Jimmy Lai Hong Kong Political Prisoner Accountability Act of 2026

Congress finds the following:

(1) Jimmy Lai Chee-Ying is a 78-year-old citizen of the United Kingdom, resident of Hong Kong, Catholic, and the founder of Apple Daily, one of the most widely read pro-democracy newspapers in Hong Kong. Lai has been imprisoned since December 2020, largely in solitary confinement. On December 15, 2025, Lai was convicted by a Hong Kong national security court on two counts of conspiracy to commit collusion with foreign forces under the National Security Law and one count of conspiracy to publish seditious publications under the Crimes Ordinance, to which Lai pleaded not guilty. On February 9, 2026, Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison, the longest sentence imposed under the National Security Law since the Government of the People's Republic of China enacted the legislation in 2020.

(2) The continued imprisonment of, denial of counsel of choice and of the Catholic sacrament of Holy Communion to, and the prolonged nature of the prosecution of Jimmy Lai represent a clear violation of the rights guaranteed to Hong Kong residents under the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law, including the rights to a fair trial, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, and freedom of the press.

(3) The United States Government has designated Jimmy Lai as a priority human rights case. The United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, the European Union, and other democratic nations have called for the immediate and unconditional release of Lai.

(4) More than one thousand other individuals have been imprisoned in Hong Kong under the National Security Law, the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, and related legislation, including media professionals, lawyers, legislators, labor leaders, faith leaders, social workers, academics, students, and activists. Among such individuals are—

(A) Chow Hang-tung, a prominent barrister and pro-democracy activist; Joshua Wong, a former student leader and democracy advocate;

(B) Lee Cheuk-yan, a veteran labor leader and legislator; and

(C) Gwyneth Ho, a journalist and democracy advocate.

(5) Many of the imprisoned individuals are held under restrictive conditions, denied family contact, and subjected to prolonged pretrial detention.

(6) The conditions of detention for political prisoners in Hong Kong raise serious concerns regarding physical and mental health. Detainees have been held for extended periods in solitary or near-solitary confinement, denied adequate medical care, subjected to restrictions on family visits and legal access, and held in facilities without any effective, independent mechanism for oversight or redress.

(7) The Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of Hong Kong bear responsibility for safeguarding the life and health of every individual held in their custody. A death in custody resulting from the denial of adequate medical care, from inhumane conditions of confinement, or from other mistreatment, or a death not subject to a prompt, independent investigation, would constitute a grave violation of the right to life under Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, done at New York December 19, 1966, and of internationally recognized standards governing the treatment of detainees, including the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, adopted in New York December 17, 2015 (commonly known as the Nelson Mandela Rules) and the United Nations Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, adopted in New York December 9, 1988.

(8) The Government of the People's Republic of China—

(A) has not permitted independent international monitoring of detention conditions in Hong Kong for political prisoners;

(B) has disregarded the findings and recommendations of United Nations human rights mechanisms concerning detained individuals and repeated calls for the release of such individuals; and

(C) has systematically denied or delayed consular access to foreign nationals in custody, including Jimmy Lai, a citizen of the United Kingdom entitled to consular access by the United Kingdom under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, done at Vienna April 24, 1963.

(9) The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) and the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019 (22 U.S.C. 5701 note; Public Law 116–76) provide authorities to impose targeted sanctions on individuals responsible for human rights abuses in Hong Kong. The death of a political prisoner in custody should be understood as among the gravest possible human rights violations to which these authorities apply, and Congress affirms that such an event demands an immediate and consequential response by the United States Government.

(10) The experience of other authoritarian states demonstrates that the failure of democratic governments to impose meaningful consequences for the death of political prisoners creates incentives for future abuses.