Nollmeyer: Human Rights Blog

Subject: REJECT Mugabe
Time: 7:30:47 PM EDT
Author:  vamanadeva
Mood:  Betrayed
Music:  Gustav Mahler

The power play by Robert Mugabe simply demonstrates the alienation of not only the individual but that of the nation-sate as well. The so-called election in the past week was indeed an orchestrated farce. Such was more long on intimidation and corruption than democracy. Vote early, vote often. The old school dies hard. The forces of despotism are more adapt to changing paradigms than any collective effort to transparently police rights that pertain to inclusiveness in supranational regimes as the African Union.

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

African Union: Reject Result in Zimbabwe’s Sham Election

Sanction Leaders, Press for Peacekeepers to End Violence

(Johannesburg, June 29, 2008) – African states should impose sanctions against Robert Mugabe and his illegitimate government in Zimbabwe after the sham presidential runoff, Human Rights Watch said today. The situation in Zimbabwe, where government violence against opposition supporters continued even after the vote on June 27, 2008, will be on the agenda at the African Union summit in Sharm El Sheik, Egypt, on June 30 and July 1.

“The African Union can help end the violence in Zimbabwe by taking the strongest possible action against Robert Mugabe and his government,” said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “African and UN leaders urged Mugabe to postpone the runoff and he refused, amid a wave of violence against opposition supporters that’s still going on. Recognizing the election results would not only reward the sponsors of serious crimes in Zimbabwe, it would irreparably discredit the African Union.”

Human Rights Watch documented numerous incidents of intimidation, violence and manipulation of the vote by Mugabe’s ruling ZANU-PF party before, during and after the June 27 runoff vote. In the capital, Harare, Human Rights Watch documented incidents of reprisal attacks by ZANU-PF supporters against people who did not go out and vote for Mugabe. In the neighborhoods of Chitungwiza and Westlea, several people told Human Rights Watch that in the early hours of June 28, ZANU-PF supporters went door to door, forcing people to show their fingers for signs of the indelible ink which shows that a person voted. The ZANU-PF supporters took those who did not have ink on their fingers to ZANU-PF bases in the areas and beat them with batons and thick sticks. Others were targeted because their names did not appear on a list compiled by ZANU-PF that showed who had voted in particular polling stations.

Zimbabweans told Human Rights Watch that at several polling stations in Harare they were forced to pass through unofficial stations set up by ZANU-PF outside polling booths, and submit their names and details to ZANU-PF officials. They were given cards and ordered to write down the serial numbers of their ballot papers so that ZANU-PF officials could trace those who had voted for Mugabe and those who had not. Human Rights Watch received similar reports from Marondera in Mashonaland East province. In Mkoba, Gweru in the Midlands province, people told Human Rights Watch that ZANU-PF supporters and youth militia were checking people’s fingers for signs of indelible ink and ordering those without the ink to go and vote.

In the days before the vote, ZANU-PF supporters rounded up and beat scores of people in the suburbs of Epworth and Chitungwiza on the outskirts of Harare. Many people sustained serious injuries, including multiple fractures, and were hospitalized at Parirenyatwa hospital in Harare. In one incident, three people told Human Rights Watch that ZANU-PF supporters forced them to attend a rally in Epworth at which former Minister of Mines Amos Midzi spoke. He told people that they would be beaten because they supported the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC); then ZANU-PF supporters beat them with batons and sticks.

After the beatings ZANU-PF supporters informed people that if they valued their lives they would go and vote for Mugabe. The ZANU-PF supporters also told the people that they would go door to door after the vote checking peoples’ fingers for the ink. Human Rights Watch received similar reports of threats and intimidation by ZANU-PF supporters in other suburbs in Harare. People informed Human Rights Watch that ZANU-PF had dubbed this new campaign of violence and intimidation “Operation Where Is the Ink?” or “Operation Red Finger.”

“ZANU-PF’s overall strategy seems to be to eliminate any opposition to the government,” Gagnon said. “Only the strongest possible action from the African Union can help to prevent further bloodshed and loss of life.”

