Press-conference on situation around "Society for Krishna Consciousness": another angle

The Society for Krishna Consciousness conducted a press-conference in Almaty "On the situation around RO "Society for Krishna Consciousness": another angle". Along with representatives of RO OSK, a human rights observers participated and presented the Statement on  Commission  work and conclusions.

"Unfortunately, we should declare, that, in our opinion, not the objective and impartial conflict analysis was the purpose of the Commission activity, not studying of the circumstances de jure and de facto and looking for it fair settlement, but the absolute confirmation of the local Authorities’ actions lawfulness and proving absence of the religious discrimination." ,- stated by the observers.

Press-release
Situation around RO "Society for Krishna Consciousness": another angle

Religious organization "Society for Krishna Consciousness" came to Kazakhstan in 1994. That year it got registered as a municipal religious organization by the bodies of justice in Almaty city.
Besides this organization in Almaty, there are seven more registered religious organizations of "Society for Krishna Consciousness" in a number of cities of Kazakhstan.

As the Society for Krishna Consciousness developed in Kazakhstan, the faithful decided to develop a farming community to propagate healthy life style, satisfy the cultural and spiritual needs of the faithful, and create favorable facilities for developing International Society for Krishna Consciousness and its charitable work in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

To develop this project, the bodies of justice of Almaty province registered the provincial Society for Krishna Consciousness on the territory of the Karasai district in 2002.

However, as soon as the land was acquired by the Society for Krishna Consciousness, the executive authorities of Almaty province started planned activities to liquidate the Almaty provincial Society and confiscate the land - from both the Society and the private members of the Society.

There is a document that came to the knowledge of the Society: the answer of the Director of the Almaty Provincial Department of Justice T. Onalbayev to the protocol instruction of the Hakim of Almaty province Sh. Kulmakhanov No.5 dated February 14, 2005, with the detailed plan of liquidation of the Society.

In accordance with this plan the local authorities purposefully supplant the members of the Society from the places of their residence by illegally confiscating their plots of land and destroying their cottages.

This process culminated on November 21, 2006, when 13 houses of the members of the community were demolished.

The demolition took place even before the special Commission, chaired by Mr. Mukhashov, organized by the Religious Affairs Department of the Republic of Kazakhstan Ministry of Justice to investigate the land issues of individual members of Religious Organization Society for Krishna Consciousness finished its work and published a decision.

Members of the Society for Krishna Consciousness were frustrated by the way the Commission had conducted its work and with the decision the Comission had issued.

Practically speaking, the situation was not resolved. Moreover, the Society for Krishna Consciousness was portrayed to the public as an organization which acts against the country and spoils its image.

However the Society for Krishna Consciousness has never strived to resist the government. Members of the Society are citizens of Kazakhstan and the only thing they want to achieve is justice in defending their rights of property. Despite all endeavors of the members of the Society to enter a dialogue, local executive authorities till this point refuse to resolve the situation by peaceful negotiation.

We would like to note that the Society for Krishna Consciousness is ready to sit down with authorities and find a way out from the situation and hopes that government will be able to hear its citizens and help to resolve this conflict by civilized means.
 

COMMENTS
on the “Decision of the Commission for investigating the issues connected with the land disputes of individual members of the Religious Organization “Society for Krishna Consciousness”


1) On the ground of the collective application of the members of the Horticultural Association "Ptitsevod" of the Karasai district, Almaty province, against unlawful territorial claims and actions of individual members of Religious Organization (hereinafter RO) "Society for Krishna Consciousness" and the repeated requests of the coordinator of RO "Society for Krishna Consciousness" in Central Asia, Mr. BB Govinda Swami, a special Commission was established by the Religious Affairs Department of the Republic of Kazakhstan Ministry of Justice on September 7, 2006.

Comment 1

The Commission was established one week before the 2nd Congress of World and Traditional Religious in Astana. The first attempt to demolish the krishnaites’ houses was made in April of 2006. Legal proceedings started even earlier.


