Good Old Riot Police

Epic and everlasting battle of society's mob versus the government's riot police

Well it had to happen sometime and last Wednesday this something happened. What I’m talking about is, dare I say it, a disappointing field experience. The past field trips we have taken and speakers we have listened to, no matter how early they were or how long they took, always left me at the end feeling educated and happy I was able to experience what I just experienced (I apologize for the double word usage as its probably not good to use the same variation of a word so close in proximity to one another). I guess my hopes had been risen when I saw “Visit to the Riot Police” on the syllabus and visions of cool riot videos, talks about specific scenarios and experiences and huge, muscled men in crazy riot gear flooded my mind. Unfortunately this field experience did not live up to my apparently high and almost fantasy-like.

Presenter could have related to this well

After a fairly short commute we got to the riot police headquarters and the first thing I noticed were the many cameras surrounding the building. This was no joking matter; stuff was about to get pretty serious. The first place we went to was a little conference room where a slideshow presentation was good. What I got out of this presentation was that the riot police are very similar to the regular police except they have a wider jurisdiction. Also there are tons and tons of different agencies that include training, in the field and behind a desk. The main issue I had with this presentation was that the presenter did not know English and thank goodness Ildiko was there because she became our own personnel trainer. Overall the presentation was interesting but what overshadowed that in my opinion was how dry it was and how hard it was to follow along due to lack of English used.  

All the guns that are all actually modeled after the AK47 design

            

After the presentation we saw the barracks located in the headquarters treaty and then crossed the street to a parking lot. In this parking lot, not only were there cars, BUT there was also a dummy in full riot gear, a table full of guns and about four unique vehicles including a tank, a fire-truck like vehicle and a patty wagon. This to me was my favorite part of the whole trip because I got to see in person what was used to control riots is ones ever broke out. What intrigued me was when the member of the riot police who was showing us all these things mentioned that when it comes to riots only tear gas is used and not rubber bullets. He said that this specific force came under intense scrutiny for their use of force a couple of years back so they responded. I thought this was a good thing because they realized rubber bullets were not needed and other things much less harmful and painful could be used as a replacement. A quick show was put on for us and then we said goodbye to the riot police in hoped we would never encounter them on the street surrounded by 100s of other people

             

This tank is only used to shoot tear gas but its still pretty awesome!

This field experience was very anti-climatic for me but I still learned some interesting things. The fact that the riot police are in charge of the transportation of money and assets is very interesting to me. What also interested me was all the different type of groups and unfortunately I did not ask my question but it would have been “can you choose to be in a specific department or do you need to specialize in a specific department or is the whole process a random selection?” I would hope the answer would be that people are specialized in specific fields as to enhance the efficiency of that particular department. The riot police are still in my mind regular police that handle large crowds when needed and do not have specific jurisdiction except to stay within Hungary. Lets just be happy we met these guys when they had on regular people clothing and were talking to us in a friendly manor instead of them being in full riot gear and tackling us to the ground.

Staging what would be done in the instance of a car robbery

See ya’ll later

House of Terror and Statue Park; Remembering Things that Would Rather be Forgotten

Wednesday was yet again another adventure, but this time it consisted of a much closer commute compared to Eger, and was in fact only a short 10-minute walk down Andrassy. JSBP visited the House of Terror followed by a not too long 30-minute bus ride up to the Buda Hills and to Statue Park. In my recent blog posts I have tried to convey a light, happy tone in my writing in order to keep you, the reader, engaged and not bored out of your minds. I must warn everyone though, that today’s blog post will probably not have much happiness in it due to the fact that the things I saw on Wednesday’s field experience hit me hard, and made me realize how difficult history has been to the Hungarian peoples.

When one thinks of the Holocaust and the Nazi invasion of Europe, they think of Germany and Austria and Poland and even sometimes France; but throughout my years of taking history classes, I have a hard time remembering a professor or teacher ever mentioning anything about Hungary. After visiting the House of Terror it is very clear to me that Hungary did experience the force and brutality of the Nazi party. 

The Arrow Cross Symbol which was a symbol of the Hungarian Nazi Party. Just because there was no Nazi symbol does not mean there were no other Nazi parties around Europe. I never realized that Hungary had its own party who committed many crimes against human life under the guidance of the Nazi party.

