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Amnesty International Report 2002 - Hungary

Covering events from January-December 2001

Republic of Hungary
Head of state: Ferenc Mádl
Head of government: Viktor Orbán
Capital: Budapest
Population: 9.9 million
Official language: Hungarian
Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes
2001 treaty ratifications/signatures: Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

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There was continued concern about ill-treatment of detainees by police. There were reports that Roma were both ill-treated by the police and inadequately protected by them from racist attacks. Large numbers of Afghan refugees and asylum-seekers were segregated from and subjected to greater restrictions than other foreign nationals.

Ill-treatment

In March the Hungarian government permitted the publication of the report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) on its visit to Hungary in December 1999. The CPT delegation had heard a number of allegations of physical ill-treatment by the police, particularly during its visit to police stations in Budapest, Debrecen and Hajdúhadház. The great majority of complainants alleged that they had been struck with truncheons, punched, kicked or slapped by police officers. Foreign nationals, juveniles and Roma seemed to be particularly at risk of such ill-treatment.

The CPT reiterated several recommendations already made in its report on a visit in 1994, concerning detainees' rights to notification of custody, access to a lawyer and information on rights; the use of force by police officers; and medical examination of people in police custody. The CPT also expressed concern "with the practice followed by police officers of formally advising detained persons who have manifested their wish to register a complaint that to defame a police officer is a criminal offence; such a practice could easily discourage a person who has been ill-treated by the police from lodging a complaint". The CPT also expressed concern at the continuing overcrowding in prisons and at some aspects of the treatment of prisoners who were considered dangerous, such as the routine shackling of prisoners when they left their cells and prolonged isolation. The Hungarian government did not fully agree with the CPT that police violence continued to be a serious problem in Hungary. In reply to a CPT request, the Ministry of the Interior provided information regarding the number of complaints and criminal proceedings in 1999 against police officers which was at variance with information on the Database of the Unified Police and Prosecutorial Criminal Statistics. For example, the Ministry stated that 133 complaints had been received concerning interrogation under duress and ill-treatment, whereas the total number of such complains in 1999 appears to have been 1,068.

Roma

In February, around 80 police officers raided a Romani settlement in Bag, Pest County, during a wake. They are said to have indiscriminately assaulted the mourners attending the funeral, as well as other people whose houses they searched in an aggressive manner. According to one report, eight people, who were detained during the raid, were released after four hours without being questioned or charged with any criminal offence.

Although the police stated that the motive for their action was to apprehend several suspects, there were indications that the raid may have been intended to intimidate László Vidák, a Romani man who had filed a complaint alleging that he had been beaten by police officers during interrogation in October 1999. One of the officers who had ill-treated him also participated in the police action in February 2001 during which László Vidák was again said to have been severely beaten by police and required four days of hospital treatment.

In April, four police officers were convicted in connection with the ill-treatment of László Vidák in 1999 and three were given suspended sentences.

• In May the police in Kalocsa reportedly failed to protect five young Romani men from racist violence and then failed to act upon their complaint. The five men described how they were subjected to racist abuse and threats by the driver of a jeep while a police officer looked on. As the Romani men continued their journey, they found the road blocked by the jeep while a police patrol car was parked some distance away. The driver of the jeep then chased the Romani men and reportedly shot at them several times with what was believed to be a shotgun. Later the same day, the Romani youths tried to report the incident to the police and went to four police stations in the region but none of the officers they spoke to would accept their complaint or take other appropriate action.

Five days later one of the Romani men, Pál Sztojka, went once again to a police station and recorded the response of the officer on duty. When Pál Sztojka said he wanted to report a shooting the officer reportedly replied: "And you have not been shot dead? That is too bad... There was a police officer there and he didn't shoot you?" The officer then threatened to hit Pál Sztojka. When an investigation was subsequently initiated into the incident some of the Romani victims reported that they were harassed by officers who threatened to have them investigated on suspicion of theft. The investigation met with repeated obstacles from the authorities. A decision to close the investigation without charging anyone was under appeal at the end of the year.

Afghan asylum-seekers

In September the authorities transported non-Afghan refugees and asylum-seekers from the Debrecen refugee reception centre to other reception centres in the country and transferred all Afghan refugees and asylum-seekers from the other centres to Debrecen. By October, Debrecen, which was guarded by armed border guards, housed 812 Afghan nationals.

Afghan asylum-seekers and refugees had their freedom of movement restricted in a discriminatory way which contravened both national and international human rights law. Under Hungarian law asylum-seekers must reside in designated reception centres which they are not allowed to leave for more than 24 hours without special permission. Additional restrictions can only be imposed on the basis of a court ruling or an administrative order which is subject to a judicial review. However, none of the Afghan refugees and asylum-seekers were allowed to leave Debrecen reception centre for two weeks following an order of the Office for Immigration and Naturalization.

AI country reports/visits

Report

• Concerns in Europe, January-June 2001: Hungary (AI Index: EUR 01/003/2001)