2) The Commission included Deputies and representatives of the General Prosecutor’s office, governmental offices, the local executive authorities, religious organizations of Islam and Orthodoxy, the Society for Krishna Consciousness. The first meeting was held in Astana on September 7, 2006.

Comment 2

The interests of the representatives of Islam and Orthodoxy were not affected by the issue.
 

3) The meetings of the Commission were attended by observers including the Director of the Kazakhstan Bureau for Human Rights and Law Observance, E.A. Zhovtis, the President of the Almaty Helsinki Committee, N.K. Fokina, the spokesperson of the OSCE Center in Kazakhstan, L. Zhumakhmetova, as well as lawyers of the Karasai District Hakimat and lawyers of RO “Society for Krishna Consciousness.”

Comment 3

The human rights officers and the spokesperson of OSCE were allowed to be present at the meetings of the Commission as observers only after numerous requests of the representatives of the Society for Krishna Consciousness and after long negotiations.


4) The members of the Commission have studied the materials presented by the Coordinator of RO “Society for Krishna Consciousness” in Central Asia, Mr. BB Govinda Swami, and the Assistant Hakim of Almaty Province, S.M. Mukanov.

Comment 4

There is no list of the reviewed documents in the appendices to the final protocol of the Commission.
 

5) With a view to thoroughly study all the circumstances in regard to the issue, the Commission was working in the Karasai district, Almaty province, from September 28 till October 2.

Comment 5

The ambulatory meetings of the Commission in the Karasai district were attended by only two members of the Commission: A. Mukhashov and a representative of the General Prosecutor’s office, Tlentchiev. Officers of the District and the Provincial Hakimats and the Land Department’s officers represented the interested party – the plaintiffs who acted in court against members of RO.


6) Three open meeting of the Commission were held in the Hakimat of the Karasai district. On Sunday, October 1, 2006, there was a meeting attended by members of the Consumer’s Co-operatives “Horticultural Association Ptitsevod” and “Horticultural Association Priozerye,” as well as members of RO “Society for Krishna Consciousness.”

Altogether 173 people were present at the three meetings. 54 people spoke out.

Comment 6

66 people were present at the meeting attended by members of RO. The protocol statement presented to the Commission was made by these members of RO. Protocols of all other meetings of the Commission, except for the first and the final ones, are absent.


7) Having studied the situation on the spot and listened to speeches of the members of “HA Ptitsevod,” “HA Priozerye,” local citizens, members of RO “Society for Krishna Consciousness” and the Coordinator of RO “Society for Krishna Consciousness” in Central Asia, Mr. BB Govinda Swami, as well as representatives of the Hakimat of the Karasai district and the territorial bodies of land resources management of Almaty province, the Commission have found the following.

In March of 1999 E. Abdykalykov, the head of Merei peasant farm in the Karasai district, Almaty province, sold for 900,000 tenge land plots with the total area of 42.8 ha to citizens A.V. Markin, T.M. Khibatullin, N.B. Shklovskaya.

Later a part of the plot with the area of 12.8 ha was exchanged by the above mentioned persons for a 17.5 ha plot owned by R.K. Yerdenbekova. Thus the combined area of the three plots totaled to 47.5 ha.

However the functional purpose of the plot was changed in the contract of sale-purchase which was certified by a state notary: it was changed from “peasant farming” to “part-time farming,” which constitutes a forgery, a serious violation of law.