 First off, I would like to mention that the House of Terror is located right on Andrassy Street, which is considered, at least in my mind, a very central location in the heart of Budapest. This same building was headquarters of the Arrow Cross, which was the equivalent of the local Nazi party, and after World War II became headquarters for security and police (both of which committed harsh crimes against human life). The events that took place in this building, a building that almost all Hungarian peoples living in Pest walked by probably daily, are horrific to say the least. When you walk around and see cells that have no beds, a room that is only big enough to stand in with no movement, and a room that emits no light and when the door is closed would leave one in complete darkness, you start to feel how cruel the actions taken against other human beings were.

As you can see the House of Terror where many brutalities took place is located on a central street where it was probably seen by many different Hungarians daily  

Wall of victims

If I could describe everything I saw and felt I would, but it would be almost impossible for me to give a description of some of the things I saw that would actually justify how horrific and malicious they were. What I think affected me most was the live videos they had of people describing actual events that they had to live through and in the end actually survive. One video in particular was of a man telling a story of how he was being punished while working in a concentration camp by breaking up these huge rocks, without eye-wear. He said that while working he heard a scream and when he turned around his friend has his left eye-ball in his hand because a piece of rock had chipped off and apparently punctured it. The man said to the guard on duty “sir I’ve lost my left eye” to which the guard responded, “So why didn’t you loose both.” This video in particular really had an effect on me because, what human being could look at a man who was clearly in a lot of pain, needing medical assistance, and make a joke suggesting that he should have lost his other eye and just loosing one eye was not an issue? The grotesque abuse of human life made me put myself in these people’s shoes and it’s then that I realized I would not have had the courage or will to continue on, and for that I have all the respect in the world for the men and women who went through, surviving or not, the atrocities of the time.

Enormous size of this statue

The House of Terror was a complete eye-opener for me and after we left, we made our way to Statue Park, which wasn’t as emotional but made me realize how much of an effect communism had on people and how much propaganda they probably saw every single day. When we first walked in there was a statue of Mr. Carl Marx himself and I knew then and there that this collection of statues we were about to see would be a flashback to communist times. When I walked into the park itself, I would compare the scene to an abandoned graveyard, but instead of people there were statues. Some were lying on the ground, others still in tact, but the feel of it all was that these statues were not wanted anymore, but instead of destroying them; the people put them in this open field, far away from the city, to just sit there. State-control, power and authority would be the three words that come to my mind when looking back at the park. Most statues were huge and very “in your face” showing me that they were meant to be seen and the people seeing them were meant to feel the effect that they needed to follow the rules of the time. I have respect for the people of Hungary for not destroying these statues because from the looks of them it would be hard to not want to destroy every last one of them due to the memories they must bring up.

Carl Marx standing at the entrance to Statue Park vs.

Remnants of a statue that had clearly been torn down

Wednesday’s excursions opened my eyes to the brutality man can inflict upon man. The one question that keeps popping up in my mind is “who let this happen and why was it even allowed to happen at the time?” I would hope that if any thoughts or ideas were to appear in public opinion today (which unfortunately some people still encourage) they would be squashed and not given a second thought. Herein lies my conclusion of the day, corny but very true; with power comes great responsibility. If no one objects to a thought, that thought can become and action, and that one action can become multiple actions and those actions can grow and grow and before you know, people are being persecuted and no one can stop it. Like I stated before I greatly admire the people of Hungary for keeping these statues and not tearing down a place like the House of Terror because yet again I will quote a famous quote that “those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.” History gives us an insight to what is good and what is bad and if history is erased, than the bad things will keep happening. Experiences like this should be shared because it’s easy to read in a textbook and imagine what it must have felt like during this time. What’s not easy; is seeing a man being praised like a god when he was the reason for thousands of deaths in one single country, or seeing a widow speak of the last time she saw her husband before he disappeared, or seeing live footage of dead bodies, young and old, covering the ground, or worst of all seeing the pleads for help when none came. Even though it's hard, we must learn, and through the things we see, somehow feel the pain these people did, so things like this will never happen again.             

Going to Prison

So last Wednesday I took my first ever trip to a prison (yes this may be a shock but it is true) located in Eger. The town is about a 2-hour train ride East of Budapest, and get this, we left at the wee hour of 7:00 and arrived in Eger just after 9:00 (the long day had officially begun). First off I would like to mention that I almost walked past the prison mainly because from the outside it looked like a regular, old, cute European building. The fact that the outside of the prison looked like a regular building took me by surprise a little bit because even though I have never been to a prison what I expected was not what I saw at all.