Human Rights Watch urged the African Union to uphold its African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, by declaring the runoff unconstitutional as “an illegal means of maintaining power” and suspending Zimbabwe from the African Union. The African Union should also impose punitive economic measures and other sanctions against the “perpetrators of an unconstitutional change of government” including Mugabe and the members of the Joint Operations Command (JOC). The JOC, which includes the heads of the army, air force, police and prison services, and Minister of Rural Housing Emmerson Mnangagwa, has been widely implicated in planning and inciting the violence that has plagued the country since the general elections on March 29.

Human Rights Watch also called on the African Union to ensure that members of Mugabe’s government and security forces who are implicated in serious human rights violations are excluded from any discussions about a possible government of national unity and do not form any part of such a government. Mugabe, Mnangagwa and Air Force Commander Perence Shiri have a long record of abuses dating back to systematic and widespread atrocities in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces in the 1980s.

“Mugabe’s brutal hijacking of this election should be reason enough to exclude him from any discussions on a transitional government,” said Gagnon. “Rather than getting a seat in a new government, Mugabe and other officials responsible for serious abuses should be investigated and held to account.”

Human Rights Watch called on the African Union to immediately press for the deployment of peacekeepers to Zimbabwe to stop the violence and protect people from further violence and reprisal attacks.

Human Rights Watch also urged African leaders to appoint a group of impartial eminent persons to replace the failed mediation effort by South African President Thabo Mbeki.

“A group of impartial eminent persons should be taking the lead to resolve the crisis in Zimbabwe,” Gagnon said.

From: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/06/28/zimbab19221.htm

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Subject: Mugabe Strikes at the Opposition
Time: 8:55:31 PM EDT
Author:  vamanadeva
Mood:  Annoyed
Music:  Karlheinz Stockhausen

The electoral farce that is ongoing in Zimbabwe is more of a disturbing trend of the Myth of Democracy. We are gliding all into totalitarianism. We vote for dictators and the Lesser of Two Evils. As history teaches us This is a battle of live dogs and dead lions.

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

 Zimbabwe: Crackdown Intensifies on Opposition Leaders and NGOs International Election Observers Should Report Publicly on Abuses

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Subject: Strangers in a Strange Land
Time: 8:59:27 PM EDT
Author:  vamanadeva
Mood:  Anxious
Music:  Silence

 

I find the syncretism between the official recognition of these tribes correlated to the ongoing censorship here in the United States which is undergoing a tremendous decadence. The abuse between macro or controlling and micro - controlled cultures in societies is an emergent study that rarely if ever is taken seriously by the consumer public.

I frame this in such language because it appears that economics is their greatest threat otherwise they would be left alone or be free to integrate and assimilate if they choose.

David Nollmeyer

By MICHAEL ASTOR

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) — Brazil's government agreed to release stunning photos of Amazon Indians firing arrows at an airplane so that the world can better understand the threats facing one of the few tribes still living in near-total isolation from civilization, officials said Friday.

Anthropologists have known about the group for some 20 years but released the images now to call attention to fast-encroaching development near the Indians' home in the dense jungles near Peru.

"We put the photos out because if things continue the way they are going, these people are going to disappear," said Jose Carlos Meirelles, who coordinates government efforts to protect four "uncontacted" tribes for Brazil's National Indian Foundation.

Shot in late April and early May, the foundation's photos show about a dozen Indians, mostly naked and painted red, wielding bows and arrows outside six grass-thatched huts.

Meirelles told The Associated Press in a phone interview that anthropologists know next to nothing about the group, but suspect it is related to the Tano and Aruak tribes.

Brazil's National Indian Foundation believes there may be as many as 68 "uncontacted" groups around Brazil, although only 24 have been officially confirmed.

Anthropologists say almost all of these tribes know aboutwestern civilization and have sporadic contact with prospectors, rubber tappers and loggers, but choose to turn their backs on civilization, usually because they have been attacked.

"It's a choice they made to remain isolated or maintain only occasional contacts, but these tribes usually obtain some modern goods through trading with other Indians," said Bernardo Beronde, an anthropologist who works in the region.

Brazilian officials once tried to contact such groups. Now they try to protectively isolate them.

The four tribes monitored by Meirelles include perhaps 500 people who roam over an area of about 1.6 million acres (630,000 hectares).

He said that over the 20 years he has been working in the area, the number of "malocas," or grass-roofed huts, has doubled, suggesting that the policy of isolation is working and that populations are growing.

