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民間人權陣線 | |
![]() CHRF logo | |
Abbreviation | CHRF |
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Formation | 13 September 2002 |
Dissolved | 15 August 2021 |
Type | NGO |
Key people | Chung Chung-fai (last convener) [1] Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit Figo Chan Ho-wun Icarus Wong Ho-yin Johnson Yeung Andrew Shum Wai-nam |
Website | www |
Civil Human Rights Front | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 民間人權陣線 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 民间人权阵线 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) was an organisation that focused on the issues of Hong Kong politics and livelihood,affiliated with almost all pan-democratic camps in Hong Kong. It was founded on 13 September 2002 [2] and disbanded on 15 August 2021. [3]
Forty-eight NGOs and political groups were involved in the organisation in January 2006. The most well-known event held by the CHRF was the Hong Kong 1 July marches. [4]
Civil Human Rights Front was founded on 13 September 2002,with the aim to provide a platform consolidating voices and powers from various groups and spectrum of the societies in order to advance the development in the human and civil rights movements. [2]
The initial aim was to focus on the enactment of the legislation of Article 23 of the Basic Law. [5] After the protest in 2003,the organisation started to diversify its mandate,to include issues such as equal opportunities and authorities given to the police. [6]
Since 2017 they have been lobbying the Hong Kong government through the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process as one of the main Hong Kong UPR Coalition Steering Committee members alongside Justice Centre Hong Kong,PEN Hong Kong,and Hong Kong Watch.
In April 2020,then-vice-convener,also known as co-convener of the organisation,Figo Chan,was arrested as part of a crackdown on pro-democracy activists who organised and participated in unlawful assemblies. [7] In May 2020,he appeared before the West Kowloon magistrates' court and was granted bail. There,he said that "demonstrating is not a crime". [8]
After the charging of 47 pro-democracy activists and politicians under the national security law (including the indictment of former convener Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit),the organisation was questioned by pro-Beijing media as to whether it had a right to exist under the current security laws. [9] In March 2021,the Democratic Party and the teachers' union withdrew from the Front. Convener Figo Chan confirmed this but did not explain further. Also in the same month,a Singaporean newspaper quoted officials from the Hong Kong government saying that the Front was funded by the US agency National Endowment for Democracy,which is illegal under the national security law as "colluding with foreign forces";both,former convener Sham and current convener Chan denied the allegations. [10] On the threat of disbandment,Chan said that "[F]or this reason,we will not and cannot disband,and I,as its convenor,am absolutely willing to live and die with the Front as long as there are still member groups that remain." [9]
On 6 January 2021,Jimmy Sham was arrested along dozens others amidst a crackdown on pro-democracy figures and participants of the pro-democracy primaries. Sham was rearrested on 28 February 2021 on subversion charges and awaits trial as of late May 2021. [11] Also in late May 2021,the group's convener Figo Chan was convicted over an unlawful assembly in 2019 and handed a 18 months' imprisonment term,leading the group temporarily leaderless. [12]
The following civic organisations and political parties are members of CHRF. [13]
The Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL) is a Hong Kong pro-democracy social-liberal political party catering to grassroots interest with a strong basis in Sham Shui Po. Established on 26 October 1986,it was one of the three major pro-democracy groups along with the Meeting Point and the Hong Kong Affairs Society in the 1980s.
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Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit is a Hong Kong pro-democracy and LGBT rights activist. He served as a convener for the pro-democracy organisation Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) until October 2020 and serves as a secretary for the LGBT rights organisation Rainbow of Hong Kong. He is a longtime member of the League of Social Democrats. In 2019 he was elected to the Sha Tin District Council by residents of Lek Yuen constituency,but he resigned from this position in July 2021 amidst a government crackdown on pro-democracy councillors.
Kalvin Ho Kai-ming is a Hong Kong politician. He is the current vice chairman of the Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL) and member of the Sham Shui Po District Council for Nam Cheong East since 2016.
Figo Chan Ho-wun is a Hong Kong pro-democracy activist who served as convener of the Civil Human Rights Front from October 2020 until his conviction in May 2021,when he was succeeded by Chung Chung-fai. As vice-convener of the organisation Chan and then convener Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit,planned major marches during the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests. In November 2019,Chan and Emily Lau were awarded the John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service on behalf of the people of Hong Kong during the Halifax International Security Forum. He also is member of the League of Social Democrats.
Chan Shun-hing is a professor in the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Hong Kong Baptist University,known for his research on the intersection between Christianity and social movements in Hong Kong.