailed legislative scrutiny through negative vetting procedures. The amendments criminalize resistance to correctional staff with penalties up to six months imprisonment and grant arrest powers to prison officers. The government cited cases where visiting mechanisms were allegedly abused by people using “humanitarian relief” as pretext to influence inmates with “soft tactics” to incite resistance. The new rules significantly curtail inmates’ rights and visiting arrangements under national security grounds, including the ability to deny access to lawyers, doctors, and religious leaders.
These measures are widely understood to target protestors, pro-democracy activists, and human rights defenders in detention, posing a serious threat to civil society actors engaged in humanitarian relief, legal aid, and advocacy.