Notificiation of the situation around the RO Society for Krishna Consciousness in Kazakhstan

NOTIFICIATION
of the situation around the Religious Organization Society for Krishna Consciousness in Kazakhstan

 Contents:
 1. History
 2. Facts
 3. Religious discrimination
 4. Recent events 

1. History

The Religious Organization Society for Krishna Consciousness was opened in Kazakhstan in 1994 when it was registered as a municipal religious organization by the bodies of justice in Almaty city. In 1996 it was re-registered after changing its legal address.

Besides this organization in Almaty, there are seven more registered religious organizations Society for Krishna Consciousness in Kazakhstan: in Astana, Aktobe, Karaganda, Balkhash, Pavlodar, Semipalatinsk, Ust-Kamenogorsk. In Tekeli city, Almaty province, the local religious organization Society for Krishna Consciousness has currently applied for registration. Followers of this religion can be found in a few other cities of Kazakhstan.

It should be noted that according to the Kazakh law of public and religious organizations these organizations may be of the following categories: local (registered in one city or district), regional (with branches or offices in one or more provinces) and republican (with branches in more than a half of the provinces of Kazakhstan). Kazakhstan has 14 provinces, Astana city is the capital, and Almaty city has the status of a city of republican importance: altogether 16 regions.

In spite of the fact that the acting legislation of Kazakhstan does not impose any limitations on the activities of a juridical person in a region other than the region wherein it is registered, in practice local authorities believe that, if a public or religious organization is registered in Almaty, it should act only in Almaty, and they obstruct the activities of public and religious organizations that are not registered in a particular place or region.

Therefore the communities of the Society for Krishna Consciousness are forced to go thru quite difficult and long procedures of registration in every city and district. Thus the religious organization Society for Krishna Consciousness in Karaganda received registration only four years after making application, and the community in Almaty province had to wait 8 months for registration.

On the whole, except that local communities of the Society for Krishna Consciousness have certain difficulties with registration and the leaders of non-registered communities are persecuted, the situation around this religion is quite tolerable. There have been no acts of intolerance on the part of the government or any private persons or organizations.

Since the time of registration of the Religious Organization Society for Krishna Consciousness in Almaty it has been doing big social and humanitarian work: charity food distribution, numerous seminars propagating traditional spiritual life of India, benefits of vegetarianism, practice of yoga and mantra-meditation.

The cultural center Govinda’s was opened in Almaty.

In 2002 the bodies of justice of the Almaty province registered the Religious Organization Society for Krishna Consciousness on the territory of the Karasai district, Almaty province. This community has dedicated its activities to the development of Sri Vrindavan Dham center, which is meant to propagate healthy life-style and satisfy cultural and spiritual demands of the faithful. The community also works to build a bio-farm and provide  necessary facilities for the development of the International society for Krishna Consciousness and its charitable activities in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

2. Facts

The religious organization Society for Krishna Consciousness needed land to develop Sri Vrindavan Dham center. Such land was found in the Karasai district of Almaty province, 40 km from Almaty city.

In 1993 this land consisting of several pieces with the total area over 100 hectares was allotted to farmer Abykalykov for life-long heritable use with the purpose stated as “peasant farming.” In 1999 Abdykalykov sold the right of land use for the plots of land with the total area of 42.8 hectares to three citizens of Kazakhstan, members of the religious organization Society for Krishna Consciousness, Mr. Markin, Mr. Khibatullin and Ms. Shklovskaya. They entered into contract of sale. A half-constructed building and a cowshed were sold along with the land. Besides, in 2002 these three persons officially exchanged a part of this land for another plot of land owned by farmer Yerdenbekova. As a result their land totaled 47.7 hectares.

Since the original functional purpose of the land was peasant farming, which did not allow for any housing, in 1999 other members of the religious organization Society for Krishna Consciousness started to buy cottages in the nearby area.

The mentioned plot of land borders the Ptitsevod horticultural association consisting of 256 cottages. This association, established in 1988, was allotted 12.2 ha of land by the government in 1993. The members of the Society for Krishna Consciousness joined the association, paid affiliation fee and purchased cottages from the former owners. In this way members of the Society purchased 66 cottages by 2003.