Remaining isolated, however, gets more complicated by the day.

Loggers are closing in on the Indians' homeland — Brazil's environmental protection agency said Friday it had shut down 28 illegal sawmills in Acre state, where these tribes are located. And logging on the Peruvian border has sent many Indians fleeing into Brazil, Meirelles said.

"On the Brazilian side we don't have logging yet, but I'd like to emphasize the 'yet,'" he said.

A new road being paved from Peru into Acre will likely bring in hordes of poor settlers. Other Amazon roads have led to 30 miles (50 kilometers) of rain forest being cut down on each side, scientists say.

While "uncontacted" Indians often respond violently to contact — Meirelles caught an arrow in the face from some of the same Indians in 2004 — the greater threat is to the Indians.

"First contact is often completely catastrophic for "uncontacted" tribes. It's not unusual for 50 percent of the tribe to die in months after first contact," said Miriam Ross, a campaigner with the Indian rights group Survival International. "They don't generallyhave immunity to diseases common to outside society. Colds and flu that aren't usually fatal to us can completely wipe them out."

Survival International estimates about 100 tribes worldwide have chosen to avoid contact, but said the only truly uncontacted tribe is the Sentinelese, who live on North Sentinel island off the coast of India and shoot arrows at anyone who comes near.

Last year, the Metyktire tribe, with about 87 members, was discovered in a densely jungled portion of the 12.1-million-acre (4.9-million-hectare) Menkregnoti Indian reservation in the Brazilian Amazon, when two of its members showed up at another tribe's village.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iRk0QGW-Tz0q6PP7y36N3CwOgH_wD9105MUG0

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Subject: Justice for Guatemala
Time: 6:31:47 PM EDT
Author:  vamanadeva
Mood:  Hopeful
Music:  Fernando Carulli Op. 5

Hello Friends,

This is the recent Amnesty International Action just sent out. This hits home. It is high time that persons are receiving the suffrage before a competent court for the most tyrannical of all crimes - Genocide. You are not safe until everyone is safe.

David Nollmeyer

Thanks to brave survivors and activists who have come forward to speak the truth, progress is being made in the fight against impunity. A Guatemalan Court is reportedly now collecting testimony pursuant to a request from a judge in Spain who is investigating genocide charges against former Guatemalan officials.

Despite this groundbreaking development - and perhaps because of it - individuals and organizations who are working for justice in Guatemala continue to be at risk. Call for the protection of all people who are working for justice in Guatemala.

In March 2008, two men fired six shots outside the home of human rights defender Guillermo Chen. He and his family were inside, but no one was wounded. Mr. Chen is director of the New Hope Foundation - Rio Negro, an organization which has organized witnesses and survivors to give testimony in the case against former Guatemalan General Rios Montt and other former high-ranking officials. Rios Montt is wanted on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity; however, he remains a powerful and influential politician in Guatemala.

In the coming weeks, Amnesty International activists across the U.S. are organizing public events in support of survivors and human rights defenders campaigning for justice for genocide in Guatemala. If you are interested in organizing a local event or such as a film screening of Justice Without Borders or a letter-writing action for justice in Guatemala, please contact us.

Thank you for your action to protect the safety of human rights defenders, witnesses, attorneys and all individuals involved in the campaign for justice in Guatemala. We hope to support you in taking action in your communities this spring.

Sending best wishes,

Vienna Colucci
Director, Program for International Justice and Accountability
Amnesty International USA

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Subject: Twelve Suggestions for Dealing with the Tibetan Situation
Time: 7:35:52 PM EDT
Author:  vamanadeva
Mood:  Hopeful
Music:  Sharon Isbin

Below is the work of Tibetan Activists and their recommendations. What is going on there is regrettable. It is premature but if conditions persist there I believe that boycotting the Olympic Games is the appropriate actions.

Religious persecution is one of the areas in which I have a deep interest. The Dalia Lama is attempting to balance his spiritual path of ahimsa or non-violence with actions committed by those seeking independence or autonomy.

I do not see much hope for such without a greater movement as which Gorbachov lead as Glasnost and Perestroika.

