Without Rights (2009)
[45:49 - Hungarian with English Subtitles] Following the murder of a Roma man and his young son in Tatárszentgyörgy, Hungary in February 2009, Péter Juhász and Bence Békés began visiting villages around the northeastern town of Ózd to support the Roma living in the area. With advocacy tools provided by the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU), they joined in helping these communities advocate for themselves and fight discrimination more effectively. Why would a local government pass a law that forces clubs to close at 10:00 p.m., in an area where the only place open at that time happens to be a Roma club? How can someone be accused of carrying 700 kilograms of wood on a bicycle? How can a case be labeled as a “false alarm” when the whole street witnessed a gun being pointed at a pregnant woman? How can the parents of six children be put in prison because two of their children skipped school? “Without Rights” deals with such issues. Since the summer of 2009, the HCLU has become more and more involved with cases involving Roma. The aim of its program is to improve the advocacy skills of Roma communities, to offer mediation services in problematic cases and, through strategic litigation, to take up the gauntlet against institutionalized discrimination and magisterial niggling, which make the situation of people living in poverty impossibly difficult. The HCLU also aims to inform the public about the everyday problems and miserable living conditions associated with deep poverty.