It should be noted that before 2003 private ownership of land as such did not exist in Kazakhstan: plots of land were given to the owners with the right of land use. In 2004, when privatization became possible, Markin, Khibatullin and Shklovskaya officially received the right of private ownership by making a standard contract of sale with the Hakim of the Karasai district (the head of the local executive authority).

In October of 2004 the local administration initiated a number of illegal plaints in order to confiscate the land of the Society for Krishna Consciousness and liquidate the Society. However the court left the plaints unconsidered because no grounds for opening a court case had been found. After one month the similar plaints were filed against the members of the Society, but they were also dismissed by the court as groundless.

In 2005 the Hakimat of the Karasai district of Almaty province filed a new number of plaints against the members of the Society for Krishna Consciousness, in particular the plaint of May 15, 2005, concerning the contract of sale made in 1999 – 5 years before the contract made by the religious organization in 2004. That original contract of sale is now used as a cause of land confiscation. The executive authorities presented to the court a copy of contract wherein the functional purpose of the land was changed from “peasant farming” to “part-time farming.” In this way the former owners are accused of forgery.

This accusation is naked because it is not confirmed by the law-enforcement authorities of Kazakhstan, there was no judgment of the criminal court against the parties of the contract, as such infringement are subject to criminal prosecution.

The plaints of the Almaty Provincial Department of Land Resources Management and the Hakim of the Karasai district, Almaty province, against the cottagers, the members of the religious organization, and the decisions of the court taken in this regard are also illegal for the following reasons:

a) the documents mentioned in the appendixes were not attached to the plaints (sec.4, article 151 of the Civil Procedural Code (CPC)),
b) the names of the cottagers’ associations were confused, thus the court considered plaints against non-existent defendants (art.48, CPC),
b) the defendants were not notified, as stipulated by the law, of the date and the time of the court hearings (art.366, CPC),
c) the venue was improper because the cases of building demolition are to be considered in administrative courts (art.365, CPC),
d) the plaintiffs and the court refer to non-existent sections of the law and use the laws that did not act at the time when the legal relationship started, etc.

According to the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “About the local state management in RK,” the Hakim is a representative of the President and the government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a head of the local executive authorities and a person who adopts the state policy in a particular area, coordinates the actions of all the territorial offices of the central executive authorities of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Therefore it is safe to conclude that all the well-organized, coordinated and planned actions of the local executive authorities and the courts constitute practical application of the policy of religious discrimination against the religious organization Society for Krishna Consciousness.

3. Religious discrimination

In spite of the fact that the conflict has been centered on land since it was acquired by the Society for Krishna Consciousness – the executive authorities of the Almaty province started planned activities to practically liquidate the Almaty provincial Society and confiscate the land – from both the Society and the private members of the Society.

For this purpose the Administration of the Karasai district has been distributing negative information of the Society for several years, using even national mass media. The Society for Krishna Consciousness is called a sect and unauthorized religion which is not accepted even in India. These words were spoken in April of 2006 on the 31st channel of the Kazakh TV by R. Zhunisbayeva, the officer of the Department of Internal Politics of the Karasai district Hakimat, who is responsible for working with religious organizations.

The chief expert of the Provincial Department of Land Resources Management A. Portnyagin brought to the Hake Krishna farm reporters from KTK TV channel. A car of the local Hakim was used to bring elderly village people who were told to shout before the camera, “Krishnaites, go away from our Kazakh land.” The same officer called the Krishnaites “wolves in sheep’s clothing” in his interview to KTK TV channel. It resulted in the TV program defaming the Society.

A similar story took place in the beginning of October of 2006, when the governmental commission was established to investigate the situation and find a compromise solution. On the day when the commission came to see the farm the Hakimat hired a bus with village people who had no connection with the Society, and cameramen from four TV channels. Answering to the question about all these people and cameras, A. Mukhashev, the chairman of the mentioned commission and the assistant president of the Committee of Religious Affairs at the Ministry of Justice, said, “Why, I gave my permission.”

Having filmed the shouting of the village people, the reporters and the people left the place. Then several TV channels showed negative reports about the Society.

The assistant district prosecutor E. Ustelbayev came to conduct a checkup at the farm along with the reporters of a national TV channel and said before the camera that Krishnaites are a threat to the security of the country.
 
In 2002 he confiscated passports from the cottagers, the members of the community, and would not give them back for several months. The passport owners managed to retrieve their passports only thru court.

