KAZAKHSTAN: AUTHORITIES EXECUTE SURPRISE DEMOLITION OF HARE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASTANA 000651

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN (M. O'MARA),DRL/PHD (C. KUCHTA-HELBLING)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: AUTHORITIES EXECUTE SURPRISE DEMOLITION OF HARE
KRISHNA HOMES

REF: ALMATY 3143

ASTANA 00000651 001.2 OF 003



1. (U) Summary: On the afternoon of November 21, local officials in
the Karasai district near Almaty blockaded a Hare Krishna commune,
forcibly evicted residents from their homes, seized their personal
possessions, beat and arrested several Hare Krishna followers, and
demolished 13 homes. Karasai district officials carried out the
demolitions despite the fact that a special Ministry of Justice
commission organized to evaluate the situation has yet to issue its
findings. End summary.

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AUTHORITIES AGGRESSIVELY EXECUTE SURPRISE DEMOLITION
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2. (U) The Karasai district akim and his officials escalated their
long-running land dispute with the Hare Krishnas on November 20,
when an unidentified official served court documents on a security
guard at the Hare Krishna commune. The documents were from the
Karasai District Court, and demanded that the owners of 13 homes in
the commune destroy their homes, or they would be destroyed by the
government at the expense of the owners. The documents did not
specify a deadline.


3. (SBU) The next afternoon at approximately 1 p.m., several
bulldozers, trucks, and three buses full of riot police arrived at
the commune. The Karasai district akim and several court officials
were also present. Govinda Swami, a leader of the Hare Krishna
community, told Poloff that the police blocked all outside access to
the area and cut electricity. The police were instructed by the
court officials not to speak with the residents. (Note: Govinda
Swami, an American citizen, leads the Hare Krishnas' effort to
defend their land. On November 8, he left Kazakhstan on a short
trip to India to generate support for their cause and conduct other
business. His Kazakhstani visa expired a few days ago, and he
expects to have difficulty obtaining a new one. He has maintained
close telephone contact with his fellow Hare Krishnas at the
commune. End note.)


4. (U) The police then began aggressively removing people from the
targeted homes. According to Govinda Swami, several Hare Krishnas
were beaten or roughed up by police when they resisted or protested,
though none was seriously injured. He reported that two or three
commune residents were arrested for resisting, and taken away by
police. The police removed furniture and large possessions from the
homes and put them in trucks, informing the residents that the items
would be destroyed. Clothing and other smaller possessions were
tossed into the snow. Thirteen houses were then demolished.


5. (SBU) Ninel Fokina, head of the Almaty Helsinki Committee, and
Andrey Grishin, a reporter associated with the Kazakhstani
International Bureau of Human Rights, evaded the police blockade and
witnessed some of the demolitions. Both Fokina and Grishin
confirmed the account from Govinda Swami. Grishin said that he
personally witnessed the police attacking a few Hare Krishnas with
their fists when the Krishnas resisted the eviction.

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AUTHORITIES BLOCK, THREATEN JOURNALIST
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6. (SBU) Grishin took multiple photos of the incident. When police
spotted him taking photos, they chased him and seized his camera and
journalist credentials. They returned his camera a half-hour later,
minus its flash card and batteries. Nonetheless, most of Grishin's
photographs survived in the camera's internal memory, and he plans
to publicly release them. Grishin reported that after the police
returned his camera, the Karasai district akim approached him and
said he would "gouge out your eyes" if he saw Grishin taking
photographs again. Grishin reported that the police also seized
several cameras owned by commune residents.


7. (U) The authorities completed their work around 6 p.m., and
lifted the blockade at approximately 7 p.m. The surviving homes
remain without power and heat as a result of the demolition
activity.

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ACTION SURPRISES ASTANA
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8. (U) The Hare Krishnas were surprised by the police action in part
because a special commission appointed by the Ministry of Justice to
evaluate the situation had not yet published its findings (reftel).
Amanbek Mukhashev, deputy chairman of the Religious Issues Committee

ASTANA 00000651 002.2 OF 003


in the Ministry of Justice, is chairman of the commission, and
promised that all legal actions against the Krishnas' property would
be suspended pending publication of the commission's findings.


