We are Hongkongers, and groups and communities comprising Hongkongers and East and Southeast Asian people, living in the UK, and our allies. We stand with all who are resisting the Policing, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.
In the aftermath of Saturday’s police crackdown of a vigil in memory of Sarah Everard at Clapham Common, the PCSC Bill has been criticised by cross-party MPs, civil society groups, trade unions, and activists for clamping down on everyone’s right to protest.
Of particular concern within the Bill are unprecedented proposals that will expand the police’s power to place conditions on the right to protest. Under the Bill, the police will be able to impose conditions on a protest if the noise “may result in serious disruption to the activities of an organisation which are carried out in the vicinity”, with the Home Secretary having the power to clarify what is meant by “serious disruption” by regulation. For static assemblies, the police will be able to impose conditions if the noise “may have a relevant impact on persons in the vicinity… and that impact is significant”. What constitutes a noise having a “relevant impact” has been vaguely defined to include that which may cause people to suffer “serious unease, alarm or distress”. This rhetoric is reminiscent of the reasons frequently used by police to deny permission to protest organisers in Hong Kong via letters of objection.
In addition, the Bill provides that a person who intentionally or recklessly causes a public nuisance by “obstructing the public” during a protest, or causes “serious annoyance” to others, could face up to 10 years’ imprisonment. This is an attack on Britain’s long history of civil disobedience. The Bill also increases the maximum penalty for damaging a statue (including graffiti) to 10 years’ imprisonment, a clear response to the toppling of the statue of slave trader Edward Colston into Bristol Harbour during Black Lives Matter protests last summer.
We know firsthand how concepts of ‘public order’ can be manipulated to narrow the freedom of assembly. We have seen all space for dissent crushed in Hong Kong as a result of the National Security Law, notably in the recent arrests of 47 pro-demoracy politicians (effectively our entire political opposition). But prior to the NSL, colonial-era laws such as the Public Order Ordinance were—and indeed, continue to be—used as a sledgehammer to crack down on protest.
Hongkongers, East and Southeast Asian communities, and our allies, in the UK have actively exercised our right to freedom of assembly as a way of drawing the British public’s attention to Hong Kong's struggle for democracy and freedom. In 2019, when we protested the anti-extradition bill and police brutality in Hong Kong on the streets of London and various cities in the UK, we were grateful to be joined by allies from all walks of life—from trade unionists, to pacifists, to anti-war activists. Like many others, we have protested in our thousands at Parliament Square. We cherish our right to make our voices heard, especially when so many of our brothers and sisters in Hong Kong can no longer do the same.
In 2019, one slogan that came to prominence in our movement was “no rioters, only tyranny” (沒有暴徒，只有暴政). It guided our ethos: in the face of repressive laws, we are all united in the fight against injustice. For this reason, we stand with all in resisting the #PoliceCrackdownBill—because protest is a right to be defended for all.
Signatories (rolling):
Democracy for Hong Kong
Labour Solidarity with Hong Kong
Remember and Resist
Befria Hongkong
Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.
Cambridge stands with Hong Kong
Lausan 流傘
UCL Solidarity with HK
Power to Hongkongers
Auckland Peace Action
Uyghur Solidarity Campaign UK
左回声 Left Echo
Hong Kong Democracy Movement Team
Jennifer Lai
David Warren
Gary Ho
Martin Bazeley
Simon
Ben Chan
SY Yeung
Philippe Jungo
Joe Booth
Julia
Ashley Tolin
Kengho Fong
Samantha Naik
Maira Aisa
Timothy Mullen
Michael Sidaway
Damian Jones
Giuseppe Turi
Arthur Wing Hang Li
Mary Sayer Unite
Edna Mullen
Carol westall
Julie Ward
Markus Kellermann
Carol Westall
Bernard Hurley
James Jacobs
Hong
Don Flynn
Tam Hau-Yu
Julie Le Déaut
Hsiao-Hung Pai
Jun Pang
Elizabeth Baker
Latifa Aarab
Ruby Galloway
Nick 😷 Fight For Freedom
Helen Grogan
Ben Samuel
julien
Connie
sophie tsai
Turtles Aldaway Downey
Xun-ling Au
Jeffrey Ngo
Jennifer Chan
Mr J Bucke
Ian Wickson
Julieta
Stephen Ng
Ben Paterson
Matthew Jacob
Tom Melling
Nicola Wade
David Ball
Eliana Darroch
Promise Li
Law Chloe
Y Barton
Marston Lam
Magnus Kwan
Kevin Li
Ian Wang
Annabelle Cheung
Pongo
Felix Anthony - Fiji Trades Union Congress
Elson Tong
Alan
Magnus Jonsson
Prima Mandy Ng
Alfa Romeo
Chelsea Wong
Pete Radcliff, Labour Solidarity with Hong Kong (UK)
Hannah Sawtell
Denis Wong
Claire Hill
Theodora Polents
Norah Sham
Edgar Willem Aart De Bruin
Sam Wong
Ka Ki Wong
James Lee Proudfoot
Read more:
Liberty’s briefing on the Bill:
https://www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/issue/protest-briefings-and-reports/Good Law Project’s briefing on the Bill:
https://goodlawproject.org/news/pcsc-bill-briefing-for-mps/Netpol’s petition:
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/protect-the-freedom-to-protest?bucket&source=facebook-share-button&time=1615728009&utm_campaign&utm_medium=socialshare&utm_source=facebook&share=a8431541-3391-4320-9083-69ba63948456Tweet at your MP:
https://action.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/page/78247/tweet/1