The representative of the Hakimat in judicial bodies Lawyer T. Samoilenko told to the law-enforcement authorities of the district, “Krishnaites are apparently terrorist organization.”

The judge of the Almaty Provincial Court Yesbergenov made a suggestion at the court session, “Krishnaites are the terrorist organization which will bring forth second Chechnya in Kazakhstan, aren’t they?” And the chief expert of the Provincial Department of Land Resources Management A. Portnyagin gave a positive answer.

The assistant of the Hakim made a declaration that the ethnic Kazakhs, citizens of Kazakhstan, who belong to the Society “are not Kazakhs because they do not profess Islam.”

The local officials do not support the attempts of the Society to enter into dialogue with them. The district authorities forbade the Society to conduct religious festivals on the territory where the Society is officially registered, although such activities are openly permitted by the law.

Furthermore, regular attempts to liquidate the Society for Krishna Consciousness in the Karasai district, Almaty province, are made.

In the beginning of 2003 Prosecutor of the Karasai district filed a plaint about declaring the registration of the Almaty Provincial Society null and void. However the court did not find sufficient grounds for the withdrawal of the juridical person’s registration.

In December of 2004 M. Tanirbergenov, the assistant director of the Almaty Provincial Department of Justice, said to the reporter of the informational agency Kazakhstan Today, “Our Department of Justice in cooperation with the law-enforcement authorities is taking measures to liquidate the Society for Krishna Consciousness on the territory of the Merei peasant farm.”

There is another 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.

When privatization of land was conducted, all the people who live in the vicinity of the religious center were obligated to mention their religious beliefs in writing.

The local Hakimat has got the list of the Krishnaites and uses it to refuse their applications for privatization.

Then, under the pretext of people’s not having title deeds for land the executive authorities lodge lawsuits, and the court passes judgments about the confiscation of land, the demolition of buildings and the eviction of their residents, while the above mentioned lists necessarily figure among the causes of action.

 4. Recent events

(evidenced by N. Fockina - president of the Almaty Helsinki Committee and A. Grishin - the official member of the International Bureau of Human Rights and Law Observance).

On November 21, 2006, at 1 pm the information was received that according to the court decision to evict the members of religion organization Society for Krishna Consciousness from the occupied land near Sri Vrindavan Dham farm, the demolition of 13 country houses will begin immediately.

Heavy equipment was brought to the suburban community: trucks, demolition machines, three busses with riot policemen, a bus with demolition squad and the local authorities including the Hakim. Electricity was disconnected in the morning of the same day.

There were only women and children in the village. All men went to work in town.

The president of the Almaty Helsinki Committee N. Fockina tried to contact different officials in Astana (the capital): B. Baikadamov – the envoy of human rights, B. Muhamedjanov – the minister for internal affairs; I. Bakhtibayev – the assistant General Prosecutor; R. Aliev – the deputy minister for foreign affairs. 

She had a conversation with B. Baikadamov, the only person she could reach at that time, who promised to communicate to the Committee of Religious Affairs at the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court, and the Court Administration Committee which includes the department of court decision execution.

At 3 pm representatives of human rights organizations: H. Fockina and A. Grishin, M. Varfolomeev – press-secretary of the Society for Krishna Consciousness, and a journalist and representative of Astana TV channel left for the village, which is located 40 km from Almaty.

All the roads to village were closed and patrolled by police. They would not let anyone go through. The human rights representatives and the journalist took detour through the fields. It was snowing, but they were able to reach the border of the village because of the four-wheel-drive jeep they were traveling in. But even that road was closed by patrol.
  
The jeep was not allowed to drive into the village. The patrol explained: it was instruction of authorities. When Grishin and the jeep driver tried to pass by walk they were stopped and threatened to be put in handcuffs. And the patrol promised to send for additional force.

 Lieutenant colonel, who came with another patrol car, explained that they are not allowed to the village for their own safety. He said that at that time the electric line was being dismounted in the area.
   