Comment 7

A.    The Karasai District Hakimat and the Land Department of Almaty Province base their arguments on the copies of documents of unknown origin. The seller has the original of the contract with unchanged text. And the Hakimat has presented to the court a copy of the allegedly changed document. The original of the changed document has never been presented.
B.    The accusation of forgery is the accusation of a criminal offence. The law of Kazakhstan stipulates the order and the procedure of establishing the fact of a criminal offence. The materials attached to the Commission’s decision do not contain any information of a criminal case opened in connection with the fact of forgery or a court ruling in this connection. The statement of the representative of the Almaty Provincial Hakimat, S.M. Mukanov, made during the final meeting of the Commission on December 22 that a criminal case is being started against the members of RO who were parties to this contract of sale-purchase is just an attempt of the local authorities to support their position by shifting the blame on the members of RO.
C.    If the court establishes the fact of forgery committed at the time of entering the contract of sale-purchase, the contract should be declared null and void and the parties reinstated in their original position: i.e. the land should be returned to the first owner – Abdykalykov. However the court has decided to transfer the land to the district land reserve of the local Hakim.
D.    The Religious Organization cannot be responsible for violations and mistakes committed by the former owners. The followers of Krishna purchased and privatized their plot of land legally. The College of Civil Cases of the Republic of Kazakhstan Supreme Court in its ruling No.3a-61/2-05 dated June 30, 2005, confirmed that RO “Society for Krishna Consciousness” is a bona fide purchaser. This ruling of the Supreme Court has never been disputed or cancelled in the way established by law.
E.    The period of limitation for this case expired in 2002. Thus the court considered the expired case and issued a decision in contravention of article 178 of the RK Civil Code.


8) As the fact of non-purposive use of the plots was established, the Karasai district Hakimat filed a claim to the district court to declare null and void the contracts connected with the plots of land with the area of 47.5 ha.

Comment 8

According to section 253 of the Code of Administrative Infractions (RK CAI) a legal action to confiscate a plot of land which is used contrary to its purpose can only be brought after taking administrative measures (a fine or a warning) and after notifying the owner in writing of the necessity to eliminate the violations of the RK law. Such a notification should be made at least three months before raising a claim, and a claim can be raised only if the owner has not corrected his violations for three months. If, during this period, the owner makes an application to change the functional purpose of his plot, the local territorial bodies have to consider this application before raising a claim. If the plot of land is confiscated, it should be sold by public auction and the received amount should be paid to the former owner after the deduction of the expenses (sec. 94 of the Land Code).

There have been no administrative cases against RO SKC or its members. No administrative punishment has been inflicted on them. The district authorities bypassed the legal order and filed civil claims to confiscate the land of RO and the plots of individual members of the Krishna Society.


9)    By the ruling of the Karasai district court of December 22, 2005, a number of deals with the mentioned plots were declared null and void, and the plots transferred to the district land reserve.

A consumers co-operative “Horticultural Association Ptitsevod” (chaired by I.S. Zakharchuk and founded in 1988) is situated near the Merei peasant farm in the Eltai village district of the Karasai district. This co-operative made it possible that summer plots and summer buildings were transferred to members of RO “Society for Krishna Consciousness” using an illegal procedure.

Later a group of krishnaites organized a new consumers co-operative, “HA Priozerye,” which was illegally registered on February 2, 2006, in the Department of Justice of Almaty city instead of the Department of Justice of the Karasai district, Almaty province.

Comment 9

A.    Half of the members of CC “HA Priozerye” are not members of RO.

B.    The very mention of the cottagers’ religious affiliation shows that the authorities use a selective approach in this situation.
C.    The Department of Justice of Almaty city registered CC “Priozerye” on the basis of the RK legislation which does not stipulate that the juridical and the actual addresses of a juridical person have to be the same. In this case the place of residence of the horticultural association’s chairman was chosen to become the juridical address of CC “Priozerye.”

10)    Four summer cottages in the area of “HA Priozerye” were reconstructed and modified to become guest houses for the accommodation of 40, 12  and 8 people, which was done without proper permission of the offices of the state architectural and construction control and the local executive authorities.

The decision of the Karasai district court was heard (on appeal) by the Civil Cases Panel of the Almaty provincial court and left unchanged, as the complaints of the members of RO “Society for Krishna Consciousness” were left unsatisfied.


Comment 10

A.    During the ambulatory meeting the members of the Commission including A. Mukhashov examined the cottages of the RO members and confirmed that those were ordinary dwelling-houses with families living inside. They were not used as guest houses. There are no regulations in the RK legislation that would limit the number of people living on a summer plot.
B.    Unauthorized reconstruction and alteration of living quarters is considered an administrative infraction and carries a fine, according to section 238 of RK CAI. The RK legislation does not stipulate a demolition of the building or a confiscation of the plot of land as a punishment for this administrative infraction.