David Nollmeyer

Editor's Note: On March 12, a group of Chinese intellectuals including prominent dissidents, lawyers, rights activitise and writers circulated a petition supporting calls for an independent investigation in Tibet by the United Nation, and urging the government to reconsider its policies in Tibet, so as to work toward "national reconciliation, not continue to increase divisions between nationalities." Two of the signatories, the tibetan poetess Woeser and the writer Wang Lixiong, have reported being under close police surveillance at their home since the beginning of the protests on March 10. Woeser maintains a blog, in Chinese.

1. At present the one-sided propaganda of the official Chinese media is having the effect of stirring up inter-ethnic animosity and aggravating an already tense situation. This is extremely detrimental to the long-term goal of safeguarding national unity. We call for such propaganda to be stopped.

2. We support the Dalai Lama’s appeal for peace, and hope that the ethnic conflict can be dealt with according to the principles of goodwill, peace, and non-violence. We condemn any violent act against innocent people, strongly urge the Chinese government to stop the violent suppression, and appeal to the Tibetan people likewise not to engage in violent activities.

3. The Chinese government claims that “there is sufficient evidence to prove this incident was organized, premeditated, and meticulously orchestrated by the Dalai clique." We hope that the government will show proof of this. In order to change the international community’s negative view and distrustful attitude, we also suggest that the government invite the United Nation’s Commission on Human Rights to carry out an independent investigation of the evidence, the course of the incident, the number of casualties, etc.

4. In our opinion, such Cultural-Revolution-like language as “the Dalai Lama is a jackal in Buddhist monk’s robes and an evil spirit with a human face and the heart of a beast ” used by the Chinese Communist Party leadership in the Tibet Autonomous Region is of no help in easing the situation, nor is it beneficial to the Chinese government’s image. As the Chinese government is committed to integrating into the international community, we maintain that it should display a style of governing that conforms to the standards of modern civilization.

5. We note that on the very day when the violence erupted in Lhasa (March 14), the leaders of the Tibet Autonomous Region declared that “there is sufficient evidence to prove this incident was organized, premeditated, and meticulously orchestrated by the Dalai clique.” This shows that the authorities in Tibet knew in advance that the riot would occur, yet did nothing effective to prevent the incident from happening or escalating. If there was a dereliction of duty, a serious investigation must be carried out to determine this and deal with it accordingly.

6. If in the end it cannot be proved that this was an organized, premeditated, and meticulously orchestrated event but was instead a “popular revolt” triggered by events, then the authorities should pursue those responsible for inciting the popular revolt and concocting false information to deceive the Central Government and the people; they should also seriously reflect on what can be learned from this event so as to avoid taking the same course in the future.

7. We strongly demand that the authorities not subject every Tibetan to political investigation or revenge. The trials of those who have been arrested must be carried out according to judicial procedures that are open, just, and transparent so as to ensure that all parties are satisfied.

8. We urge the Chinese government to allow credible national and international media to go intoTibetan areas to conduct independent interviews and news reports. In our view, the current news blockade cannot gain credit with the Chinese people or the international community, and is harmful to the credibility of the Chinese government. If the government grasps the true situation, it need not fear challenges. Only by adopting an open attitude can we turn around the international community’s distrust of our government.

9. We appeal to the Chinese people and overseas Chinese to be calm and tolerant, and to reflect deeply on what is happening. Adopting a posture of aggressive nationalism will only invite antipathy from the international community and harm China’s international image.

10. The disturbances in Tibet in the 1980s were limited to Lhasa, whereas this time they have spread to many Tibetan areas. This deterioration indicates that there are serious mistakes in the work that has been done with regard to Tibet. The relevant government departments must conscientiously reflect upon this matter, examine their failures, and fundamentally change the failed nationality policies.

11. In order to prevent similar incidents from happening in future, the government must abide by the freedom of religious belief and the freedom of speech explicitly enshrined in the Chinese Constitution, thereby allowing the Tibetan people fully to express their grievances and hopes, and permitting citizens of all nationalities freely to criticize and make suggestions regarding the government’s nationality policies.

12. We hold that we must eliminate animosity and bring about national reconciliation, not continue to increase divisions between nationalities. A country that wishes to avoid the partition of its territory must first avoid divisions among its nationalities. Therefore, we appeal to the leaders of our country to hold direct dialogue with the Dalai Lama. We hope that the Chinese and Tibetan people will do away with the misunderstandings between them, develop their interactions with each other, and achieve unity. Government departments as much as popular organizations and religious figures should make great efforts toward this goal.