The driver of the jeep had his wife and two months old daughter in the village. He was begging to let him go through, but his request was denied. He was told that safety is guaranteed to his family. This group could still enter the village. They approached it from the other detour road, and leaving the car on the sidewalk, one by one they entered the village.
As they approached the village they met two small groups of young people who were not drunk but unnaturally exited.
They held hammers, big dumb-bells, metal crow-bars and sticks. Two of them politely greeted the group, and one said gaily, “Your houses are finished.
Four  big busses with toned windows and two cars of ambulance were parked at the entrance of the village in the grove. 30-40 policemen stood by the houses, and 20-30 people in civil clothes (including the leaders of the district with the Hakim, the head of local executive authority) stood on the street, watching the demolition.

It was snowing. Residents’ household stuff such as mattresses, blankets, utensils cookware, and furniture were laying outside on the lawns by their houses. People in construction outfits (labor people) got inside the houses and started crushing windows and doors, destroying walls. The bulldozer was demolishing the buildings and the big stone fencing with cast iron openwork lattice which separated the houses from the driving area.

A small group of inhabitants (20-30 people, mostly women) did not offer physical resistance. One of the women felt dizzy, fell down and was picked up by the ambulance. Police was bringing down those few (basically women) who tried to interfere with the destruction of their property. Two men tried to prevent the entrance of destroyers into a house, but were brought down by 15 policemen who twisted their hands and took them away to the police car.

During all these events none of the representatives from the Office of Public Prosecutor were present at the place of the event, even though both Krishna people and legal service people demanded meeting with representatives of the Office of Public Prosecutor who are obligated to be present during this type of actions.

The Hakim of the Karasai district who was personally responsible for this action noticed A. Grishin photographing the destruction of the houses using a digital camera and commanded the policemen to detain him. A. Grishin is an officer of the Human Rights Bureau and a journalist.
To avoid confiscation of the camera A. Grishin tried to escape. He ran away by 200 meters and was caught by the police. Police officers confiscated his digital camera and took away his journalist certificate.
Then he was let free, but police refused  to return the camera, saying that they would give it to the Hakim. The camera was indeed found in the car of the Hakim, but the flash card and the batteries were confiscated. When Grishin approached the Hakim to find out for what reason his camera and his journalist ID were confiscated, the Hakim told in front of  the witnesses, “If I see you here again, I will personally crash Your eyes, even though I am the Hakim.”
No one of the policemen, who took part in the camera and ID confiscation, wanted to reveal their names.
Ms. Fokina was able to talk with the assistant of the General prosecutor I. Bakhtibayev, who did confirm that he would contact the prosecutor of the province and he would work out this situation.

The envoy of human rights E. Baikadamov, who was also contacted, said that the president of the Court Administration Committee Z. Makashev confirmed that he would contact immediately the provincial department and would give the appropriate instructions.
All the attempts of the representatives of the human rights organizations to find  the people in charge of the operation and give them any information were unsuccessful.
All the present officials refused to speak and declared that they were not responsible for the action. The Police colonels would point at bailiffs. The bailiffs did not  confirm their being bailiffs.
The OSCE representatives in Almaty Eugenia Benigni and Lisa Zhumakhmetova did not make it to the village. Their car just was stoped by police.
When the darkness fell, at around 6 pm, everything was finished: 13 houses destroyed, people thrown to the snowbound street, the village left without electricity, without heat and water.

The condition of the witnesses can be described as shock. The condition of the people who were thrown from their destroyed houses to the dirt and snow cannot be described.
 
When all the 13 buildings were destroyed as was planned (while the adjacent houses of other people who do not belong to the Society for Krishna Consciousness were left untouched, even though their title deeds have the same status), the bailiffs decided to give an interview to the TV channel “to avoid one-sided opinion.” However no one of them introduced himself. The only thing they could say, “we are executing the court decision.”

Neither the Hakim, nor the police chiefs, nor the bailiffs would listen to the arguments that the governmental commission established to solve the issue around the Society for Krishna Consciousness has not yet come to final decision.

Notice: the notifications of eviction and demolition of the 13 houses owned by members of the cottage cooperative (who are the members of the religious organization Society for Krishna Consciousness) were delivered to the watchman of Sri Vrindavan Dham in the evening of November 20. The date of execution and the period for evacuating the buildings were not stated. It should be noted that the acting Kazakh law does not stipulate such a kind of eviction as the demolition of houses, and the eviction should be accompanied by the inventory of property removed from the evacuated building, while the storage of this property should be provided is necessary.

Evgeny Zhovtis, Lawyer, and Chairman of the International Bureau of Human Rights, Kazakhstan.