The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union is a human rights NGO. Since our foundation in 1994, we have been working for everybody being informed about their fundamental human rights and empowered to enforce it against the undue interference by those in position of public power.
The British Chairmanship of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers will be holding a High Level Conference on the Future of the European Court of Human Rights in Brighton, United Kingdom (18-20 April 2012). The Declaration to be adopted in Brighton will lay the ground for a number of reforms, including amendments to the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention). These reforms could seriously undermine the authority and integrity of the Court and its ability to ensure the effective protection of human rights in Europe. In particular, the damaging proposals would introduce additional admissibility requirements in the Convention and codify the principles of subsidiarity and margin of appreciation in the treaty. To insert these principles in the text of the Convention, and to define their nature and content, risk undermining the interpretative role of the European Court of Human Rights.
Watch our movie on the Andrey Rylkov Foundation and support their fight for survival!
Our movie features the most debated issues at the 2012 Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) - please watch and share!
You can read the new illustrated project desription of the HCLU Roma Program here!
A few days ago, the HCLU was notified about winning an award at the 5th Roma Life –Central European Documentary Festival from the Foundation for Democracy and Political Culture for our film, Gyöngyöspata 2011. However, we declined to accept the award.
In order to find out how the HCLU came to this decision, please read the below letter written to János Simon, Festival Director.
“The water will stink” – says a Roma child in Gyöngyöspata, of one of the reasons why teachers do not allow them to participate in swimming training at school. This is just one example of discrimination faced by Roma children in the local elementary school. Still, HírTV, one of Hungary’s television news channels, is producing programs - including one made to seem as an investigative report - which aim to present the lack of segregation at the school. HírTV even went as far as to deem a journalist of the British paper The Guardian and the HCLU non-credible and liars. In its reaction to the HCLU’s film and article, HírTV is threatening the HCLU with a copyright lawsuit, however the letter not once refers to the contents and statements of our film contradicting their previous programs, which we find to be quite significant.