Signatures:

Wang Lixiong (Beijing, Writer)
Liu Xiaobo (Beijing, Freelance Writer)
Zhang Zuhua (Beijing, scholar of constitutionalism)
Sha Yexin (Shanghai, writer, Chinese Muslim)
Yu Haocheng (Beijing, jurist)
Ding Zilin (Beijing, professor)
Jiang peikun (Beijing, professor)
Yu Jie (Beijing, writer)
Sun Wenguang (Shangdong, professor)
Ran Yunfei (Sichuan, editor, Tujia nationality)
Pu Zhiqiang (Beijing, lawyer)
Teng Biao (Beijing, Layer and scholar)
Liao Yiwu ()Sichuan, writer)
Wang Qisheng (Beijing, scholar)
Zhang Xianling (Beijing, engineer)
Xu Jue (Beijing, research fellow)
Li Jun (Gansu, photographer)
Gao Yu (Beijing, journalist)
Wang Debang (Beijing, freelance writer)
Zhao Dagong (Shenzhen, freelance writer)
Jiang Danwen (Shanghai, writer)
Liu Yi (Gansu, painter)
Xu Hui (Beijing, writer)
Wang Tiancheng (Beijing, scholar)
Wen kejian (Hangzhou, freelance)
Li Hai (Beijing, freelance writer)
Tian Yongde (Inner Mongolia, folk human rights activists)
Zan Aizong (Hangzhou, journalist)
Liu Yiming (Hubei, freelance writer)

The rules of signing one’s name are as follows:
1. Open signature
2. Only accept the signature with one’s own name or commonly used pen name
3. One needs to include one’s name, the province of one’s current residence, occupation
4. The e-mails for one to send one’s signature: xizangwenti@gmail.com; xiamixiami@hotmail.com; degewa@gmail.com.

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/03/22/china18336_txt.htm

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Subject: Religiuos Persecution in Kazakhstan
Time: 6:45:02 PM EST
Author:  vamanadeva
Mood:  Hopeful
Music:  Ravi Shankar - Rag Shree

There continues to be a hard edged suppression in Kazakhstan even as this country attempts to emerge under modern democracy. The powergame still appears dominant with believers of all faiths on the taker end of the stick. Vigilance is needed to keep pressure on authorities. David Nollmeyer KAZAKHSTAN: Revival of state hostility to religious organisations fuels intrusive check-ups?

By Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18 News Service <http://www.forum18.org>

The KNB secret police, the Interior Ministry and the Prosecutor's Office appear to have stepped up their intrusive check-ups on religious communities, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. Fourteen Protestant churches and one Hare Krishna community have faced heavy-handed check-ups in January and February in the country's commercial capital Almaty alone. The Protestant Alpha and Omega Centre faced a two-day check which followed slanderous coverage of the Centre on television. "They checked sanitary-hygiene conditions, fire-prevention measures, and all the documents," the Centre's director Leonid Zavyanov told Forum 18. "What's the worry, it's just a check-up, and we have found nothing serious yet," the Prosecutor's Office told Forum 18. Although Muslims and the Russian Orthodox deny that their communities are being checked up, a Religious Affairs Committee official told Forum 18 that such check-ups have led to mosques being closed down and muftis sacked. Human rights activist Yevgeny Zhovtis sees the check-ups as part of a revival of state hostility to religious organisations.

