“The proposal to establish an ‘Office for the Defence of Sovereignty’ in Hungary, that would be vested with broad powers to investigate any organisation or person suspected of serving foreign interests or threatening national sovereignty, poses a significant risk to human rights and should be abandoned”, said Dunja Mijatović, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, on Monday 27 November.
Proposed by the Hungarian Ministry of Justice on 21 November in an amendment to the Basic Law to be submitted to Parliament, the aim of this office would be to investigate organisations whose activities financed from abroad could influence the outcome of elections.
Dunja Mijatović condemned the fact that the president of this body is appointed by the President of the Republic on the proposal of the Prime Minister, and that it is given unlimited authority to collect sensitive data and private information “without oversight and without any legal remedy”.
The legislative proposal as a whole is “so vague that the invasive scrutiny of the proposed Office could be weaponised against anybody who may be considered an adversary due, for instance, to activities aimed at influencing democratic debate”.
The Commissioner recalled her repeated warnings against the restrictions imposed in Hungary on NGOs and human rights defenders, as well as her warnings against the “overreach of excessive powers” and attacks on the judiciary.
She is calling for a thorough examination of this new bill and “meaningful consultation” before it is considered by Parliament.
In this instance, she reminded the Hungarian Parliament of the requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)