I.                    VIOLATIONS OF ARTICLE 3 OF THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS – PROHIBITION OF TORTURE

“No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

The Romanian authorities organized an abusive house search in 16 private houses on the 18th of April 2004. During the house searches, which were very violent, the police troops and gendarmes found most of the people sleeping. This is one fact that underlines that the force used against the peaceful inhabitants was completely disproportionate. When they were awoken by the broken doors and windows, many of the yogis were hit very hard in the head with the ends of machine guns and with the boots in the chest, even if no one opposed the entrance of the official troops.

Also, during the legal spontaneous protest organized by the yogis against the kidnapping and forceful taking of the minor Madalina Dumitru to medical testing, many of the protesters were cruelly hit with weapons, rubber sticks, and the legs and fists of the police troops. This happened while the yogis were holding their hands high above their heads, or were kneeling to prove that they are not violent. One of the participants was beaten so badly that he went into a coma, and needed immediate hospitalization.

 

II.                   VIOLATIONS OF ARTICLE 5 OF THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS – RIGHT TO LIBERTY AND SECURITY

“Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be deprived of his liberty...”

During the home searches operated by the Romanian authorities people were forced to stay either face down on the floor, or to stand with their arms up, while they were intimidated. Some of them were hit by the troops, and many of their personal belongings were stolen by the police and gendarmes troops (because many of them were not put in the official papers of the searches). This treatment lasted for a long time, during which the yogis had machine guns pointed at their heads with the threat that if they moved they would be shot to death.

During this time, they were not allowed to talk to anyone, to call a lawyer, parents, or go to the toilet.

 

III.                  VIOLATIONS OF ARTICLE 6 OF THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS – RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL

 

Even if they were taken in the morning from their beds, intimidated, beaten, and threatened, they were taken immediately after that directly to the prosecutor's office, from where they were released only late in the night, after being put to sign declarations. Only a few days later they found out that some of them were victims, and others were criminals, or witnesses even though none of them had made any complaint against another person.

 

IV.                 VIOLATIONS OF ARTICLE 8 OF THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS - RIGHT TO RESPECT FOR PRIVATE AND FAMILY LIFE

 

“1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.

2. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law...”

The Romanian authorities did not show much interest for this fundamental right of human beings, as all the films and pictures which were supposed to be only part of the criminal file were directly given to the press, and sometimes the TV stations was called to transmit directly the Police actions and in this way to comment and create a very bad image for the yogis. No consent was asked from them whether they agreed or not to be shown publicly.

During the searches on the 18th of March 2004, some of the victims were found in the houses in private conditions, in their beds, and they were filmed without being allowed to get dressed properly. The images were offered directly to the press, together with other personal aspects encountered in such moments.

 

V.                  VIOLATIONS OF ARTICLE 9 OF THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS – FREEEDOM OF THOUGHT, CONSCIENCE AND RELIGION

 

“Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance.”

Even if this right is officially respected by the judicial system and other authorities in Romania, in practice there are serious problems, especially in the case of MISA yoga school as its existence is continuously contested and attacked. Huge lies are told about the school in the officious mass-media, and thus people are put against this school and against the yoga system itself. Because of the vast campaigns of the authorities in today’s Romania, yoga practice equals strange habits, lack of communication with the society and disoriented people. Even if these ideas are false they have been impregnated in the collective mind of people and they are still encouraged by the authorities.

 

VI.                 VIOLATIONS OF ARTICLE 11 OF THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS – FREEEDOM OF ASSEMBLY AND ASSOCIATION

 

“Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.”

The violation of this right in connection with MISA yoga school has been very serious, and at the same time obvious, when representatives of the government or from the Romanian Parliament (like the deputy Raj Tunaru) made public appeals against the yoga school, thus threatening directly the very existence of the MISA association because of their call for hatred, intolerance, etc.

More than that, it was proven lately, with warrants no. 2061/13th November 2002, and 923/9th May 2003 (which were put in the case file on the 16th of February 2012- the last day of the trial in the case 405/85.2005, as a desperate measure) that the Romanian Information Service – the successor of the feared Securitate - had been constantly performing the mission of its communist version and continuously worked for destroying the MISA association by attacking it with all means, compromising its leaders and everyone connected to it. Through the warrants it was officially discovered that MISA was considered and targeted by the RIS as an extremist organization. The fact that people who practice yoga live a peaceful and healthy life, they are perfectly integrated in the society and never have conflicts with the authorities, doesn't seem to have any meaning for the representatives of the service.

 

VII. VIOLATIONS OF ARTICLE 11 OF THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS – PROHIBITION DISCRIMINATION

 

“The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status.”

As a result of the programmed and continuous campaigns of the authorities against the yoga school, one can clearly see that MISA is practically denied its right to existence, and people attending the yoga classes are discriminated wherever they go based on this practice. There were many cases when people who attended the MISA courses were fired from their jobs because of yoga practice, or they were blackmailed with it to stop attending the courses. Several times in the courts, in case no. 405/85/2005, their rights were not respected, just as shown in the previous documents of this file.

 

VIII. VIOLATIONS OF ARTICLE 16 OF THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS – PROHIBITION OF ABUSE OF RIGHTS

 

“Nothing in this Convention may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein or at their limitation to a greater extent than is provided for in the Convention.”

 

The whole case built against Gregorian Bivolaru and his followers was practically an expression of the abuse of the communist mentality of the Romanian authorities. To review briefly, one can see the fake documents and reasons used against these people from the beginning, the physical abuses that occurred from the moment of the intervention (on the 18th of March 2012), the robbery that took place in the same day when huge amounts of personal belongings were taken from the houses where yogis lived, without even being mentioned in the official papers. From the things taken and mentioned in the official documents, most of them had no connection with the accusations, and have never been returned. Among them there were: ID papers, personal money, jewelry, video players, video cameras, photo cameras, vacuum cleaners, TV sets, real estate papers, contracts, intimate underwear, yoga courses, personal letters or diaries, school teaching materials, etc. Yogis are still being discriminated wherever they go in Romania, and they continue to have problems at their jobs, etc.