us gov statement

12-03-2006, 10:00 PM

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Letter PAMHO:12664257 (103 lines)
From: (Bhakti Bhrnga) Govinda Swami
Date: 03-Dec-06 07:03
To: Braja Sevaki (dd) (TKG) (Mayapur - IN) [52874]
To: "ratimanjari" (sent: 03-Dec-06 07:05)
Subject: us gov statement
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Angela Stephens, Assistant
November 30, 2006
Communications Director,
(202) 523-3240, ext. 114

Kazakhstan: USCIRF Denounces Demolition of Hare Krishna Property
and Moves Against Religious Freedom; Calls on the U.S. Government to Reject
Kazakhstan's Bid to Become OSCE Chair in 2009

WASHINGTON: The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
(USCIRF), a bipartisan, independent federal agency, is concerned about
actions taken by authorities in Kazakhstan that fail to live up to
international standards of religious freedom. "Recent steps against the
Hare Krishnas and members of other religious communities indicate that the
government of Kazakhstan, regrettably, is moving in the wrong direction
with regard to respecting the universal right to freedom of religion or
belief," said Felice D. Gaer, Chair of the Commission.

"In view of Kazakhstan's deteriorating record of respect for human rights
and religious freedom, the Commission calls on the U.S. government to
oppose the current bid by Kazakhstan to become the Organization on Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) chair in 2009, and to protest the various
actions undertaken by the government of Kazakhstan which fall short of its
international obligations to respect freedom of religion or belief."
Commission Chair Gaer continued. "Such a bid should only be considered at
next week's OSCE Ministerial in Brussels if Kazakhstan takes immediate
verifiable steps to implement its OSCE human rights pledges, including on
freedom of religion or belief."

On November 21, 2006, Kazakh riot police reportedly demolished 13 of the 66
homes owned and occupied by members of the Society for Krishna
Consciousness in their agricultural community outside the city of Almaty. A
spokesman for the Hare Krishna community expressed concern that their
temple may also be slated for destruction. Although Kazakh officials claim
that the dispute is purely economic in nature, only homes owned by Hare
Krishna members were destroyed.

During the raid, two buses of riot police closed off all access to the
site. Police also launched a news blockade about the action; a camera was
confiscated and officials from the OSCE Center in Almaty were prevented
from reaching the farm. This was not the first time Kazakh authorities have
tried to confiscate this religious community's land. In April 2006, Kazakh
authorities had tried to bulldoze the homes belonging to the Hare Krishnas,
but retreated in the presence of journalists.

This time, the houses were demolished, although the Hare Krishna community
had been told that no action would be taken before the report of a state
Commission set up to resolve the dispute was made public.

The demolition of the Hare Krishna-owned houses occurred on the same day
that President Nursultan Nazarbayev was in London for a meeting with
British Prime Minister Tony Blair seeking his support for Kazakhstan's bid
to be the OSCE chairman-in-office in 2009. In London, some 10,000 members
of Britain's Hindu community protested the demolition of the Hare Krishna
property in Kazakhstan.

This action against the Hare Krishna community is the latest in a series of
developments over the past two years that signal a retreat from
Kazakhstan's previously positive record of respect for the right to
religious freedom. These developments include:

-- In July 2005, President Nazarbayev amended the "national security" law
requiring all religious groups to register with the government. Activity
by unregistered religious organizations is banned. Although most groups do
not report difficulties in obtaining registration, the pre-2005 Kazakhstan
Law on Religious Associations did not require a religious community to
register with the state. Only 10 signatures were needed to register a
religious association.

-- In February 2005, President Nazarbayev signed new legislation on
extremist activity by granting increased oversight authority to a state
agency. According to the OSCE, these anti-extremism measures lack a clear
definition of "extremism" and could be arbitrarily applied to religious and
other groups.

-- Beginning in late 2004, Kazakh authorities took measures to increase
control over mosques and imams in south Kazakhstan who want to remain
independent of the state.

-- Baptists, Pentecostals and other Protestant Christians have been
subjected to heavy fines for unregistered religious activity in the past
year. State institutions, including schools, actively discourage children
from attending religious services, particularly in the case of Protestants.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom was created by the
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to monitor the status of
freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief abroad, as defined
in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related international
instruments, and to give independent policy recommendations to the
President, Secretary of State, and Congress.
Visit our Web site at www.uscirf.gov

Felice D. Gaer, Chair Michael Cromartie, Vice Chair Elizabeth H.
Prodromou, Vice Chair Nina Shea, Vice Chair
Preeta D. Bansal Archbishop Charles J. Chaput Khaled Abou El Fadl
Richard D. Land
Bishop Ricardo Ramirez Ambassador John V. Hanford III, Ex-Officio
Joseph R. Crapa, Executive Director

800 NORTH CAPITOL STREET, NW SUITE 790 WASHINGTON, DC 20002 202-523-3240
202-523-5020 (FAX)
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