LydsG
@lydsg.bsky.social
Senior researcher on Eastern EU and Western Balkans at Human Rights Watch. Views expressed my own.
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: Top EU Court Rules Anti-LGBT Law Unlawful
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruling on April 21, 2026, against Hungary’s 2021 anti-LGBT law is an important rejection of efforts to stigmatize lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgen...
hrw.org
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...
Hungary: New Government Needs to Restore Rule of Law
Hungary’s incoming government should take immediate steps to restore fundamental rights, dismantle abusive laws and institutions, and strengthen democratic institutions, after years of backsliding, Hu...
hrw.org
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...
Hungary: New Government Needs to Restore Rule of Law
Hungary’s incoming government should take immediate steps to restore fundamental rights, dismantle abusive laws and institutions, and strengthen democratic institutions, after years of backsliding, Hu...
hrw.org
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...
Hungary Bans Trans Rights Demonstration
The decision by the Budapest police to ban a demonstration to commemorate the International Day of Trans Visibility, is not about a single protest, but is the latest step in a broader campaign in…
hrw.org
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.
EU Court of Justice@eucourtofjustice.bsky.social · 5mo ago📰 PR 👉 curia.europa.eu/site/upload/... #CJEU #EUlaw #MediaFreedom
“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...
Hungary: Blocking Lawsuits Undermines Rule of Law
Hungary’s government dealt a severe blow to the rule of law by issuing a decree that terminates ongoing court cases challenging a tax on municipalities, Human Rights Watch said today. The move sets a ...
hrw.org
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...
Protest Is Not a Security Offence
The killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents (News, Viewpoint 16 January) offers a stark warning to the UK Government of the danger in treating c...
hrw.org
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...
UK Government Seeks to Restrict Protests, Including Some Against Pharmaceutical Companies
UK lawmakers are set to vote on January 14 on a proposed amendment to the Public Order Act 2023. If adopted, the change, which is drafted in vague and broad language, would expose people who organize ...
hrw.org
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...
UK Government Seeks to Restrict Protests, Including Some Against Pharmaceutical Companies
UK lawmakers are set to vote on January 14 on a proposed amendment to the Public Order Act 2023. If adopted, the change, which is drafted in vague and broad language, would expose people who organize ...
hrw.org
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...
UK Government Seeks to Restrict Protests, Including Some Against Pharmaceutical Companies
UK lawmakers are set to vote on January 14 on a proposed amendment to the Public Order Act 2023. If adopted, the change, which is drafted in vague and broad language, would expose people who organize ...
hrw.org
When protest is criminalized, democracy weakens. My @theguardian.com op-ed on why UK protest laws should worry us all. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Slowly but surely, a state can repress its people. Why is the UK channelling Viktor Orbán’s Hungary? | Lydia Gall
I know enough about the erosion of civil rights to fear what I now see in the UK. Britons should understand how this ends, says Lydia Gall of Human Rights Watch
theguardian.com
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...
UK: Protest Crackdowns Undermine Democracy
UK authorities have severely restricted the right to protest, in contravention of their international human rights obligations, creating an environment in which peaceful dissent is increasingly treate...
hrw.org
Jan Kooy@kooyjan.bsky.social · 7mo ago“The UK is now adopting protest-control tactics imposed in countries where democratic safeguards are collapsing. The UK should oppose such measures, not replicate and endorse them.” - Lydia Gall, senior Europe and Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch
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...
Hungary: Pastor Supporting People in Poverty Faces Charges
Instead of supporting those who fill the gaps left by Hungary’s crumbling public services and social security system, the government is prosecuting them. On November 3, prosecutors charged Pastor Gábo...
hrw.org
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
Chefredaktören: Anklagelserna är falska – släpp Joakim Medin
Publicister, utgivare och politiker kräver att regeringen gör allt för att få Joakim fri.
etc.se
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...
Poland: Scrap Bill Suspending Right To Asylum
Members of the Polish parliament should reject a bill that would allow the government to temporarily suspend the right to asylum at Poland’s border with Belarus, Human Rights Watch said today. The Eur...
hrw.org
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...
Hungary Bans LGBT Pride Events
Hungary deepened its repression of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people on March 18 as the parliament passed a draconian law that will outlaw Pride and similar events, thereby penaliz...
hrw.org
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.
