There were reports of torture and ill-treatment of Roma and foreign nationals in detention. In February Hungary signed the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment but had not ratified it by the end of the year. Members of the Roma community were allegedly ill-treated by law enforcement officers, apparently because of their ethnic background. In one such incident on 21 May, police surrounded the Roma neighbourhood in örkény. They searched several houses, reportedly looking for thieves. They were then said to have attacked about 20 people using truncheons, teargas sprays and police dogs. Some officers allegedly shouted threats such as: "Stinking Gypsies, we will make soap of you and finish off what Hitler started!" Nine Roma were injured and one was hospitalized following this apparently unprovoked attack. Police in Budapest allegedly tortured and otherwise ill-treated 12 foreign nationals in separate incidents on 30 and 31 December 1992 and 6 January. The 12 men were taken to the 5th District Police Station and interrogated for their suspected involvement in illegal foreign currency transactions. They were ordered to strip in front of other detainees, beaten and subjected to racist verbal abuse by officers. Mohammed Walid Fouvel was reportedly detained and beaten twice. Five of the victims subsequently had medical examinations which found injuries consistent with their allegations of torture and ill-treatment. On 28 April Haiszam Mzaik was beaten in his coffee house in Budapest by two police officers who asked for his identity card because his car was parked illegally. The officers reportedly knocked him to the ground, twisted his hands behind his back and kicked him all over his body. A representative of Amnesty International saw Haiszam Mzaik in Budapest Police Headquarters shortly after the incident. He was no longer bleeding, but his shirt was blooDSTained and he had bruises and cuts on his face, arms and back. Six refugees from Bosnia-Herzegovina were reportedly beaten by police in the Nagyat d Refugee Camp. On 2 August, after returning from the nearby town of Tarany, the six men were taken to the camp's administrative building for questioning about allegations of disorderly conduct. The officers were alleged to have handcuffed and then beaten Damir Salihoviç, who was hitting his head against the wall in an apparent state of hysteria. They also handcuffed and beat Nisvet Safetoviç after he tried to assist Damir Salihoviç. The police then sprayed tear-gas into the room and locked the door. The following day the six refugees were taken to the police station in Nagyat d and later transferred to another camp in Kaposv r. None of the reports of torture or ill-treatment was independently and impartially investigated. In July the UN Human Rights Committee expressed its concern "about the use of excessive force by the police, especially against foreigners residing in Hungary and asylum-seekers held in detention". Amnesty International wrote to the government of Prime Minister Jószef Antall in April and May urging it to initiate an independent and impartial inquiry into all allegations of torture and ill-treatment by police officers in Budapest. The government replied in July and October denying excessive use of force by police officers while attempting to carry out body searches. Amnesty International asked the authorities for full details of their investigations, particularly about the methods used. In September Amnesty International urged the Minister of the Interior to investigate allegations of ill-treatment of six refugees in the Nagyat d Refugee Camp. No reply had been received by the end of the year. In December Amnesty International wrote to the Minister of the Interior about allegations that in different incidents members of the Roma community had been ill-treated by police officers.

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