9. (SBU) The Ministry of Justice created the commission after the
Kazakhstani Supreme Court ruled against the Hare Krishnas on August
24 (reftel). At the time, the Hare Krishnas charged that the
commission was a mere smokescreen to deflect criticism of the
government on the eve of the highly publicized Congress of World
Religions, held in Astana on September 12-15. Nevertheless, the
Hare Krishnas agreed to participate in the commission process.

10.(SBU) In subsequent conversations with Poloff, Govinda Swami
characterized the commission as incompetent and subjective, and said
that he did not expect a positive result. According to Govinda
Swami and several media reports, Mukhashev stated publicly during
some of the commission meetings that he already believed the dispute
was purely legal in nature, and had nothing to do with the religious
beliefs of the Hare Krishnas. (Note: Though most observers believe
the Karasai district government's long campaign against the commune
is essentially a heavy-handed attempt to confiscate valuable real
estate, various local officials have criticized and attempted to
undermine the Hare Krishnas as an illegitimate and threatening
religious group. End note.) Despite their doubts about the
sincerity of the commission, the Hare Krishnas believed that Karasai
district officials would not take action pending the outcome of the
commission process, and even then the Krishnas were planning further
legal appeals.


11. (SBU) According to Govinda Swami, Mukhashev denied any knowledge
of the planned demolitions when called by Krishna representatives
during the incident, acknowledged that the commission had not yet
publicized its findings, and expressed anger about being bothered
while on vacation. Pol FSN contacted Kayrat Tolesov, another deputy
chairman of the Religious Issues Committee, about the demolitions.
Tolesov indicated he knew nothing about the issue, but was currently
studying it. Swami reported that Krishna supporters made efforts to
contact other Religious Issue Committee officials, but none of them
were aware of the planned demolitions, and in fact asked the
Krishnas to talk to Karasai akimat officials and then report back to
the Religious Issues Committee.

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THE AFTERMATH
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12. (SBU) The Hare Krishnas reported that government officials did
not return to the commune on November 22, and residents were in a
process of trying to salvage their possessions and clean up the
mess. Govinda Swami reports that the Hare Krishnas plan an
aggressive public relations campaign both within and outside of
Kazakhstan. The Hare Krishnas have already contacted the human
rights ombudsman and other human rights activists in Kazakhstan.
Supporters outside of the country plan to approach Kazakhstani
embassies in various capitals, and in some cases planned protest.
Swami said he expects several hundred protesters to greet President
Nazarbayev when he opens the London Stock exchange on November 22 in
London.


13. (SBU) Rumors persist that Bulat Nazarbayev, brother of President
Nazarbayev, is behind the land-grab. The Nazarbayev's native
village of Chemulgan is located nearby.
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COMMENT
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14. (SBU) Comment: The heavy-handed tactics of the Karasai district
authorities will likely cause embarrassment to the national
government in Astana, and were likely conducted without Astana's
full knowledge. Karasai authorities clearly acted without regard to
the special commission, bolstering allegations that the commission
was intended only as a smokescreen during the recent Congress of
World Religions. The local authorities' willingness to take such
reckless action, without regard to the impact on Kazakhstan's
international image, will also fuel speculation that a powerful
figure is behind the effort to take the Hare Krishnas' land. End
comment.

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SUGGESTED STATEMENT
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15. (SBU) Posts suggest the following language for any statement or
comment issued by the State Department:


ASTANA 00000651 003.2 OF 003



The United States is disappointed by the decision of Karasai
district authorities to demolish several homes at the Hare Krishna
commune outside of Almaty on November 21.

Homeowners were left in the cold, and many of their possessions were
destroyed. The remaining residents are still without electricity
and heat.

We have several concerns regarding the legal basis for the actions
against the Hare Krishna community. Regardless of the merits of the
underlying case, however, the sudden and forceful eviction of
homeowners in freezing temperatures, and the destruction of their
possessions, is inconsistent with principles of due process and
fairness. It is particularly disturbing that the authorities chose
to take such drastic action before the special commission charged
with finding an equitable solution to the situation had issued its
recommendations.

The United States government urges the Karasai district authorities
to refrain from any further aggressive actions against the Hare
Krishnas, and to work toward a fair, lawful, and peaceful resolution
of the ongoing legal dispute.


ORDWAY