UPR 25th Session, Geneva, May 4, 2016
As delivered by Vivian Ekey
The United States welcomes the Hungarian delegation.
The United States is deeply concerned that since 2011, the Hungarian government has taken steps that erode checks and balances, centralize executive power, weaken the constitutional court, alter judicial administration, and diminish the autonomy of oversight bodies, the media, religious groups, and civil society. We note that the Hungarian government rewrote its electoral laws before the 2014 elections, and independent observers concluded that while the elections were free and well-administered, the governing party enjoyed undue advantages.
We recommend that Hungary:
- Implement reforms recommended by the International Bar Association Human Rights Institute in 2015 on judicial independence and rule of law.
- Revise transparency laws to reinstate a freedom of information parliamentary ombudsman, end ex antereclaiming of labor costs for processing information requests, and limit public institutions’ authority to refuse access to public data.
- Follow the recommendations of the 2014 OSCE election observation mission’s final report.
Finally, the United States will continue to publicly oppose attempts to rehabilitate the reputations of World War II-era anti-Semitic figures.
(end statement)