In its March 2015 judgment issued in the Varga and Others v. Hungary case, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) concluded that the overcrowding of penitentiaries in Hungary constitutes a structural problem, and Hungary … Read more
Appl. no. 9912/15
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee, together with other 14 Hungarian human rights NGOs have urged the respective committee to recommend that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe rejects the candidates nominated by the Hungarian Government to … Read more
The latest amendments to the Asylum Act and the Act on State Border entered into force on 5 July 2016. The Hungarian Helsinki Committee’s brief information update provides a summary of their implementation and practical … Read more
In its judgment of 5 July 2016, the European Court of Human Rights established that the pre-trial detention of the HHC’s client, Mr. Bandur, violated the European Convention on Human Rights. In 2012 the HHC … Read more
The latest amendments to the Asylum Act and the Act on State Border entered into force today, 5 July 2016. The Hungarian Helsinki Committee’s brief information update analyses the potential dangers and the immediate consequences … Read more
Since the beginning of this spring, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) has been receiving a growing number of alarming reports from asylum-seekers and various NGOs and individuals working at the Hungarian-Serbian border about serious abuses … Read more
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee – together with 10 other NGOs – sent an open letter to the Minister of Justice requiring him to withdraw the list of candidates to the post of judge at the … Read more
Recognised refugees are potentially forced to homelessness and destitution 30 days after status recognition, as all integration support is cancelled and access to state-run health care is curbed. Asylum-seeking children are deprived of school enrollment … Read more
Information leaflets for asylum seekers are available in 10 languages! The publication was supported by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. They can be dowloaded here: English Arabic French Kurdish Hungarian Pashtu Persian Spanish … Read more
Refugees fleeing war, terror and persecution have to queue for days or weeks at the entrance of the EU, on the Serbian-Hungarian border, without food, drinking water, shelter or sanitary facilities, while Hungarian authorities arbitrarily … Read more
C-695/15
In 2011, a police officer halted the car of a man in the outskirts of the city of Tatabánya. After getting into an oral dispute (the HHC’s future client refused to hand over his ID … Read more
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee has been monitoring places of detention, prisons and police cells for 20 years. We believe that prison overcrowding is one of the most severe problems of the Hungarian penitentiary system, being … Read more
As a major advocacy success for the HHC, the European Commission launched an infringement procedure against Hungary for the violation of asylum-related EU law in December, after a record fast preparatory process. The Commission’s assessment … Read more
The HHC’s client, a young man, was placed in pre-trial detention in November 2007. In March 2008, he was transferred to the Bács-Kiskun County Penitentiary Institution for five days, where he was placed in a … Read more
In the last decade, the HHC’s attorneys have successfully litigated cases before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in relation to ill-treatment by the police. Therefore, the HHC has special interest in the execution … Read more
Appl. no. 62116/12
New asylum rules deny protection to refugees and lead to unprecedented human rights violations in Hungary
As of 15 September 2015 three new provisions were introduced to the Criminal Code, which violate the human rights of the refugees concerned. Short analysis of the HHC.