• Human Rights in Hungary

    A discriminatory constitution and a raft of laws adopted by the ruling Fidesz party undermine the judiciary, media, and other checks and balances on the government. After its law criminalizing homelessness was ruled unconstitutional, the government inserted similar provisions into the constitution itself. Hungary sends migrants and some asylum seekers who reach its borders via Ukraine back to that country despite evidence of ill-treatment there. Roma face harassment and threats from vigilante groups who march through Romani settlements.

  • Hungary: Rule of Law Under Threat
    May 16, 2013
    The systemic changes to Hungary’s legal framework introduced by the government since 2010 weaken legal checks on its authority, interfere with media freedom, and undermine human rights protections, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
  • 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.
More news »

Reports

More >>

Hungary

  • Letter on Hungary to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
    Jun 24, 2013
    Ahead of next week’s Assembly debate on the request to open a monitoring procedure in respect of Hungary, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch urge PACE to support the Monitoring Committee’s recommendation to place Hungary under the Assembly’s monitoring procedure.
  • Response to Hungary is a Test for the EU
    May 16, 2013
    The European Union has placed human rights, democracy and the rule of law firmly at the core of its structure, and so its willingness to defend those values is crucial to its credibility. Faced with a deteriorating situation on these three fronts in Hungary, Brussels has failed to show the necessary resolve.
  • Hungary: Rule of Law Under Threat
    May 16, 2013
    The systemic changes to Hungary’s legal framework introduced by the government since 2010 weaken legal checks on its authority, interfere with media freedom, and undermine human rights protections, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
  • 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.
more documents on this topic »