Tanya Burden Declaration, - Paulette Cooper
wbarwell
1 DECLARATION OF TONJA BURDEN
2
3 I, TONJA BURDEN, declare:
4
5 1. I have personal knowledge of the facts sworn to
6 herein and if called as a witness to testify thereto could do so
7 of my own personal knowledge.
8
9 2. I became involved with the Church of Scientology of
10 California ("California") and the "Sea Org" in March 1983 at the
11 age of 13 when I was recruited by its agents. The "Sea Org" is an
12 elite para-military organization of "California" with uniforms
and
13 military discipline.
14
15 3. In the summer of 1974, I was placed on board the
16 Appollo, L. Ron Hubbard's ("Hubbard") Flagship which carried
about
17 300-500 people. After about three months of indoctrination, I
18 became Hubbard's personal messenger.
19
20 4. As Hubbard' s personal messenger, I dressed and
21 undressed him, combed his hair, lit his cigarettes, caught the
22 ashes, prepared his shower and toiletries and took care of his
23 personal needs.
24
25 5. I carried messages between Hubbard, Mary Sue
26 Hubbard and the Telex machines and radio operators on the Appollo
27 and later after September, 1975 in Daytona and Clearwater,
28 Florida.
-1-
1 6. I personally delivered messages concerning "Opera-
2 tion Snowhite", "Operation Goldmine" and "Operation Freakout",
and
3 other Scientology covert operations.
4
5 7. I personally delivered messages concerning the
6 above operations to Hubbard, Mary Sue Hubbard and the Guardian's
7 Office and I personally filed messages concerning these and other
8 operations in Hubbard's personal filing cabinet.
9
10 8. Prior to February - April, 1976, when Hubbard left
11 Clearwater, Florida, I carried numerous messages between Hubbard
12 and others concerning Paulette Cooper. These messages concerned
13 operations to attack and destroy Paulette Cooper.
14
15 9. Between February and April, 1976, when "Operation
16 Freakout" was in the planning stages, I coded and decoded
messages
17 concerning this operation.
18
19 10. I escaped from Scientology in November, 1977, but
20 was later kidnapped in Las Vegas, Nevada by two of Hubbard's
21 agents and taken to Los Angeles where I was locked in a room and
22 "security checked" on an E-Meter.
23
24 11. Between September 1974 and December, 1977, I have
25 personal knowledge that L. Ron Hubbard and Marv Sue Hubbard
26 operated and controlled the Church of Scientology of California
27 and all other Scientology operations worldwide.
28 III
-2-
1 12. I have personal knowledge that Hubbard and Mary Sue
2 were personally involved in controlling covert operations against
3 Paulette Cooper for the purpose of destroying her.
4
5 I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the
6 State of California that the foregoing is true and correct.
7
8 Executed this 7th day of November, 1983, at Las Vegas,
9 Nevada.
10
11 TONJA BURDEN
12 Declarant
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-3-
--
It's all coming down! It's all coming down!
IT'S ALL COMING DOWN!
- Texas Chainsaw Massacre II
Cheerful Charlie
Rev. David Rice, Esq.
<wbar...@mylinuxisp.com> wrote:
> DECLARATION OF TONJA BURDEN
Also:
Affidavit of Tonja Burden
((Editor's comments in double parenthesis - Homer))
AFFIDAVIT OF TONJA BURDEN
25 January 1980
Copyright (C) 1980 Tonja Burden
Redistribution rights granted for non commercial purposes.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
My name is Tonja Burden of Las Vegas, Nevada. I am 20 years old.
On or about March 3, 1973, when I was 13 years old, my father and
mother were recruited to join Scientology. I joined Scientology
after being recruited by Billy Kahn, and signed my Sea
Organization contract for one billion years on or about March 3,
1973.
Kahn stated that we would be placed on the staff in Las Vegas,
live in well furnished, private quarters, eat well and earn a
substantial amount of money with two days off per week. My father
sold his Cadillac and sports car, and we drove to Los Angeles with
our recruiter.