We walked inside and were immediately met by the prison’s governor who was a younger man around the age 35 and who, at first, I thought was just a guard who was going to clear us to go inside. We all squished into a small office (small being an understatement in this case) and watched a brief presentation about the prison itself. This presentation was a very eye-opening thing for me and I learned so many interesting facts about the Hungarian prison system. For me the most interesting fact was that there was very little gang activity within the prison. In America I feel as though if you are in prison you become part of a gang not only to fit in somewhere but also for protection and a sense of pride. The governor told us that gangs were extremely rare in Hungarian prison as well as drugs and violence. When I think of prisons the things I think of are the exact same things the governor said were rare; gangs, drugs and violence. No matter if you like prison movies or not it is common knowledge that in America these things exist and it took me by surprise how uncommon they are in Hungary.

What one would think a typical prison fight would look like. After my visit I learned that prison fights are not common at all and if anything it consists of a one guy punching another once and then it ends. This type of fight is a very media produced fight and would be very rare in a prison in Hungary and I wouldn't be surprised if its never happened before.

After this presentation it was time to walk through the actual prison itself. What I expected was what I had seen in movies; a long narrow walkway and on each side metal cages with 2 or three people inside sitting on the bottom bunk of bunk beds. What I actually saw was a hallway but on only one side were about 4 or 5 doors that had only a little slit in which you could see in or the people inside could see out. It was almost an anti-climatic feeling for me because even though I was scared of what I thought I was going to see, this prison was not in the least bit intimidating. The men and women were separated but each corridor had rooms and within each room were about 6 bunk beds against the walls with a table in the middle. The women’s rooms looked a bit homier and some of the beds even had stuffed animals on them. I thought that it was a funny concept to put 12 women who are clearly prone to breaking the law in a room together. I’m no genius and I have never done studies on people in prison but in my personal opinion putting that many people with such personalities in a room together was a recipe for disaster. I thought back to the fighting situation and had to remind myself that fighting doesn’t happen as much as I thought and obviously the set-up works well.

This picture actually works very well because the governor was talking about how the major thing people try to smuggle in is cell phones. They use very creative ways like putting it in hair brushes, fish and even salamis. Who would have ever thought a cell phone would mean that much to someone.

 My first ever visit to prison was surprising, eye opening and very interesting. The governor of the prison definitely enhanced my experience because he was funny but at the same time knew what he was talking about and was very respected within the prison (every guard we passed saluted him or shook his hand and stood at attention). Even though prison wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be I still would never be able to stay there for an extended period of time (mom and dad this was clearly a great deterrent for me). Life in prison takes away almost all of your freedoms; freedom to choose what you wear, freedom to do what you want, freedom to eat what you want and most of all freedom to be free (corny I know). This was again a great opportunity for me and I enjoyed it very much and am so happy I was able to experience the prison environment without actually being in prison :)   

How I felt walking out after only 2 hours in a prison and I was only visiting!

Disecting the Hungarian Judicial System

Dr. Peter Hack (a man of many professions)

So after a meeting on Wednesday with all the other JSPBers, I can now say that I have officially analyzed almost every aspect of the Hungarian Justice system. With who you ask? Dr. Peter Hack. Who is this Peter Hack I’m speaking of? He’s only a former member of the Hungarian Parliament, current member of the National Judiciary Council, Chairmen of the Committer on Constitution and Judicial Affairs, a lecturer at the Academy of Judges and finally a teacher at the Budapest Law Faculty. When I found out about this vast list of accomplishments I was, to say the least, a little nervous to be in a room with Dr. Hack for almost 2 hours; feeling as though I would be sure to embarrass myself somehow. Yet again, my suspicions were wrong  (seems to be a common theme) and Dr. Hack turned out to be an amazing person to talk to and learn from.

The conversation started off with the typical explanation of what exactly this type of legal system entailed. He mentioned how it was based off of the German/Austrian model and how it was almost polar opposite to our legal system. The Judges, for example, are not only referees making sure the play is fair; they are active in questioning and are in search of the “objective truth.” This statement made my ears perk up a little and officially captured my interest. The whole process starts when a crime is reported to the police and they have up to 3 days to decide if they want to continue with an investigation. If the police decide the investigation is not worth perusing they can decide to drop it, however the individual who initially lodged to complaint has the right to bring this matter to court. Fun fact, about 60% of cases never actually makes it to trial). If the police find the matter worth pursuing, the investigation begins and this becomes the most important part of the whole process. Once all the paperwork is done and everything has been collected, the judge receives all of this information and proceeds by learning all about the case. This is also very different from the American system where the judge knows nothing before the case starts in order to be unbiased.

