Former detainees in Hong Kong prisons have testified to inhumane and degrading conditions in new research published on December 17, 2025 by Amnesty International, which calls on authorities to urgently investigate the situation in the city’s prisons.
Nine ex-detainees, incarcerated between 2016 and 2023, reported having suffered physical violence, prolonged solitary confinement, deplorable sanitary conditions and dangerously high summer temperatures during their incarceration in 11 prisons in the territory.
“These testimonies from former detainees about prison life in Hong Kong reveal a system of ill-treatment causing widespread physical and psychological harm and demand immediate investigation,” said Sarah Brooks, Deputy Regional Director at Amnesty International.
“Subjecting detainees to extreme heat, unsanitary conditions and violent punishment constitutes cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, which could amount to torture under international law. The Hong Kong government must end this culture of violence and ensure that those responsible for human rights violations in its prisons are held to account. »
Hong Kong authorities responded to Amnesty International and called the allegations a “malicious smear campaign.”
“I heard his cries and the sound of “chicken wings””
Tony Chung, a political activist remanded at the Pik Uk Juvenile Correctional Facility from October 2020 to April 2022, said violence inflicted by guards on inmates was commonplace.
“Sometimes, when the guards were unhappy with a detainee, they would take him to a corridor where there were no surveillance cameras, and there I would hear his screams and the sound of “chicken wings,” he said. This expression refers to the blows carried out by guards with their elbows on the shoulder blades of detainees, a method supposed not to leave visible bruises. »
Peter*, detained in the same establishment from 2016, and according to him until 2017 or 2018, for offenses linked to demonstrations, said he was attacked by a guard on his first day because he did not know how to address the staff.
“In juvenile prisons, you have to use specific formulas to state your name and hold your identity card in front of your chest,” he explained. I didn’t know this since I was new, so I received eight slaps as punishment. »
Peter added that guards used corporal punishment to assert authority and instill fear within the facility.
“You could get hit if your blanket wasn’t folded properly or if you didn’t keep your hands firm and straight enough when you were standing,” he explained. Once I was asked to memorize the prison rules, then suddenly I was ordered to recite them backwards. For every wrong word, they hit me on the soles of my feet. By the end, they had turned purple. »
These detainee testimonies appear to corroborate previous allegations of violence by officers of the Hong Kong Department of Correctional Services. In 2017, a Hong Kong media outlet interviewed 50 minor ex-detainees who recounted extreme physical and psychological abuse at the hands of this department’s officers: they were notably beaten and forced to drink urine and eat feces. In 2020, dozens of them were reportedly slapped by a guard for singing a protest song.
“The heat in the cells forced us to be completely naked”
Summers in Hong Kong are extremely hot and humid, with temperatures often exceeding 31°C in the afternoon. Edmund Wan, aka “Giggs”, host of a pro-democracy web radio, was remanded in custody at Stanley Prison in 2021 for approximately 20 months, or two summers. He said his cell was “a real oven” during the summer months, with the temperature feeling “exceeding 40°C”.
“Every evening, before returning to our cells, we queued for the canteen toilets to splash water on our bodies with the garden hose, in order to refresh ourselves,” he explained. But in fact it was an illusion. By the time we returned to our cells, we were already drenched in sweat. »
Edmund Wan said each cell at Stanley Prison had an electric fan in the ceiling, but it was enclosed in a metal mesh blocking air circulation and making it “totally useless”.
“The heat in the cells forced us to be completely naked, we didn’t even keep our underwear on. I could hear people screaming in pain, and some had to be hospitalized because of the heat,” Edmund Wan said.
Amy*, held in solitary confinement at Lo Wu Correctional Facility in the summer of 2023, said her cell had no windows and she developed a rash from the heat. “Even the guards were dripping with sweat,” she added.
In 2024, imprisoned activist Chow Hang-tung has filed a legal challenge to rules that force women – but not men – to wear long pants all year round in Hong Kong prisons, despite the high summer heat.
