government, requesting all information and documents that pertained to their projects that were supported by the NGO Fund… On June 21, Lazar declared NGOs must hand over documents requested by KEHI, as law applies to all Hungarian ‘the citizens.’ The NGOs affected by the investigation questioned the legal mandate for the audits, complained of a lack of legal remedies, and called the investigation politically motivated. July 9, the Council of Europe’s commissioner for rights, “On Nils Muiznieks, sent a letter to Lazar stating stigmatizing ‘the rhetoric used in Hungary against NGOs active in the field of promoting human rights and democratic values, with politicians questioning the legitimacy of their work, is of great concern.’ The commissioner also called upon authorities to suspend audits until their legal basis was clarified. On July 26, Prime Minister Orban gave a speech in which he referred to some NGOs in the country as political activists…attempting to promote foreign ‘paid interests.’ August 6, the National Investigative Office (NNI) opened an “On investigation against perpetrators’ on allegations of ‘unknown misappropriation of NGO funds and financial activity.’ ‘unlicensed On September 8, NNI agents raided the offices of Okotars and DemNet, conducting searches of their accounting and information technology companies and the private residences of two employees.” Interviews of Civil Society by OGP Small Review Team, November 2015 a) Interview with representatives of a major human rights NGO in Hungary (November 2015) confirmed that there has been consistent messaging from different state actors that negatively portrays civil society as an enemy of State. So pervasive are these
government, requesting all information and documents that pertained to their projects that were supported by the NGO Fund… On June 21, Lazar declared NGOs must hand over documents requested by KEHI, as ‘the law applies to all Hungarian citizens.’ The NGOs affected by the investigation questioned the legal mandate for the audits, complained of a lack of legal remedies, and called the investigation politically motivated. “On July 9, the Council of Europe’s commissioner for rights, Nils Muiznieks, sent a letter to Lazar stating ‘the stigmatizing rhetoric used in Hungary against NGOs active in the field of promoting human rights and democratic values, with politicians questioning the legitimacy of their work, is of great concern.’ The commissioner also called upon authorities to suspend audits until their legal basis was clarified. On July 26, Prime Minister Orban gave a speech in which he referred to some NGOs in the country as ‘paid political activists…attempting to promote foreign interests.’ “On August 6, the National Investigative Office (NNI) opened an investigation against ‘unknown perpetrators’ on allegations of misappropriation of NGO funds and ‘unlicensed financial activity.’ On September 8, NNI agents raided the offices of Okotars and DemNet, conducting searches of their accounting and information technology companies and the private residences of two employees.” Interviews of Civil Society by OGP Small Review Team, November 2015 a) Interview with representatives of a major human rights NGO in Hungary (November 2015) confirmed that there has been consistent messaging from different state actors that negatively portrays civil society as an enemy of State. So pervasive are these
Hungary%20Review%20Team%20Report%20Final.docx