Helsinki File: Reports to international organisations

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique process which involves the review of the human rights record of all 192 UN Member States once every four-and-half year. It was created by the UN General … Read more

The European Court of Human Rights established in 2015 that overcrowding in penitentiaries in Hungary constitutes a structural problem. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe examines the Varga and Others v. Hungary … Read more

The Ombudsperson’s status as a national human rights institution will be reviewed in June 2021. In its shadow report submitted ahead of the review, the HHC warns that the new Ombudsperson, who took office in September 2019, has failed to demonstrate adequate efforts in addressing all human rights issues, and has failed to speak out in a manner that promotes and protects all human rights, similar to his predecessor.

This submission has been prepared by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee in response to the call for input of the Special Rapporteur, to inform his report to the 47th session of the United Nations Human Rights … Read more

After the Hungarian government declared a state of danger due to the pandemic in March 2020, one of the first extraordinary measures adopted was a blanket ban of all kinds of gatherings, demonstrations and assemblies, … Read more

The Hungarian Government has failed to address in a satisfactory manner the concerns around the right to freedom of expression of Hungarian judges. Therefore, in its decision published today, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has not closed the supervision of the judgment delivered by the European Court of Human Rights in the Baka v. Hungary case, and requested the Hungarian authorities to submit an updated action plan.

Information update by the HHC on the execution of the European Court of Human Rights’ judgment in the Varga and Others v. Hungary case

The Hungarian state failed to remedy the legislative deficiencies that have led to the breach of the right to peaceful assembly on several occasions in the past. Although a new assembly law was passed, sufficient … Read more

A communication by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and Amnesty International shows that due to the legal and institutional structures created by the governing majority, the chilling on the freedom of expression of judges effect is encoded in the Hungarian court system, and Hungary has failed to adopt guarantees to avoid retaliation against judges voicing criticism in relation to the independence of the judiciary.

The HHC provided input for the upcoming report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture on psychosocial dynamics conducive to torture and ill-treatment.

The HHC’s input for the Special Rapporteur’s report on “Psychosocial dynamics conducive to torture and ill-treatment”

The HHC submitted a communication to the Committee of Ministers on the execution of a 2015 pilot judgment on inadequate detention conditions in Hungarian prisons and the related compensation system. The HHC is of the view that the Hungarian Government should be under strict scrutiny while carrying out its announced review of the system of compensations for prison overcrowding.

In its communication submitted to the Committee of Ministers, the HHC warns that Hungary has been failing to address systemic deficiencies with regard to handling ill-treatment by the police, and so has been failing to execute the respective judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.

In January, the Government unexpectedly announced that it intends to amend the system of compensations awarded to inmates for poor detention conditions. This may violate Hungary’s international obligations and points to the inadequacy of domestic policy, while the Government’s hostile rhetoric targeting detainees and their attorneys is unacceptable.

Following a judgment concluding that the removal of the Supreme Court President in 2012 was prompted by the criticism he voiced, the CoE called on Hungary to protect the freedom of expression of judges, but to no avail: today, judges are facing retaliatory measures and media attacks once again for voicing professional criticism.

The HHC assessed the activities and independence of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights of Hungary with a view to its upcoming re-accreditation as a “national human rights institution”. The analysis shows that even though the Ombudsperson was active in a number of areas, he repeatedly failed to address adequately pressing human rights issues that are politically sensitive and high-profile.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is a human rights treaty which sets out the civil, political, economic, social, health, and cultural rights of children. The implementation of the CRC  … Read more

The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) is a UN Convention, adopted in 1965 and is in force in Hungary since 1969. The Convention is monitored by the UN … Read more

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee gave oral and written statements on the situation in Hungary at the 2018 Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM) of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). On 12 September … Read more

HHC briefing papers related to the CPT’s ad hoc and periodic visits to Hungary