Several religious minority communities have complained to Forum 18 News Service of intrusive check-ups by a variety of state agencies in recent months. Fourteen Protestant churches and one Hare Krishna community have faced heavy-handed check-ups in January and February in the country's commercial capital Almaty alone. Human rights activist Yevgeny Zhovtis told Forum 18 that he sees this as part of what he detects as a revival of hostility towards religious organisations in the government and state agencies. "The general tendency now is that the authorities want to establish firm control of religious organisations at the local level of Akimats [administrations], Departments of the Prosecutor's Office and local KNB offices," he told Forum 18 from Almaty on 12 February. He and other human rights activists complain that no clear mechanisms exist for bona-fide check-ups of religious organisations and say that sometimes check-ups may be conducted merely at someone's political command. In early February in Turksib district of Almaty city alone, as many as 13 Protestant religious organisations were being simultaneously checked by police, National Security Committee (KNB) secret police and other agencies, a human rights activist from Almaty told Forum 18 on 6 February. In late January the KNB visited Almaty's Hare Krishna community, Viktor Golous, the Chairman of the community, told Forum 18 from the city on 7 February. The two officers, who gave their first names only as Shukhrat and Ulan, asked community members to prepare the documents and lists of people working for the community for their next visit. On 31 January the local policeman, who introduced himself as Oleg Germanovich, arrived asking for the charter and the list of people working for them. He told them he was acting on an order from the Interior Minister. The community leaders asked him to show them written permission. The police officer promised that he would return soon with the written permission but has not yet done so. On 5 and 6 February the Prosecutor's Office of Almaty's Bostandyk District conducted a check-up of the Alpha and Omega Centre for Spiritual Life, a Christian organisation registered officially in 1998. The check-up followed slanderous coverage of the Centre on Astana TV on 2 February. Leonid Zavyanov, the Centre's director, told Forum 18 that he was presented with a decision of the Prosecutor Almat Bayshulakov authorising the check-up which would start on 5 February and go on for one month. He was told that it is a part of routine check-ups every three or four years by the Prosecutor's Office. "They checked sanitary-hygiene conditions, fire-prevention measures, and all the documents," Zavyanov told Forum 18 on 6 February. He said he suspected that the check-up might be one repercussion of the call from President Nursultan Nazarbayev in January 2008 and the Justice Minister Zagipa Baliyeva in December 2007 to severely restrict missionary activity. A State Programme, which strengthens government supervision of religious activity both on a national and local level, was also approved in December (see F18News 5 February 2008 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1081). Forum 18 tried to reach Prosecutor Bayshulakov on 6 February to ask about the check-up of the Alpha and Omega Centre. The man who answered the phone, who would not identify himself, confirmed the check-up, but refused to say why it was taking place. "What's the worry, it's just a check-up, and we have found nothing serious yet," he told Forum 18. He would not confirm or deny whether there existed a regulation for the Prosecutor to conduct routine check-ups of religious organisations.

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Time: 6:31:35 PM EST
Author:  vamanadeva



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Subject: Racism Posing as Vedic Tradition in Puri
Time: 6:06:01 PM EST
Author:  vamanadeva
Mood:  Hopeful
Music:  Brahms

I am not always in total agreement with Shiva Das but here I am glad he has decided to step up to the plate recognise abuses with the Jaganath Temple in Puri. My position is to boycott this temple as the priests do not have the correct adhikari or qualification to run the temple according to shastra.

The priests should be respected from a distance and all bhaktas should uphold the teachings of Mahaprabhu which are discarded here.

Bhakta David Nollmeyer

BY: SHIVA DASA

Dec 29, MAUI, HAWAII (SUN) — With the recent commotion being made by some priests of the Jagannath Temple in Puri, we can all witness some of the symptoms of Kali Yuga.

Srimad Bhagavatam 12.3.25:

tasmin lubdha duracara
nirdayah suska-vairinah
durbhaga bhuri-tarsas ca
sudra-dasottarah prajah

"In the Kali age people tend to be greedy, ill-behaved and merciless, and they fight one another without good reason. Unfortunate and obsessed with material desires, the people of Kali-yuga are almost all sudras and barbarians."

Srimad Bhagavatam 12.3.32:

dasyutkrsta janapada
vedah pasanda-dusitah
rajanas ca praja-bhaksah
sisnodara-para dvijah

"Cities will be dominated by thieves, the Vedas will be contaminated by speculative interpretations of atheists, political leaders will virtually consume the citizens, and the so-called priests and intellectuals will be devotees of their bellies and genitals."

Some of the priests of the Jagannath Temple have been vocal recently in their condemnation of ISKCON holding Ratha Yatras on days not traditionally reserved for Ratha Yatra. They have complained to various government officials and tried to make them force ISKCON to cancel those Ratha Yatras. They have also started a campaign of condemnation of ISKCON over some undergarments being sold which display various Vedic deities on them. It's not that they complain that ISKCON is selling the undergarments, the complaint is that ISKCON isn't trying to stop the merchants who are selling the undergarments.

