“The claim that the Hungarian authorities would have any obligation to provide catering after the final closure of the asylum procedure is not substantiated,” the government maintained. “The government has stooped to a new inhumane low by refusing food to people in their custody, apparently reveling in breaching human rights law, including its obligations as a European Union member,” Lydia Gall, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a report last year. “This disregard for people’s well-being smacks of a cynical move to force people to give up their asylum claims and leave Hungary.”The report by the Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner is not legally binding and her office does not have a mandate to impose — or even propose — any penalties. However, the commissioner’s reports are used by the council’s other institutions, like the European Court of Human Rights Court, whose judgments are binding. In some cases, the European Union and national courts have also based their assessments and decisions on reports released by the commissioner.

Source: New York Times May 21, 2019 07:52 UTC