INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE

December 8, 2006

US EMBASSY URGES KAZAKH AUTHORITIES TO END HARASSMENT OF HARE KRISHNAS

The Associated Press

Published: December 7, 2006

ALMATY, Kazakhstan: The United States on Thursday urged Kazakhstan's

authorities to end what it called an "aggressive" campaign against the

country's tiny Hare Krishna community.

The U.S. Embassy said it had "several concerns" regarding the legal basis

for the demolition last month of Hare Krishna's 13 summer houses outside the

Kazakh commercial capital, Almaty.

In April, Kazakh courts found the Hare Krishna members guilty of illegally

acquiring land and ordered that the houses be destroyed and the land

confiscated.

"Regardless of the merits of the underlying case, the forceful eviction of

homeowners in freezing temperatures and the destruction of their

possessions, contradicted principles of due process and fairness," the

Embassy said in a statement.

Laborers with crowbars and bulldozers destroyed the community's 13 country

houses at their farm on Nov. 21, while police prevented community members

from interfering.

The Hare Krishna community denies breaking property laws and says it is a

victim of religious intolerance.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said in a statement

after the demolitions that the move "suggests they have been targeted on the

basis of their religious affiliation."

The U.S. Embassy urged the Karasai district authorities who were behind the

legal action against the Hare Krishna community "to refrain from any further

aggressive actions ... and to work toward a fair, lawful, and peaceful

resolution of the ongoing legal dispute."

Kazakh authorities have long been seen as being more tolerant of other

religions than other governments in mostly Muslim ex-Soviet Central Asia,

but in recent years they have tightened laws governing religious

organizations, citing concerns about Islamic extremism.

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