• Human Rights in Hungary

    A discriminatory new constitution and a raft of new laws appear designed to neutralize judicial, media, and political checks on the authority of the ruling Fidesz party. Media freedom is under threat, exemplified by efforts by the media regulator to permanently strip a leading independent radio station of its broadcast licence. Hungary sends migrants and some asylum seekers who reach its borders via Ukraine back to that country despite evidence of ill-treatment there. Homelessness has been criminalized with repeat offences punishable with fines or imprisonment. Roma face harassment and threats from vigilante groups who march through Romani settlements. 

  • Hungary: Constitution Changes Warrant EU Action
    Mar 12, 2013
    The EU should take resolute action in response to the latest constitutional changes adopted in the Hungarian parliament.
  • EU: Human Rights Sidelined Amid Crisis
    Jan 31, 2013
    National and European Union (EU) leaders failed to address serious human rights concerns in the region amid economic and political crisis in 2012, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2013. Human Rights Watch documented human rights concerns in the EU, highlighting events in 10 member states and EU-level developments in migration and asylum, discrimination and intolerance, and counterterrorism policy.
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Hungary

  • EU Failing to Tackle Hungary’s Constitutional Missteps
    Mar 15, 2013
    “The Constitution is not a game!” crowds chanted during a March 9 demonstration in Budapest against constitutional changes adopted on March 11. Hopefully those chants were heard in Brussels. It’s high time the EU took resolute action to hold the Hungarian government accountable for their ongoing assault on human rights and the rule of law.
  • Hungary: Constitution Changes Warrant EU Action
    Mar 12, 2013
    The EU should take resolute action in response to the latest constitutional changes adopted in the Hungarian parliament.
  • Human Rights Watch letter to Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland regarding his recent press statement on media law and the judiciary in Hungary
    Feb 22, 2013
  • Divided We Fall: Intolerance in Europe Puts Rights at Risk
    Feb 14, 2013
    An Afghan migrant is stabbed in the heart on the streets of Athens. Black-shirted paramilitaries linked to Hungary’s third-largest political party march through a Roma neighborhood shouting, “You will die here.” A neo-Nazi gang commits a string of murders of Turkish immigrants in Germany. An ideologue driven by hatred of “multiculturalism” kills 67 mostly young people on a Norwegian Island.
  • EU: Human Rights Sidelined Amid Crisis
    Jan 31, 2013
    National and European Union (EU) leaders failed to address serious human rights concerns in the region amid economic and political crisis in 2012, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2013. Human Rights Watch documented human rights concerns in the EU, highlighting events in 10 member states and EU-level developments in migration and asylum, discrimination and intolerance, and counterterrorism policy.
  • Hungary’s Alarming Climate of Intolerance
    Jan 18, 2013
    A prominent columnist calls for a “final solution” for Hungary’s Roma population. A member of parliament calls for drawing up a list of Jewish people involved in Hungarian politics. Two-thirds of those asked in an opinion poll say they wouldn’t let their child be friends with a Romani child. Another poll suggests a similar number believe Jewish people have too much influence. One doesn’t have to be a student of history to be worried about the growing climate of intolerance in Hungary.
  • Hungary: Abide by Ruling on Homelessness
    Dec 7, 2012
    The Hungarian government should carry out, without delay, the November 12, 2012 Constitutional Court decision that the law criminalizing homelessness is unconstitutional.
  • ‘Traditional Values’ code for human rights abuse?
    Oct 17, 2012
    The U.N. Human Rights Council recently passed a resolution on “traditional values of humankind” as a vehicle for “promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms.” It sounds innocuous, but its implications are ominous. Indeed, it is an immediate threat to the rights of many vulnerable groups – including women and lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender (LGBT) people. And it flies in the face of the founding principles of universality and indivisibility enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
  • The Clubbing of Klubradio
    Aug 22, 2012
    A clampdown on a leading independent radio station shows that Hungary has no intention of heeding EU calls to improve media freedom.
  • Hungary: Failings on Media Warrant EU Action
    Jul 2, 2012
    The Hungarian government’s failure to address concerns about media freedom warrants action by the European Union (EU) under the EU treaty, Human Rights Watch said in a letter sent yesterday to Commissioner Neelie Kroes, who is in charge of media issues.
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