Hong Kong: Face Mask Ban Violates Assembly Rights

Expand People protest the enactment of the anti-mask law in Hong Kong, October 4, 2019. © 2019 Yomiuri Shimbun via AP Images (New York) – The Hong Kong government’s broad ban on protesters wearing face masks is a disproportionate restriction on peaceful assembly rights, Human Rights Watch said today. Chief Executive Carrie Lam said the government had invoked emergency powers “to de-escalate the situation and to end the violence.” The ban on face masks is limited neither by scope nor duration and should immediately be revoked. “The broad face mask ban seems aimed to discourage protests, not…

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