It's as if ISKCON is supposed to act like some worldwide "Hindu" police force at the beck and whim of some priest somewhere. What makes that so ironic is that this whole campaign of condemnation of ISKCON by the Puri priests is nothing more then retaliation over the Puri temple priests being castigated for kicking out ISKCON devotees from the Puri temple for supposedly not being "Hindu" enough. So according to those priests - ISKCON devotees who are not Indian in ethnicity are not "real Hindus", yet they are supposed to act like a worldwide Hindu police force who fight for the sentiments of those "real Hindus" at their beck and call, even though those "real hindus" treat non-Indian Vaisnavas lower then the dirt they track into the Puri temple.

The Puri priests claim that it is a matter of tradition to only allow born Hindus into the temple. But where did that tradition begin? And why? Is it a tradition born of the sruti and smriti? Or is it a tradition born of some lesser non-Vedic reason? We know that the tradition followed at the Puri temple is not found in authentic sruti and smriti, therefore it is a non-Vedic tradition and can and indeed should be given up due to it's adharmic nature. In fact the tradition they claim to follow is not actually followed by those priests at all. They claim it is a tradition to only allow born Hindus into the temple, but in reality they only allow ethnically Indian Hindus, actually even if you are not Hindu, but just ethnically Indian, you are allowed into the temple. And in fact, if you are born a Hindu but are not ethnically Indian, like hundreds of thousands of ISKCON congregational members around the world, then you are still not allowed in the Puri temple.

So the reality is that the Puri temple policy is racism, nothing more. They claim that the condemnation of their not allowing non-Indians into the temple under the guise of not allowing non-born Hindus into the temple, is "hurting the sentiments of Hindus". In fact, the opposite is true. They are the ones hurting the sentiments of Hindus with their racism pretending to be Vedic tradition. They are the ones hurting Hindu prestige and renown for religious tolerance and universalism by their transparently racist nonsense.

http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/12-07/editorials2335.htm

 

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Subject: 2007 in Perpsective
Time: 11:20:03 PM EST
Author:  vamanadeva
Music:  Prabhupada Lectures

This blog has run full circle for the Human Rights Mission at hand. In this light it shall be temporaily archived until a new focus is developed and implemented.

Homeland Security is definitely a serious consideration to complement human rights. I am much stroneger academically than as a journalist.

In this consideration research and study are neeeded to develop depth. Journalism or Blogging can suffice on one page even one paragraph if such is in the leadership or detail if the aouthor has expertise in the analysis needed.

Please peruse the following for more recent work.

Links

http://future-state.blogspot.com/

http://humanrightsdiscussion.blogspot.com/

http://journals.aol.com/vamanadeva/nollmeyer_human_rights_blog/

http://spaces.msn.com/vamanadeva/

http://kronin.blogspot.com/

Websites

http://powereality.org/

http://nollmeyer.tripod.com

http://powereality.org/journals.htm

http://powereality.org/strawman.htm

http://powereality.org/lapd.htm

http://powereality.org/baltimorestudio.htm

http://powereality.org/delaware.htm

http://powereality.org/scores.htm

http://powereality.org/aboveground.htm

http://powereality.org/kerry-bush.htm

http://nollmeyer.tripod.com/journals.htm

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http://nollmeyer.tripod.com/collegeoftheredwoods.htm

http://nollmeyer.tripod.com/law-rescources.htm

http://powereality.org/capitalpunishment/

http://powereality.org/kerrybushhoax/

http://powereality.org/euthanasia.htm

http://powereality.org/wto.htm

http://powereality.tripod.com

http://powereality.tripod.com/capitalpunishment/

http://powereality.tripod.com/kerrybushhoax/

http://legaltheory.tripod.com/

http://legaltheory.tripod.com/antisocial.htm

http://legaltheory.tripod.com/humeandkant/

http://legaltheory.tripod.com/economics.htm

http://legaltheory.tripod.com/universaljurisdiction/

http://legaltheory.tripod.com/impunity.htm

http://socialtheory1.tripod.com/

http://socialtheory1.tripod.com/dehumanization.htm

http://socialtheory1.tripod.com/impunity.htm

http://socialtheory1.tripod.com/ecologicalsystems

http://socialtheory1.tripod.com/euthanasia/

http://socialtheory1.tripod.com/wto.htm

Written by vamanadeva Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

Subject: Abuse in Kazakhstan
Time: 2:22:21 PM EST
Author:  vamanadeva
Music:  Prabhupaada Bhajanas

U.S. Embassy urges Kazakh authorities to end harassment of Hare Krishna   http://www.thisaddress.net/gallery/albums.php http://www.palaceofthesoul.com/news/index.php The Associated Press Thursday, 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.
Written By: BB Govinda Swami	Date: 07 Dec 2006

 

 

Ways To Help In Kazakhstan
by Sundara nanda-gopala dasa
Posted May 12, 2006

This situation must end. We must all get involved and we must do it now.

