US State Deparment report claims there are serious human rights issues in Hungary

The United States has been reporting on human rights in UN countries for almost 50 years. The report, which analyses and summarises the situation in Hungary in 2022, was published on 20 March. The document doesn't paint a very rosy picture of conditions in Hungary,

in fact, there is no area of human rights where serious problems have not been identified.

One of the reasons for concern listed in the document are the several, successive states of danger declared in Hungary in recent years, which have allowed the two-thirds majority government to legislate by decree, bypassing parliament.

The report found the following to be among the most significant human rights concerns:

• measures intended to interfere with or diminish the independence of the judiciary;
• serious restrictions on freedom of expression and of the freedom of the press, including censorship and restrictions on the content of public media services;
• political intimidation and legal restrictions imposed on NGOs,
• criminal and financial sanctions against NGO activities related to migration;
• the threat of sending asylum seekers back;
• the use of state authorities to secure the privileges of certain economic actors;
• threats of violence and harassment by extremists targeting Roma, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex individuals.

The report concludes that while the Hungarian government has taken some steps to investigate, identify, prosecute and punish human rights abuses, standing up against high-level corruption linked to political connections has only been partially successful.

These annual reports are compiled by U.S. State Department staff in Washington and in foreign missions, spending thousands of hours processing credible information from U.S. embassies and consulates, foreign government officials, NGOs and international organizations, lawyers and legal experts, journalists, academics, human rights activists, labour rights activists, and various published reports.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó commented on the report in a video, saying:

“How dare they? How dare they?”

"I find it outrageous and appalling that bureaucrats in Washington get together and make such statements about our countries on the basis of all kinds of one-sided reports, often funded by the United States. Well, it's time for this to stop! How dare they?"