German government continues monitoring Scientology
johanne...@yahoo.com
Constitution issued its latest annual report. Entitled
"Verfassungsschutzbericht 2007", it is available www.verfassungsschutz.de,
in German. As in years past, this lengthy document describes
organizations considered to be a threat to Germany's democracy and to
its citizens' constitutional rights, the reasons for monitoring such
organizations, and the results of these efforts. The last section of
the report deals with the "Scientology Organization" (SO).
So far there is no English version of this report, although the
English pages of the web site do explain why Scientology is being
monitored: "The 'Scientology Organization' (SO) is still being
monitored by the offices for the protection of the constitution.
Concrete evidence of activities directed against the free democratic
basic order continues to
be available. This is why the legal requirement for the organization
to
be monitored by the offices for the protection of the constitution is
met. Therefore, the relevant decision made in 1997 by the Permanent
Conference of the State Ministers of the Interior and the State
Senates
remains valid." (www.verfassungsschutz.de/en/en_fields_of_work/
scientology/):
The German embassy in Washington, DC also outlines the government's
position, stating that "there are clear indications that the
Scientology Organization pursues unconstitutional activities directed
at abolishing the human rights guaranteed in the Basic Constitutional
Law (Grundgesetz)" (www.germany.info/relaunch/info/archives/background/
scientology.html).
The most recent English version of the Verfassungsschutz report is
that from 2005 Like later reports, that year's edition also relies on
L. Ron Hubbard's original writings, supplemented by recent statements
in Scientology publications. (http://www.verfassungsschutz.de/en/
en_publications/annual_reports/vsbericht2005_engl/
vsbericht_2005_engl.pdf).
Returning to the German 2007 report, here are the highlights of the
several sections on Scientology [items within square brackets have
been added by this writer]:
Membership in Germany is estimated at 5,000 to 6,000. There are ten
"churches", including two "celebrity Centres", and 14 "missions".
1. Principles and goals: Following a summary of the SO's standard
published information on the subject, the report states that "From a
multitude of information sources it is apparent that the SO wants to
disable or limit basic human rights such as human dignity, the right
to free development of a person and the right to equal treatment. In
addition it [the SO] strives toward a society without general and
equal elections. As before, the SO influences the development of a
political will [position] of its members with an intent hostile toward
the [German] constitution."
The report quotes from Hubbard's book "Dianetics" and its rationale
for the political goals of his ideology, as well as his idea of a
scientological two-class society:
"An ideal society would be a society of non-aberrated people, clears
leading their lives in a non-aberrated culture: ... Perhaps civil
rights before the law will be granted only to the non-aberrated.
Perhaps this goal will be attained sometime in the future when only
the non-aberrated attain citizenship and benefit from it. These are
goals worthy of attainment.." It is also noted that Hubbard's writings
include passages where democracy is belittled, and the abolition is
demanded of the principles of a free democratic constitutional order
for the benefit of a new civilization (a so-called "OT civilization",
i.e. a society consisting of "operating thetans"). The report further
notes that " The SO rejects the democratic judicial system, and
eventually wants to replace it with its supposedly 'superior codex of
laws'".
The report notes the recent establishment in Germany of six "charter
committees" of the World Institute of Scientology Enterprises (WISE),
which function within the Scientological system as courts of law. WISE
members are required to settle legal disputes among themselves by
resorting to these committees rather than to state courts of law. Any
other behavior is considered a "suppressive action".
There is a discussion is the SO's renewed emphasis on the upgrading of
certain "orgs" to "ideal central organizations" which are "the
absolute minimum for clearing the planet" (with a reference to
"Scientology News issue no. 36, 2007). According to the SO, the orgs
in Berlin, London, Madrid and Milan are the four "ideal orgs" in
Europe.
The report states that it is a pervasive characteristic of the SO to
defame all critics and opponents of its ideology as criminal and sick.
It notes the SO's especially aggressive hate campaign against the
"criminal profession" of psychiatrists, and the organization's view of
psychiatry as the "primary source of suppression on this planet" and
as an "industry of death", drawing comparisons with the misuses of
psychiatry under the Nazis.
