Pax Romana Statement on Mass Arrests of Pro-Democracy Figures in Hong Kong
Pax Romana Statement on Mass Arrests of Pro-Democracy Figures in Hong Kong The mass arrests of activists and human rights defenders in Hong Kong this past week represents a serious attack on human rights and democracy. As the two international movements in Pax Romana, IMCS and ICMICA are particularly concerned by the arrest of John (Jack) Clancey, a lawyer, chair of the Asian Human Rights Commission, and a former chaplain to our movements. We are happy to know that Jack has been granted bail and we pledge to support him in the weeks ahead. We stand in solidarity with Jack and with all the people of Hong Kong in this difficult time. These attacks come as the promise of participatory democracy is eroding not only in Hong Kong, but also in many other parts of the world as we saw with the failed coup in the United States this week. As movements, we continue to believe in the values of human rights and participatory democracy. We urge our members, groups of Catholic students, professionals and intellectuals, and others friends to learn more about the human rights situation in Hong Kong and to reach out to their political leaders to take immediate action to put pressure on the Chinese government to abide by human rights norms as established in international law and to drop the charges on the human rights activists. For more information, see: American lawyer arrested by Hong Kong police in national security crackdown Hong Kong: Mass arrest of opposition figures highlights repressive power of national security law (Amnesty) Hong Kong: Mass Arrests of Pro-Democracy Politicians (HRW) Signed, Ravi Tissera – International Movement of Catholic Students (IMCS) Pax Romana Kevin Ahern, PhD, on behalf of the International Catholic Movement for Intellectual and Cultural Affairs (ICMICA) William Nokrek – Asia Pacific Secretariat, International Movement of Catholic Students (IMCS) Fasika Lachore Laba – International Movement of Catholic Students (IMCS Pax Romana) Pan African Coordination, Nairobi Kenya Eirini Freri – European Coordination (JECI-MIEC) International Young Catholic Students- International Movement of Catholic Students