“Where you could barely see the sun”
Hong Kong’s prison regulations provide for two types of solitary confinement, both of which violate international standards. Rule 63 allows punitive solitary confinement for up to 28 days for disciplinary infractions. Rule 68 B authorizes administrative solitary confinement, initially for a period of 72 hours, which can be extended for up to one month, for vague and non-punitive reasons.
During his detention at the Pik Uk center, Tony Chung said he was placed in solitary confinement under Rule 63 on at least three occasions, which he considered acts of retaliation rather than legitimate disciplinary measures.
“Once, during a visit, I told a friend that I had to do military exercises for more than three hours because the guards found us too noisy at night. My friend posted this information on social media, and a week later guards searched my cell and “found” a bookmark that did not belong to me. So they put me in solitary confinement to punish me. »
Even “non-punitive solitary confinement” appears, in practice, to be used as a punitive measure.
“As soon as I arrived at the prison, the guards locked me in a cell and forced me to sign documents where I “voluntarily” accepted solitary confinement,” says Edmund Wan. It is almost impossible to refuse: you are locked in a cell and you will only come out after signing. »
Fernando Cheung, a former lawmaker incarcerated at the Lai Chi Kok reception center in 2022 and now a board member of Amnesty International Hong Kong Overseas, testifies that he was also forced by the guards to sign similar documents to “voluntarily” request solitary confinement.
The people interviewed describe the deep psychological suffering caused by isolation.
“I was locked in a tiny cell, completely alone for more than 22 hours a day,” explains Edmund Wan. I ate and went to the bathroom inside my cell. I was allowed an hour of exercise daily – which consisted of walking alone in a wire cage where you could barely see the sun. »
Changes to prison regulations in July 2025 allowed the use of solitary confinement under Rule 68B, in the name of “preserving national security”.
According to those interviewed, solitary confinement is used more against detainees incarcerated for “political” offenses.
“Cockroaches were running over my body”
Respondents also reported deplorable sanitary conditions inside the prison. Tommy*, detained at Lai Chi Kok in 2021, said: “Cockroaches were running over my body; I absolutely couldn’t sleep. »
Cheung, incarcerated in the same facility the same year, described it as “extremely dirty, beyond belief.” In my cell, the dust had accumulated in stalactites that fell from the ceiling. In the infirmary, the toilets were clogged and the smell was unbearable. »
Amnesty International calls on the Hong Kong authorities to take immediate and concrete measures to address the human rights violations noted, including by carrying out the necessary investigations and reforms to prevent any further violations.
The government must implement the recommendations made by the United Nations Committee Against Torture in 2016, including:
- establish an independent body responsible for carrying out unannounced and effective visits to all places of detention.
- reduce the maximum duration of solitary confinement and limit it to measures of last resort, for as short a period as possible. Clear and precise criteria should be established for making decisions relating to isolation, indicating the approach, type and maximum duration.
- collect and regularly publish comprehensive and disaggregated data on the use of solitary confinement, including suicide attempts and resulting self-harm.
“The use of solitary confinement as retaliation and coercion is an abuse of power capable of degenerating into psychological torture. The Hong Kong government must urgently align its practices with international standards by ensuring that solitary confinement is imposed in exceptional circumstances and on a case-by-case basis, as a last resort, and is subject to regular, thorough and independent review,” said Sarah Brooks.
Additional information
The Hong Kong Correctional Services Department currently operates 29 correctional facilities across the city. These structures house people placed in pre-trial detention awaiting trial or sentencing, people convicted and serving their sentence, and people detained for immigration-related reasons. For simplicity, Amnesty International uses the term “prison” to refer to all 29 of these facilities operated by the Department of Corrections.
Amnesty International conducted interviews with former prisoners, carried out an in-depth documentary study and spoke to lawyers and researchers specializing in the corrections system.
In response to Amnesty International’s findings, the Department of Corrections said it “categorically refutes these allegations.” He claimed to apply zero tolerance in terms of physical violence, only impose isolation “in strict compliance with the law”, ensure the “highest possible level of hygiene” and have taken “major measures” to remedy the effects of extreme heat.
