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Russian seeking asylum sues archdiocese’s Kamalen Karidat, seeks $500K in damage
Guam Fire Department personnel served food for people in need at the Kamalen Karidat soup kitchen in Hagatna on Monday May 28, 2018. It was the first time Kamalen Karidat served a feast on World Hunger Day, said Doris C. Royal, program director of the Achdiocese of Agana’s Ministry to the Homeless. Since 2011, World Hunger Day is an initiative by The Hunger Project. Started in 2011, it aims to celebrate sustainable solutions to hunger and poverty.
FRANK SAN NICOLAS/PDN
HAIDEE EUGENIO GILBERT | PACIFIC DAILY NEWS | 7:41 am ChST October 22, 2019
A man from Russia seeking asylum in the United States sued the entity running a soup kitchen for the poor and homeless, accusing it of violating his human rights and discriminating against him.
Russian national Fedor Simanov on Monday filed a $500,000 lawsuit in federal court against Kamalen Karidat, which runs a soup kitchen called Kusinan Kamalen under the Archdiocese of Agana.
He filed a lawsuit for discrimination against national origin, age discrimination, discrimination on the basis of disability, and violation of the international law on human rights.
He said discrimination and inhumane treatment should not be an obstacle to the right to seek asylum.
Doris C. Royal, program director of Kamalen Karidat, said she couldn’t comment on the lawsuit.
Simanov said in his lawsuit that Kamalen Karidat refused to provide him service including food and not allowing him to take a proper shower at the facility. He said he’s also discriminated against because of his features and his disability, among other things.
Related: Homeland security terminates parole program, Russian visitors to Guam must obtain visas
Among the incidents, he said, was when Kamalen Karidat program director Doris Royal told him that the institution is now closed to him because he used the shower after he had twice been refused. Simanov said the official began to scream and did not want to listen.
He said Royal refused to give any people food until he was expelled from the premises, leaving him at the mercy of the homeless people waiting for food.
"It seemed to me that this crowd wanted to tear me to pieces. They shouted that I had no right to anything, that I was a spy, an enemy of the people and should leave Guam. They began to throw me out into the street, pushing my stroller. When the police arrived, these people made me leave the room by force," Simanov said in his lawsuit.
Arrived on Guam on Sept. 4
Simanov said he uses a wheelchair because of a rare disease. He said he arrived on Guam on Sept. 4 to flee "torture and harassment by state services from Moscow, Russia."
He said all help services and charitable organizations refused him, and he was "abandoned to die on the street." He said he was forced to seek help from police, and they brought him to Kamalen Karidat on Sept. 20.
Simanov said the following day, an employee of Kamalen Karidat identified as "Gilbert," drew attention to his identity, "considering me a Jew."
He said he wanted to take a shower at the facility, under a program that’s posted on the archdiocese’s website. He said he was refused the service.
On Oct. 13, he said he went to Kamalen Karidat’s dining room. He said he was forced to take a shower for two minutes.
In his lawsuit, he said depriving him of his natural rights to maintain dignity when receiving help from a charitable organization is illegal. He said he was expelled from a charity illegally and arbitrarily.
Reporter Haidee Eugenio Gilbert covers Guam’s Catholic church issues, government, business and more. Follow her on Twitter @haidee_eugenio.
Originally Published 7:41 am ChST October 22, 2019
Updated 7:41 am ChST October 22, 2019
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