Without Rights

A new documentary film by HCLU on the situation of Romani people in Hungary. Why would a local government pass a law that forces clubs to close at 10 pm, in an area where the only place open at that time happenes to be Romani? How can someone be accused of carrying 700 kg of wood on a bicycle? How can a case be labelled 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 for two of their children skipping school? The film deals with such issues.

During the aftermath of murders in Tatárszentgyörgy, Péter Juhász and Bence Békés began visiting villages around Ózd to support the Romani people living in the area.  With advocacy tools provided by the HCLU, they joined in helping these communities advocate for themselves and fight discrimination more effectively. We have documented their work, this films is the first piece in documenting their work and revealing what they found.

IF THE FILM LOADS SLOWLY, JUST START IT, THEN PAUSE AND WAIT UNTIL ENOUGH OF IT LOADS FOR SMOOTH PLAYBACK. THEN CLICK PLAY ONCE MORE.

Without Rights from Hungarian Civil Liberties Union on Vimeo.

Since the summer of 2009, the HCLU has become more and more involved with cases involving Romani people. The aim of our program is to improve the advocacy skills of Romani communities, offer mediation services in problematic cases and, through strategic litigation, to take up the gauntlet against institutionalized discrimination and magisterial niggling, all of  which make the situtation of people living in poverty impossibly difficult. Our aim is also to inform the public about the everyday problems and miserable living conditions associated with deep poverty.

István Gábor Takács
HCLU

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