Roma Program program

The opportunity for the government to make good on the mishandling of events and its series of mistakes in Gyöngyöspata has come and gone. It failed to condemn politicizing and operations based on the theory of collective criminality and it also failed to lay blame on the right-wing political party Jobbik for inciting hatred against the Roma minority.

Instead, the government made the reasoning of Jobbik its own and it is more worried about its international reputation, while clearly, any government is judged upon its own actions and failures.

You can read the new illustrated project desription of the HCLU Roma Program here!

A few days ago, the HCLU was notified about winning an award at the 5th Roma Life –Central European Documentary Festival from the Foundation for Democracy and Political Culture for our film, Gyöngyöspata 2011. However, we declined to accept the award.

In order to find out how the HCLU came to this decision, please read the below letter written to János Simon, Festival Director.

“The water will stink” – says a Roma child in Gyöngyöspata, of one of the reasons why teachers do not allow them to participate in swimming training at school. This is just one example of discrimination faced by Roma children in the local elementary school. Still, HírTV, one of Hungary’s television news channels, is producing programs - including one made to seem as an investigative report - which aim to present the lack of segregation at the school. HírTV even went as far as to deem a journalist of the British paper The Guardian and the HCLU non-credible and liars. In its reaction to the HCLU’s film and article, HírTV is threatening the HCLU with a copyright lawsuit, however the letter not once refers to the contents and statements of our film contradicting their previous programs, which we find to be quite significant.

Hungarian Roma and non-Roma non-governmental organisations co-operated in the elaboration of a document containing expert observations on the Hungarian National Social Inclusion Strategy and its Action Plan, to share with European and national actors, who participate in the technical evaluation and further development of the Strategy.

Definite uneasiness can be felt on the third day of the trial on whether or not to disband the Militiamen Association for a Better Future (MABF), a group responsible for marching and causing fear during the spring of 2011, in the small Hungarian village of Gyöngyöspata. The presiding judge, Erika Mucsi is uncertain of the difference between the MABF and the Roma Civil Rights Movement (RCRM), but this isn’t the greatest cause for alarm. Instead of disbanding the group responsible for systematic racial misconduct, she studies the correlation between structural unemployment and crime committed in order to provide food and heating. The HCLU reports on the trial - the mood and the spirit of the trial was completely absurd, as if it had nothing to do with the events in Gyöngyöspata.

“Gyöngyöspata is a frightening example of „law and order”. Do we really want to set this as an example?” – the first sentence of the report already suggests the essence of Ernő Kállai’s observations. In December, the minority ombudsman published his report on public employment, the procedural practice of minor offense authorities, and the state of education in Gyöngyöspata. In his report, Ernő Kállai demonstrates the effects of measures taken on the public morale and the cohabitation of Roma and non-Roma since his investigation in the spring.

The video introduction of HCLU's  'Roma Program not only for Romas'

“Besides the fact that we find half of the tasks in the Gyöngyöspata Committee’s resolution to be disquieting, we find great flaw in that fact that none of the tasks involve the government, nor the examination of the responsibility of any police organizations,” said Eszter Jovánovics, Head of the Roma Program in the HCLU during the hearing held on October 27th 2011. In this meeting, the agenda of the Gyöngyöspata Committee (whose full name is “The committee investigating the process of uniformed crime, its background and events in Gyöngyöspata, as well as helping eliminate such crime) included the questioning of nonprofit organizations.

The ad hoc committee that investigates the events at Gyöngyöspata held its first substantial session on September 28.The HCLU published its Shadow Report and documentary video about the events the same day. The Committee was established by the two-third government majority in the Parliament through a resolution that was enacted on June 7.