Please consider doing any of the following:

(1) Contact your local branch of Amnesty International ( www.amnestyusa.org or www.amnesty.org ) and describe the situation to them. Ask what can be done and speak with their advisors to determine how to take, and inspire, action for restoration of the Kazakhstan devotees' religious and human rights.

(2) See the below list of telephone and fax numbers and make an endeavour to contact the government of Kazakhstan and its associated branches, to voice your protest. The numbers are often difficult to get through to. Keep trying! When you do get through, INSIST on speaking to someone who speaks fluent English (unless, of course, you are fluent in Russian or Kazakhstani).

Presidential Office: +7 (3172) 152634, 152920, 152107 +7 (3172) 324558 Presidential PR department: +7 (3172) 744051

Administration of the President: +7 (3172) 151203, fax +7 (3172) 324480

Prosecutor's office of RK +7 (3172) 712868, 214025, 712500

Senate +7 (3172) 153195, 153239, 327710

Senate PR department: +7 (3172) 153295, 153505 fax +7 (3172) 334639

Committee on Religious Affairs Mr. Yeraly Lukpanovich Tugzhanov +7 (3172) 152497, 152217, 152690 fax +7 (3172) 328356

Prime Minister Mr. Danial Akhmetov +7 (3172) 152035, 152027

Almaty Regional Land Department Mr. Nauryzbai Asanbayevich Taubayev +7 (3272) 270125

Almaty Regional Hakim Mr. Serik Abikenovich Umbetov +7 (3282) 271753

Karasai District Hakim Bolat-bi Satynbayevich Kutpanov +7 (32771) 21142, 21709

Karasai District Court: +7 (32771) 20899

Court executive Ms. R. Baimukhanbetova +7 (32771) 22030

As earlier communiques from Kazakhstan have already explained, the following arguments may be presented:

"(A) Law-obedient citizens are deprived of their homes and thrown to the street. All of them have lawfully acquired the right of ownership for their plots of land, they have paid all the taxes and membership charges.

(B) The Hakim (Governor) of the district accuses the owners that they never had their property privatized. However the members of the community repeatedly applied to the Hakim for his permission to make the acts of ownership for their cottages and plots but he repeatedly refused. Without his sanction for privatization one cannot make needed documentation for the cottages.

(C) The devotees' houses are located on the territory of a Consumers Cooperative. There are 120 members of this Cooperative. However the claims are brought only against the members of the religious society. In each and every claim the connection of the defendants to the Religious Organization Society for Krishna Consciousness has been illustrated. This is a direct and flagrant violation of human rights and freedoms which are guaranteed by the Constitution of Kazakhstan.

(D) Confiscation of property without compensation is possible only in a criminal case. Ours is a civil case. It is not a criminal case.

(E) According to the law, the citizens whose property is confiscated are given at least 5 days to prepare for the execution of the court decision. In our case we have another transgression of the law as we were given less than one day."

(3) Please contact any media connections you may have. Public knowledge of conspiracy and exploitation often serves well to eliminate it.

Please also contact the government of Kazakhstan in writing at:

*Presidential Headquarters*

To the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Mr. Nazarbayev N.A.

Government Palace, Levoberezhye,

Astana, 010000, Republic of Kazakhstan

*Presidential Residence*

To the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Mr. Nazarbayev N.A.

Akorda, Astana, 010000, Republic of Kazakhstan

Or, by e-mail at:

President's e-mail: sitePRK@global.kz

Please contact Sri Vrindavana Dhama/Palace of the Soul directly, at: director@palaceofthesoul.com

Thank you for your immediate attention to this very serious problem."

http://www.chakra.org/

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