The Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) has submitted input to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture for his thematic report on practical measures to reduce and prevent prison overcrowding. The submission examines the main drivers of … Read more
Hungary continues to violate the European Convention on Human Rights by maintaining rules that allow life imprisonment without any real prospect of release. In a new submission to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee highlights the continuing deficiencies of Hungary’s life imprisonment rules and calls for meaningful reforms to comply with judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.
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 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child guarantees the fundamental rights to be enjoyed by every child. The Hungarian Child Rights Coalition prepares an alternative report on the implementation of the Convention, which draws on the professional experience of its member organizations and covers developments over the past five years. This year, as a new member of the Coalition, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee is also contributing to the preparation of the report.
On 21 January 2026, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) submitted a new Rule 9(2) communication to the Committee of Ministers concerning the execution of the European Court of Human Rights’ judgments in the Gubacsi v. … Read more
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) has submitted a new communication to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe concerning the execution of the European Court of Human Rights’ pilot judgment in Varga and Others v. Hungary and the related István Gábor Kovács v. Hungary case group. This group of cases concerns inhuman and/or degrading treatment arising from poor conditions of detention, primarily resulting from structural prison overcrowding, the lack of effective preventive and compensatory remedies, and other detention-related violations.
The HHC’s shadow reports and its suggestions for questions to be included in the List of Issues for the UN Human Rights Committee
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee has prepared a summary report on Hungarian research conducted as part of the EU-funded international PRinCE (Procedural Rights in Central Europe) project. During the study, we summarised previous research results, analysed … Read more
Háttér Society, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU), and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) have jointly submitted input to the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association for her 2026 thematic report … Read more
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) and the Support Network for Detainees and Their Families (FECSKE) have submitted input to the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief for her forthcoming thematic report on … Read more
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC), together with the Support Network for Detainees and Their Families (FECSKE), has contributed to the call for input by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or … Read more
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee participated in a European research project examining the rights of LGBTIQ detainees in the European Union. The project assessed the situation of LGBTIQ detainees, identified challenges, gaps and promising practices and raised … Read more
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee submitted a communication to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe regarding the non-execution of the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the Magyar Helsinki Bizottság … Read more
In March 2025, the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) conducted an ad hoc visit to Hungary. To highlight pressing issues regarding conditions in Hungarian prisons, the HHC Justice Programme prepared a submission for the visit.
The Hungarian government is disregarding an interim resolution by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which exhorted the government to align legislation on life sentences with the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights.
Recent legislative proposals threaten with the “suspension” of Hungarian citizenship, violate freedom of assembly, and effectively ban Pride. These changes represent a significant escalation in the Government’s efforts to suppress dissent and weaken human rights protection, and elevate exclusion and the threatening of dissenters to a constitutional level.
How the Ombudsperson’s weak independence and concentrated mandates weaken fundamental rights protection – Human rights defenders assess the performance of Hungary’s national human rights institution
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee is participating in a European research project examining the impact of digitalisation on procedural rights in criminal proceedings in Hungary. The project aims to promote the implementation of digitalisation in criminal proceedings in a way that ensures the consistent and complete enforcement of procedural rights, providing a uniform and adequate level of protection across the EU.
Despite rulings by the European Court of Human Rights and repeated calls by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe over the past 13 years, Hungary still fails to tackle prison overcrowding and inhumane detention conditions. As a result, large-scale rights violations persist.
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee’s replies to requests to provide information by the Hungarian national focal point for the FRANET research network of the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA)