1/4 Good news from Hungary. Prosecutorial authorities have dropped charges against people linked to organizing Pride 2025 events in Budapest and Pécs, who were facing prosecution including on evidently spurious "child protection" grounds. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🩷🩵🤍🤎 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Europe’s top court delivers a judgment: 🇭🇺 Hungary’s anti-LGBT law violates EU law and fundamental values - dignity, equality, and freedom of expression. Labeling it “child protection” doesn’t make discrimination legal. @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2026/04...

Hungary: New Government Needs to Restore Rule of Law - Suspend Sovereignty Protection Office - End rule by decree - Restore assembly rights - Repeal laws used to target critics Latest from @hrw.org @lydsg.bsky.social A rights agenda for the incoming government www.hrw.org/news/2026/04...

16 years of rights-abusive rule is over. Hungary now has a historic opportunity to restore rule of law - end decree rule, dismantle the Sovereignty Protection Office, protect media freedom, ensure free assembly, repeal anti-LGBT laws, and deliver real reforms.🇭🇺#hungary www.hrw.org/news/2026/04...

Another day, another ban. Budapest police is using “child protection” arguments to justify banning a trans rights demonstration. This is yet another clear attack on freedom of assembly and expression for all Hungarians. www.hrw.org/news/2026/03...

Come on, @eucourtofjustice.bsky.social, what is this post?? #Hungary should fully comply with EU Court ruling which found that 201 failure to renew #Klubradio license "infring[ed] on freedom of expression & information." At time of erosion of rule of law across Europe, this is landmark decision.

“It is as if we have become hired workers for someone, not landowners” - a cotton farmer from the Khorezm region. A new @hrw.org - @uzbekforum.bsky.social report examines the coercive state production system of cotton & wheat in #Uzbekistan. More here: hrw.org/news/2026/02...

The HU govt used emergency powers to block lawsuits challenging the “solidarity tax,” cutting the courts out mid-case. Direct hit on judicial independence and the separation of powers. Decree should be revoked. The EU shld act, advance Art 7 and use conditionality tools. www.hrw.org/news/2026/02...

The killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis offers a stark warning to the UK government of the dangers of treating civic action as a security threat rather than as a fundamental right & cornerstone of democracy, @yasmineahmed.bsky.social & @lydsg.bsky.social explain www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...

1/n "It is what it is" (or "Ez van" in Hungarian) was what so many older people I interviewed in Hungary told me with resignation-- accompanied with a shrug, raised eyebrows, or a downward glance--about the poverty they experience. @hrw.org's findings are out now: www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...

The UK is moving to criminalize peaceful protests near “life sciences” sites - including protests about big pharma, drug prices, and animal testing. Another step toward shrinking democratic space. Parliament should vote this down. 🔗 www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...

The UK is moving to criminalize peaceful protests near “life sciences” sites - including protests about big pharma, drug prices, and animal testing. Another step toward shrinking democratic space. Parliament should vote this down. 🔗 www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...

Here @lydsg.bsky.social & @yasmineahmed.bsky.social explain what a proposed amendment to the Public Order Act 2023 could do to protest rights Categorizing “life sciences” as “key national infrastructure” could restrict peaceful protests outside pharma companies. www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...

When protest is criminalized, democracy weakens. My @theguardian.com op-ed on why UK protest laws should worry us all. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The right to protest is under attack in the United Kingdom.  In a new report, HRW documents that the UK’s Labour government has failed to reverse sweeping anti-protest laws introduced by the previous Conservative government. Learn more: https://bit.ly/4qerKB0

Out today from @hrw.org - new report authored by colleague @lydsg.bsky.social ‘Silencing the Streets’: The Right to Protest Under Attack in the UK www.hrw.org/news/2026/01... "The UK should be protecting the right to protest instead of stripping away people’s rights."

Freedom of assembly is not a gift or privilege governments grant their citizens, it's a right that protects citizens from their governments. @hrw.org report out today about the impact of the UK's increasingly repressive anti-protest laws. www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...

Egy magyar aktivista emlékére Balog Gyula (1959-2025) a lakhatási jogokért és a szegénység ellen folytatott küzdelem kiemelkedő alakja volt. Nyugodj békében Gyula bacsi! www.hrw.org/hu/news/2025...

In Memory of Gyula Balog (1959-2025), an inspiring housing rights and anti-poverty activist Here is a brief reflection on behalf of @hrw.org to express our condolences, as Gyula’s friends and colleagues lay him to rest today in Budapest. Rest in power, Gyula bacsi! www.hrw.org/news/2025/12...

1/n I was deeply saddened to hear that Gyula Balog passed away earlier this week. I met and interviewed him only a couple of weeks ago, for an ongoing research project, in his home. Gyula described himself as "an alcoholic, a homeless person, an activist, an actor, and an expert by experience."

1/3 I’ve just returned home after a week interviewing older people on low pension incomes in Hungary for @hrw.org. The findings will be out in the coming months. This photo is of an 80 year old woman showing me her notebook of expenses, in which every last forint is meticulously accounted for.

In Hungary, Pastor Gábor Iványi, whose church supports people in poverty, faces absurd charges. The pastor and his church are human rights defenders providing shelter, food, education to people left behind by the state. The move is part of a wider crackdown on dissent. www.hrw.org/news/2025/11...

Berättar senaste nytt: • Joakim har äntligen fått träffa av familjen utsedd advokat i fängelset Maltepe där han sitter isolerad • Hans reaktion på det massiva stödet senaste dygnet • Inga formella anklagelser har delgivits honom

Swedish journalist Joakim Medin arrested on arrival in Istanbul. His whereabouts unknown.

Min kollega Joakim Medin har frihetsberövats i Turkiet. Det är helt oacceptabelt, ett angrepp på pressfriheten, och regeringen måste agera därefter.

Poland has adopted a law suspending the right to seek asylum for people entering the country via Belarus. It's an effort to provide legal cover for Poland's abusive and unlawful border pushbacks. Learn more ⤵️

Poland just blatantly violated its own constitution, international law and Refugee Convention by adopting a law that suspends the right to seek asylum. Tusk today triggered it and closed the border to Belarus for asylum seekers. More on the law: www.hrw.org/news/2025/02...

Skriv under! www.hrw.org/sv/feature/2... www.hrw.org/sv/WithHuman...

Hungary's new anti-LGBT law bans Pride & penalizes public support for LGBT rights. It weaponizes facial recognition to target activists & suppress free expression. This is an alarming escalation of repression that demands urgent action from @ec.europa.eu. www.hrw.org/news/2025/03...

In yet another crackdown on LGBT rights, Hungary’s parliament has passed a law that will outlaw LGBT Pride and similar events. The law, which penalizes organizers and attendees, also authorizes the use of facial recognition technology to identify attendees.

In a significant step toward affirming the rights of transgender people in Poland 🇵🇱, the country’s Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling eliminating the requirement for trans people to sue their parents in gender recognition proceedings. New commentary from @hrw.org: hrw.org/news/2025/03...

With talk in Europe now of rearmament and the need for new security structures, it's vital European leaders and institutions keep human rights at the centre of their efforts. Democracy depends on it. My new piece for @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2025/03...

There has been huge outrage following US' sanctions on @intlcrimcourt.bsky.social. But there have also been major glitches. 🥇 3 EU states failed to sign joint statement 🇮🇹🇨🇿🇭🇺 🥈 @kajakallas.bsky.social's no-show, so far. Time to show concerns, press US to reverse course. www.hrw.org/news/2025/02...

More meals in #Hungary's hospitals... Salt soup (also served to patients with high blood pressure); dry bread & dry bun (which you can cut if you brought your own knife), packets of apple sauce (with 11g of sugar but still served to those with diabeties) and low-grade paté.

Just for comparison, this is what I had for lunch, when I was in a Belgian hospital 6 years ago

Today’s breakfast at a Budapest hospital. This is the reality of #Hungary under authoritarian Orbán. (photo from a trusted source)

Note also the paper plate cut in half - and the toilet paper, which patients have to bring from home & provide for themselves. "We have no money" staff say, but #Hungary is not a poor country; it's simply corrupt as hell. There is money; it just disappears before it ever reaches people who need care

It’s final: Hungary 🇭🇺 has lost € 1 BILLION of EU funds, and could lose even more, due to the government’s recalcitrant position. A tragic loss for Hungarian society. Here’s an independent assessment of where progress on rule of law criteria has been insufficient or missing ⬇️

Human Rights Watch urges EU action against Poland’s illegal pushbacks

This is by design - as article notes legislation adopted in 2022 and 2023 made it easier to crackdown on protest. It also led to protestors being jailed for acts that previously would not have led to a prison sentence. Time for UK to set a different *positive* example by repealing those laws.

“No future returns of Syrians should take place until their claims are individually examined in full and fair procedures with due regard for past trauma and future fears.” My thoughts on the need to suspend forced returns of Syrians even as many refugees choose to go home. @hrw.org t.co/rGVIVPR9Yd

Poland: "A 28-year-old Somali woman said...she & 11 others were taken to a border station where they asked for asylum, but were required to sign papers they did not understand & were subsequently taken to the border & pushed thru the fence." @lydsg.bsky.social @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2024/12...

Nieludzkie i nielegalne wydalanie przez Polskę ludzi szukających bezpieczeństwa jest sprzeczne z jej zobowiązaniami wynikającymi z prawa krajowego i unijnego oraz z podstaw humanitaryzmu - @hrw www.hrw.org/pl/news/2024...

Poland’s inhumane and illegal pushbacks of people seeking safety fly in the face of its duties under national and EU law and basic humanity. For @hrw.org - full report here: www.hrw.org/news/2024/12...

The European Commission has decided to take Hungary to the EU Court of Justice over the sovereignty protection law, which is a breach of EU law and violates numerous fundamental rights, including the freedom of expression and association. @nikolajnielsen.bsky.social euobserver.com/Rule%20of%20...

“The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government offers Syrians an unprecedented opportunity to chart a new future built on justice, accountability, and respect for human rights.” - @lamamfakih www.hrw.org/news/2024/12...

🇭🇺⚖️🇪🇺💶 Where is Hungary with meeting the conditions to unlock EU funds frozen through the rule of law conditionality mechanism and withheld through RRF (COVID recovery fund)? Our Budapest friends, led by HU Helsinki Committee, have a new analysis, grading progress (or lack of it) in various areas. 1/

New UK data show 5.2 million kids live in poverty. It's great that there's now a Child Poverty Taskforce, but you don't need a Taskforce to state the obvious: End the #twochildlimit www.hrw.org/news/2024/11... Time for a Taskforce to do its work is a luxury kids in poverty can't afford @hrw.org