There is also a brief description of the OSA, the "secret service",
and the fact that the responsibilities of its director include the
collection of intelligence on opponents and critics, and taking action
against them.
The report continues: "One of the ways by which the totalitarian
character of the organization becomes apparent is that the SO strives
to have fullest control over its members. Thus these [members] are
basically obligated to obtain the approval of the responsible SO
official before obtaining medical assistance. The same objective is
also achieved through the 'knowledge reports", to be prepared by
each member, in which transgressions of other members of the group are
to be reported to the Religious Technology Center in the USA.
2. Public Relations: In 2007 the SO revived its library campaign,
aimed at "equipping all 390,000 libraries of the world with the new
edition of the basic [SO] books", and in fact various German libraries
received mailings from New Era Publications International inquiring
about procedures for the placement of SO book donations. As part of a
"campaign to save the planet", the Glendale (USA)-based "The Way to
Happiness Foundation" sent advertising mailings to various German
administrative offices, especially mayors, with offers of Hubbard's
brochure "The Way to Happiness". Sponsored by the International
Organization of Scientologists, a mailing to 60,000 leaders in
governments, administrative offices, enterprises and in commerce in 29
countries this "basic movement" is supposed to encompass all of
society.
By various means, the SO has tried to establish contacts with
politicians and state agencies in order to make them aware of its
positions. Frequently the starting point was the verdict of the
European Court for Human Rights, which in April 2007 ruled on a suit
of the SO against Russia. It ruled that Russia's refusal to register
the SO again as a religious community was legally unwarranted since
that status had already been granted to the SO earlier. Based on that
decision the SO concluded - erroneously - that this represents a
general recognition of its teachings as a religion. As a result, the
mailings to various German police offices indicated that the verdict
of the European Court of course also applies to Germany.
The KVPM (commission for violations of rights by psychiatry) organized
exhibits in Berlin and Dresden under the theme "Psychiatry: Death
Rather Than Help" in order to call attention to failings of
psychiatry. In June 2007 the KVPM demonstrated in Wuerzburg against an
international congress of psychiatrists on the subject of ADHS
(attention deficit / hyperactivity syndrome), and distributed its
brochure "Pills instead of lunch breaks - psychiatry destroys lives".
At the "International day of spiritual health" on October 10, 2007
the KVPM collected signatures for a petition to the federal health
minister in several cities.
Beside agitating against the profession of psychiatry, [the SO] also
focused on human rights and staying away from drugs. The SO
distributed throughout Germany its brochure "What are human rights? -
Only if one knows them one can protect them", as well as booklets from
the series "Facts about drugs". The organization claims that in Berlin
alone, in its operation "Drug-free Earth" 100,000 youths were
contacted. The SO has also been active on the Internet. In addition to
the Berlin area, where the SO strengthened its activities in 2007,
focal points for membership and activity have been Hamburg as well as
Baden-Wuerttemberg and Bavaria. A significant number of members also
reside in Hessen, Niedersachsen and Nordrhein-Westfalen.
3. Lawsuit Opposing Monitoring: On March 31, 2003 the "Scientology
Church Germany" and the "Scientology Church Berlin" filed a lawsuit
against intelligence monitoring by the Federal Office for Protection
of the Constitution. With a verdict of November 11, 2004 the
administrative court of Cologne rejected the lawsuit in its fullest
extent. In January 2005 the SO appealed this decision before the
Superior Administrative Court in Muenster. That court rejected that
appeal with its verdict of February 12, 2008. This verdict has legal
validity.
The SO's basis for the appeal had been primarily the fact that,
according to certain provisions of the constitution, religious
communities may not be monitored. The report then states that "In view
of the numerous statements by Hubbard regarding the supposedly purely
scientific nature of Scientology, its self-characterization as a
religious community appears questionable. It is also remarkable that
the SO attempts to portray itself as a religion particularly in those
(primarily western) countries where it hopes to gain financial
advantages from such a status. The Cologne court noted in its verdict
that, for purposes of monitoring by the Office for the Protection of
the Constitution, it is irrelevant whether the SO needs to qualify as
a religious community, since religiously motivated behavior may also
be classified as politically motivated."
Thus ends the Scientology section of the German report.
Hubbard_Sh...@hushmail.com
Thank you for the update.