After talking about pre-trial procedure we went into more depth about the actual players involved with the legal process. First off is the Chief Prosecutor who is recommended by the President and officially elected by the Parliament. This man or women is in charge of all decisions related to new hiring within the prosecutors office and also takes on the role of investigators when it comes to investigations concerning political figures, judges, other attorneys, police ect. This got me thinking about how important this Chief prosecutor is and how much power he or she actually can hold. They can decide whom to hire as a prosecutor and have the power to determine the outcome of a trial concerning a members of government offices or the police. This is kind of scary when you think about how influenced a person can become when persuaded by money or even threats (it must be the cynic coming out in me).

Constitutional Court of Hungary

Next we talked about the witnesses and what kind of protection they receive when they have to stand trial. First off I would just like to say that witnesses get a lot of protection if they want and if they’re particular situation calls for it. For example, witnesses have the right to hide personnel information from the police such as their name, birthdates, mother’s name ect and only allow the judge to see such information. On top of that they can ask to be anonymous witnesses and can even be provided with witness protection if they feel their life is in danger. Witnesses in Hungary have a number of options given to them if they don’t want to become known in the public eye as a witness in a particular case. I felt as though this was a good thing except for the fact that witnesses can choose to hide their identity if they feel as though that is the best thing for them to do. I feel as though this would make the judicial process so much harder and cause obstacles in solving a crime. At the same time I do respect the Hungarian system for protecting the people who are helping to put bad people away in jail.

Witness Protection Program!

Overall my experience with Dr. Hack was an amazing one to say the least. He was an extremely intelligent man but he presented his arguments clearly and also answered questions in a way that a normal person who hasn’t gone to Law School could understand. I am extremely interested in comparative politics and especially comparative legal systems so listening to Dr. Hack was truly an honor and a once and a lifetime experience. It actually made me consider looking farther into the true differences between different legal systems and actually consider this as a future career for myself. If it will happen, no one knows, but I do know that this was an amazing opportunity and I am so happy I was able to listen to Dr. Hack speak and engage him in questions and answers.          

The US Embassy

So yesterday JSBP took a little trip to the US embassy near by. We didn't actually go into the embassy itself but we did go into another building across from the embassy where we had a private talk with a US diplomat by the name of Jay Truesdale. To be perfectly honest when Jay walked in I did some judging and what I expected was another "high on his horse politician you don't want to be stuck in a room with for 2 hours" type of guy (kinda mean I know). Thank god my judgment was 100% wrong and the next hour and a half was filled with interesting stories, conversation and a lot of question and answer.  

Jay started off by asking all of us who we were and where we were from and then followed by mentioning that he was actually a New Hampshire native. Good news for us cause no matter how stupid we could have sounded I think he liked us off the bat (we of course didn't sound stupid and actually impressed him with our questions). He then went into the background of what exactly a diplomat is, what their responsibilities are and so on. Next came the question and answer which was absolutely fascinating. I would have loved to be able to write down every question along with Jay's expert response to each but if I were to explain all that was said this would turn into a 10 page book about things from Hungarian cultural life to American perception abroad to vast political history.

What I can sum up this conversation into, is that Jay showed time and time again with his answers how dedicated he was to his country and how much he wanted to make a difference. He made diplomats look like the Gandhi's of politics; trying to keep things at peace, people happy, and most of all loving what he was doing the whole time. He talked about improving the American image abroad and how you don't need to be a diplomat to do this but that we were, as study abroad students, diplomats that needed to represent our country while over here. He mentioned how almost anyone could try and be a diplomat if they really wanted too. A lot goes into it but it is possible if you have the right skills and determination. He talked about Hungary's difficult political past and how they were trying to move on and grow as a country and how he was trying to help them accomplish this goal. He mentioned all the amazing people you meet and how if you get really good at this job, its your people skills that will get you interviews with the big guys. What I thought was most interesting is that Jay said he was always a student meaning he was constantly learning on the job. He said he loved this part of what he did because there was always something new to learn or discover about a variety of things. Who knew being a student for the rest of your life could be a good thing?

Overall Jay was an amazing guy who was so knowledgeable about almost anything that came up. He talked about the United States with such passion that on 2 occasions he actually teared up. He used to be a teacher so I think he enjoyed conversing with us as much as we enjoyed conversing with him. Jay changed my thoughts about foreign diplomats and I can beyond doubt say that this was an experience of a lifetime.

JSBP lookin' all professional