The confidentiality of confession is endangered by Hong Kong’s proposed new National Security Law, imposed by Beijing, according to 16 international experts on religious freedom.

“The new law could force a priest to disclose what is said in confession against his will and conscience and in complete violation of privacy,” they write in a statement published by Hong Kong watch. This would be a clear violation of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The bill presented to Hong Kong’s parliament this month includes up to 14 years in prison for anyone who knows that another person has committed treason and fails to report it to the authorities within a reasonable time.

The signatories urge the international community, and religious leaders to stand up for religious freedom in Hong Kong.