“In April, Parliament adopted a new Constitution. It introduced changes that may in practice restrict human rights, including protecting the life of the foetus from conception and the possibility of life imprisonment without parole. It also omitted age, sexual orientation and gender identity from the list of prohibited grounds for discrimination.”

“In September, the UN Human Rights Council recommended that the government strengthen hate crimes legislation and establish a plan of action to prevent racist attacks.

“In March, the trial began at the Pest County Court of the suspects in the series of attacks against Roma in 2008 and 2009 during which six people, including a child, were killed. Three men were accused of the crimes of multiple homicide and armed attack against Roma houses. One further suspect faced charges of being an accomplice to these crimes.”

“In January, the Ministry of Interior started to develop a protocol for police work on hate crimes. Parliament
amended the Criminal Code in May, and outlawed blatantly abusive behaviour against a community that might threaten members – real or perceived – of an ethnic, racial or other group. The amendment also criminalized unauthorized activities to maintain public order or public security, which induced fear in others. “

“In November, Parliament adopted a new law on the Constitutional Court, which introduced restrictions to individual petitions, as well as a penalty for those complainants who abuse the right to submit a petition.”

“Two new media laws entered into force in January. They included content regulation and compulsory media registration, and introduced a Media Authority with powers over the registration of media. In February, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights recommended the media laws should be reviewed. Although Parliament amended the legislation in April, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression warned that it “still risks generating a climate of self-censorship”. The OSCE and human rights NGOs expressed concerns over the lack of independence of the Media Authority from government, as well as its broad powers.”

“On 12 July, a new law sparked protests from several churches, NGOs and the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights. The legislation “de-registered” numerous religious groups – including several Islamic groups and the Hungarian Methodist Church. A religious group could apply for registration only if it could prove that it had been organized in Hungary for at least 20 years and had at least 1,000 members. Several religious groups submitted a petition to the Constitutional Court to review the law. On 19 December, the Court found that the law was unconstitutional on procedural grounds. On 30 December, Parliament adopted the law again with only minor changes.”

“In March, Parliament annulled court decisions on the anti-government protests in Budapest in September and October 2006. In 2006, the courts had sentenced several demonstrators for violence and acquitted police officers involved in the incidents. The courts’ decisions were alleged to be biased as they were based exclusively on police testimony. In 2006, police officers reportedly used excessive force on peaceful demonstrations that later turned violent. Rubber bullets, water cannon and tear gas were said to have been used indiscriminately and without warning.”

“In June, the European Court of Human Rights held that the police had used inhuman and degrading treatment. The court awarded more than €10,000 to the applicant represented by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, who was ill-treated by the police while in custody”

Click here to see the whole Amnesty International Report 2012

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