Open Letter: Human rights violations in Hungary ahead of its Presidency of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers

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Ms Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe

Permanent Representatives, Member States of the Council of Europe

Dear Secretary General,

Dear Permanent Representative,

As Hungary assumes the Presidency of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers on 21 May 2021, Amnesty International would like to draw your attention to the human rights situation in this member State and raise concerns about a series of laws adopted in the last few years which curtail the enjoyment of human rights enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Such legislation has introduced new limits to the rights to family life, privacy, freedom of expression, assembly and association. Moreover, it has further restricted the independence of the judiciary and undermined the rule of law. Finally, the laws introduced in the last years fail to address gender-based discrimination and guarantee gender equality in the workplace, and fail to protect women’s rights, the rights of the Roma, refugees and asylum-seekers.