Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture: Experiences of Victims and Survivors

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 Degrading Treatment or Punishment, focusing on the experiences and perspectives of victims and survivors of torture and other ill-treatment. The consultation will inform the Special Rapporteur’s forthcoming report to the Human Rights Council in 2025.

Grounded in the lived experiences of victims and survivors, this submission exposes the persistent structural failures that enable ill-treatment and other forms of inhuman or degrading treatment in detention. It highlights the lack of effective protection for those deprived of their liberty and underscores the urgent need to ensure that policymaking and practice are informed and guided by victims‘ perspectives. These accounts reveal the profound human cost of systemic neglect and call for sustained international commitment to safeguarding dignity, justice, and the rule of law.

Drawing on decades of legal activities and monitoring in police detention, prisons, and asylum facilities, the HHC outlines persistent systemic issues in preventing, investigating, and sanctioning ill-treatment in Hungary. Police and prison staff are often present during examinations, while police-employed doctors lack training in the Istanbul Protocol and do not routinely document or photograph injuries. In parallel, prosecution offices often neglect to collect all relevant evidence, unduly delay procedural action, and fail to undertake a thorough and independent inquiries. Moreover, even when convicted, law enforcement officers typically remain eligible for service.

Prison overcrowding and substandard conditions further expose detainees to inhuman and degrading treatment. In the asylum context, Hungary’s ongoing denial of access to territory and protection procedures leaves many at risk of abuse and inhumane treatment at the borders.

These systemic shortcomings persist despite numerous international and domestic rulings against Hungary. Addressing them requires genuine implementation of binding judgments, credible oversight, and continued international scrutiny to end impunity and uphold human dignity in all detention and border-control settings.

Against this background, the HHC calls for practical reforms, including measures to reduce prison overcrowding, guarantee adequate medical examinations in line with the Istanbul Protocol, reinforce safeguards against torture and ill-treatment, ensure independent and effective oversight, strengthen prosecutorial accountability, address judicial leniency, and restore access to asylum procedures consistent with the absolute prohibition of torture and ill-treatment.

Read the full submission to the UN Special Rapporteur here.