Topic: Helsinki

Hungary has voted for change. Now comes the hard work of restoring the rule of law. We, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, look forward to playing our part.

Do you want to:
– get to know how democratic power functions at different levels?
– learn about social participation in Hungary and become an active citizen?
– be a part of a diverse, young team of refugees, migrants and Hungarians?
– learn and have fun with interactive educational methods?

If yes, apply to the Hungarian Helsinki Committee’s Human Rights Course by 29 March!

The “Human Rights Defenders of the Future” the youth group of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, held a Forum Theatre performance on 10 December, on World Human Rights Day. The interactive performance portrayed the problems refugees and foreigners face living in Hungary.

Do you want to:
– get to know how democratic power functions at the local level? 
– be a part of a diverse, young team of refugees, migrants and Hungarians? 
– explore human rights issues faced by refugees in Budapest? 
– learn and have fun with interactive educational methods? 

If yes, apply to the Hungarian Helsinki Committee’s Human Rights Course by 14 September! 

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee’s annual report on its activities in 2024 is now available in both Hungarian and English. As a human rights NGO, we provided legal assistance to approximately 4,000 clients last year and successfully represented individuals in 15 cases before the European Court of Human Rights.

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.

A new legislative proposal marks a dark turn in Hungary’s erosion of democratic norms. Disguised as a transparency measure to prevent sovereignty threats, the Bill on the Transparency of Public Life aims to starve and strangle civil society, independent media and any legal entity that the government decides to target.

Amendments aimed at “banning” the Budapest Pride event infringe a number of fundamental rights, such as the right to the protection of personal data, the freedom of peaceful assembly and the principle of non-discrimination. The Hungarian Helsinki Committee will provide help to protect your rights.

We received this year’s Paul Weis Prize for our commitment to human rights, the rule of law, and refugees. This recognition gives us further encouragement, not only in the field of asylum but also in other areas of civil rights advocacy.

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee is organising a webinar from 9 AM to 3 PM on 17 October 2024 on ‘Access to Classified Data in National Security Related Immigration Cases’ together with the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) and the Polish Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR).

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee and the Hertie School are holding a closing webinar for the STARLIGHT programme on Thursday, 12 September 2024 at 10:00-11:30 CET on Zoom. Registration is now open!

The two-year novel capacity-building programme by the Hertie School Executive Education and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, concludes in Berlin.

The HHC organised an event for refugee and Hungarian youth, who are engaged and  interested in human rights activities. This 1-day event created a space for self-expression through art therapy with a refugee and a Hungarian artist, learning through human rights quizzes and bonding through games.

Applications are now open for RARE (Recharging Advocacy for Rights in Europe) 2024-2026. Apply by 28 July 2024 to join RARE and take action together for civic space and the rule of law in the EU.

Budapest, 22 November 2023 The leader of the Fidesz parliamentary group yesterday presented a package of laws that are called “defense of sovereignty” but are in fact designed to protect the arbitrary exercise of power. … Read more

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee is implementing the YES project (Youth Engagement and Sensitization for Refugee Integration and an Inclusive Hungarian Society) between September 2022 and August 2024, with the support of terre des hommes Germany. With the project, on the one hand, we help young refugees and immigrants living in Hungary to become active participants in their communities and Hungarian society. On the other hand, we increase the awareness of Hungarian youth and teachers through sessions that help them understand the situation of refugees and immigrants. The YES project was born out of our wish to encourage refugees and immigrants – who belong to a minority with one of the most negative portrayals in Hungary – to feel more at home in Hungary by becoming more visible and equal.

We invite you to join our Social Participation Course! We are looking for young people between the ages of 16-25 who live in Hungary as foreigners.  Apply to the course, if:  you want to feel … Read more

The protection of refugees requires trained professionals, who know how to build and operate protection systems in line with international human rights obligations. Unfortunately, in most regions of the world refugee studies are not taught … Read more

In 2018, the government propaganda outlet Figyelő published a blacklist of 200 members of civil society and academia – including the Hungarian Helsinki Committee staff –, calling them “Soros mercenaries”. It took years to have … Read more

Márta Pardavi, co-chair of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee received the award on behalf of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee at the annual conference of the Law Firm Network (LFN). At the event held in mid-October in … Read more