The 2008 Amnesty International report, published on Wednesday, highlights a number of human rights deficiencies in Hungary, reports origo.hu. The report is especially concerned with the excessive use of police force, the violence against women, discrimination against Roma, the pre-trial detention of asylum seekers and non-citizens, and the failure to protect peaceful LGBT demonstrators.
The report, available in full here, welcomes the fact that, although there allegations of abuse and ill-treatment by police continue to be made, the authorities measures have been initiated to investigate human rights violations by law enforcement officers and to prevent further ill-treatment. It also expresses concerns about the length of the initial pre-trial detention, which is up to 72 hours, and the high risk of ill-treatment, especially against people belonging to minority groups. The detention of asylum seekers and non-citizens, up to 12 months, is applied unlawfully in many cases, and the right of non-citizens to claim asylum was not fully guaranteed at the border. The report mentions the assault of a Peruvian citizen and his friend who were detained in a police station where a group of policemen attacked them.
The report also discusses the difficulties women victims of rape and sexual abuse face when seeking justice and redress. “Lack of political will, widespread prejudice and an unsympathetic criminal justice system were among the factors which contributed to a failure to protect the rights of women. Two-thirds of sexual crimes in Hungary are committed by people known to the victim, yet few perpetrators are tried.” The prevalence of violence against women, including domestic violence, is still high, and the introduction of restraining orders has not been effective in protecting them. Further, the definition of rape is based on the use of force, rather than lack of consent. The report details the case of Zsanett E., who reported that she was raped by five police officers but the charges were later dropped.
The discrimination against Roma continues, notes the report. “Roma encountered discrimination in the labor market, in housing – inadequate conditions, increasing forced evictions and discriminatory barriers to accessing social housing – in the denial of access to health services, segregation in hospital facilities and inferior quality of health services provided, and in education, as evidenced by the high number of Romani children segregated in separate schooling.” Roma women and girls face an especially serious multiple discrimination based on sex, ethnic or cultural background and socio-economic status.
The report also notes that police failed to protect the participants of the Budapest Pride March from attacks by counter-demonstrators who threw eggs, bottles and Molotov cocktails at the marchers. Police were present but took no action.
