Category: Our cases

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee is asking Hungary’s highest court (Kúria) to review court rulings that rejected lawsuits filed on behalf of refugee families from Transcarpathia (Zakarpattia, western Ukraine) seeking continued access to state-funded accommodation. According to the human rights organisation, the courts’ interpretation of the law is flawed and inconsistent with the protections guaranteed under the Temporary Protection Directive.

Breaches of judges’ freedom of expression have been a long-standing problem in Hungary. The individual instances may not be as blatant as in the case of Poland, however, the issue is persistent. For a long … Read more

In a landmark judgment, the European Court of Human Rights has mandated the Hungarian government to pay just satisfaction to three asylum seekers represented by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee after determining their expulsion from Hungary … Read more

June 20 is World Refugee Day. Meanwhile, in Hungary, the word “refugee” has become a slur, and xenophobia underpins government policy. The Hungarian Helsinki Committee, a human rights organization devoted to defending persecuted people, firmly rejects this approach. Its refugee clients have just won two more cases at the European Court of Human Rights. In both cases, children – even with serious health conditions – were victims of rights violations by Hungarian authorities.

Despite having a Hungarian wife and daughter and living lawfully in Hungary for 31 years, a Turkish father was expelled from the country. He was not even informed of the reasons why his presence was considered a security risk. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has awarded him just satisfaction amounting to approximately six million forints, ruling that the Hungarian state expelled him without ensuring a fair trial and adequate judicial remedy. Orhan Demirci was represented by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee.

In a stark display of authoritarian overreach and discriminatory intent, the Budapest police have banned this year’s LGBTQI march scheduled for June 1 – marking the first known use of Hungary’s newly expanded “anti-Pride” law to block a peaceful demonstration. Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International Hungary, Háttér Society, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Rainbow Mission Foundation, and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, condemn the move as a politically motivated violation of the fundamental right to peaceful assembly, calling out the government’s hollow denials of Pride bans as falsehoods.

The court convicted a man for violence against a member of the community, after he, along with his accomplices attacked antifascist youths, motivated by political hatred. It is notable that the prosecution had previously refused to press charges against the perpetrator, who has now been sentenced to one year suspended prison. The victims could only achieve a conviction through a substitute private prosecution, with the help of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee.

The Strasbourg Court has ruled in favour of a former prisoner in a case against Hungary over its arbitrary refusal to allow him to attend the funerals of his mother and brother. This was despite the fact that he had almost no time left to serve on his sentence and that his behaviour had been exemplary. The applicant was represented by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee.

According to the judgment rendered by the CJEU, the GDPR obliges Hungarian authorities to correct personal data on gender identity where it is inaccurate, i.e. in all cases where the social reality and gender identity … Read more

Hungarian authorities violated an Iranian asylum seeker’s human rights by detaining him under inhumane and degrading conditions for 13 months in the Tompa transit zone, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled. The Hungarian Helsinki Committee’s client was awarded €4,500 in just satisfaction. With this, the human rights NGO has now won its 110th case in Strasbourg.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled against the Hungarian state, in favour of a family seeking asylum . The ruling states that the Hungarian authorities violated the human rights of four children and two adults by unlawfully detaining them in the transit zone and withholding food. The Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) represented the family in this case, marking their 109th favourable ruling at the ECtHR.

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) utilised all human rights CSO tools (research, advocacy, empowerment, strategic litigation, public- and professional awareness raising) to eliminate mandatory glass partitioning between inmates and their family members in Hungarian prisons during visits for seven years. The seven-year-long status quo is currently changing.

The Hungarian state violated the human rights of an asylum-seeking boy when it unlawfully detained him for 86 days in prison conditions in the Röszke and Tompa transit zones, the European Court of Human Rights … Read more

The Hungarian state violated a 15-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker boy’s human rights when it unlawfully detained him in a prison-like transit zone in Röszke, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled. The Hungarian Helsinki … Read more

The Hungarian state violated A.P.’s human rights when it unlawfully detained him for more than a year and even starved him in the Röszke transit zone, ruled the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) today. … Read more

Hungarian police forced a family of six asylum seekers into Serbia unlawfully. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that the Hungarian state had violated the prohibition of collective expulsion. The Hungarian Helsinki Committee represented … Read more

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled against Hungary in another transit zone case. The asylum-seeking mother and her four children were unlawfully detained under inhuman conditions for 17 months. The Hungarian Helsinki … Read more

A client of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee has won a case against the Hungarian state in the Strasbourg Court. The young Iranian woman, who was separated from her family, was essentially held in solitary confinement in the Tompa transit zone. She has now been awarded €3500 in just reparation by the European Court of Human Rights.

The clients of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee have won a case against the state before the European Court of Human Rights. The asylum-seeking mother and her 5-year-old and 5-month-old children were denied food in the transit zone for 37 days. Their lives and health were saved by the support of their fellow migrants and charities. 

A client of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee has won a case against the Hungarian state before the European Court of Human Rights. A young Iraqi man separated from his family was denied food in a transit zone for eight days. After 10 months, he was  released from the container-prison only because the government – following a court ruling – dismantled them.