Scientology placed me in the Cadet Organization, and my parents in
the American Saint Hill Organization (ASHO). The Cadet
Organization, headed by Dorothy Jefferson, at 811 Beacon Street,
Los Angeles, California, consisted of two three-story buildings
that housed approximately 400 children. The Cadet Organization
was designed to teach children about Scientology. My duties were
to care, clean and feed the children. Myself and another girl my
age were the two oldest children at the Cadet Organization. The
living conditions were squalid. Glass from broken windows lay
strewn over the floors. Live electrical wires were exposed in
areas where young children played. We received little food. On
several occasions spoiled milk with maggots was served to
children. The maggots were removed by hand before the milk was
served. In addition to caring for the children, I cleaned toilets
daily. I wrote to L. Ron Hubbard explaining the conditions, but
nothing improved.
Children were not allowed to live with their parents. Scientology
permitted one visit every other week, and only for 45 minutes
during mealtime. My parents were placed at American Saint Hill
Organization and left Scientology in September 1973, when I was
aboard the ship, the Apollo.
One day a man arrived at the Cadet Organization from Flag. Flag
headquarters was on the Apollo. This man spoke of 'The Source,' L
Ron Hubbard. Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, needed
'messengers' and others to work aboard his ship.
I left the Cadet Organization after approximately three months. I
was then sent to Folo, another Scientology base located at the
Manor on Franklin Street in Los Angeles, California. At Folo I
was placed in the Flag Readiness Unit (FRU). Chuck Pierce ran
this unit. The program was designed to conduct 'security checks'
of individuals to ensure they were appropriate subjects to work
for L. Ron Hubbard aboard the Apollo.
During questioning they attempted to determine if I was connected
to any 'Suppressive Persons.' (A Suppressive Person is one
hostile to the Scientology cult.) I was given a personality test
and an IQ test and other tests. I participated in indoctrination
(brainwashing) for three months. Finally, I was approved and sent
into Briefing.
The Briefing process occurred on or about August 1973. In
briefing, Peter Cook instructed me to give specific answers to
certain questions that may be asked me by non-Scientologists.
Basically, briefing involved how to answer questions that I might
encounter while en route to the Apollo. Many of the things I was
instructed to say were not true. The location and operations
aboard the Apollo remained secret. I was told if a customs agent
or other non-Scientologist asked about my destination, I should
respond I was 'in transit'.
Peter Cook briefed me on my cover story. I was to tell people I
was 'in transit' to the Operation and Transport Corporation (OTC),
a business management school on board ship. In briefing, Cook
demonstrated my 'in transit conduct' by using modeling clay. He
would construct a clay ship and clay people and simulate my
interactions with other people while 'in transit;' using this
method, he ingrained the standard responses.
I flew to New York after briefing and was met by Kevin Campbell.
Campbell worked in a building in New York and assisted in
operating RONY. RONY, I later learned, was a liaison point that
received coded Telex messages from the Apollo and relayed those
coded messages via Telex machines to other organizations ('orgs')
in the United States and other parts of the world. Aboard the
ship I would see Mike Henderson take Telex messages from the ship
and go ashore to send those messages to RONY in New York. On
other occasions, Henderson would go ashore to receive Telex
messages from RONY, New York. I was privy to these practices as
L. Ron Hubbard's personal messenger.
Campbell placed me on a plane and instructed me to meet Chuck
Adams at my destination, Lisbon, Portugal. Adams met me at the
airport in Lisbon and informed me that the Apollo had set sail.
Several hours later, Adams discovered the ship's destination was
the island of Madeira. I was placed on a plane to Madrid, Spain
and at Madrid switched over to a flight that arrived on the island
of Madeira.
Questioned by customs agents, I told them I was 'in transit.' I
located a taxi drive who drove me to the Apollo.
I saw the Apollo for the first time and was greatly disappointed
by its dilapidated condition. Once aboard, I was assigned a
'buddy' and given two days to learn about the ship. The Apollo
was one of five ships operated by Scientology which Hubbard used
to direct the worldwide organizations. There were approximately
300 - 500 'Sea Org' Scientologist aboard the Apollo. I was given
a berth in the women's dorm and placed in the Estates Project
Force (EPF).
The EPF was designed to work on the individual to gauge how much
strain one could tolerate. I was told the EPF would transform me
to an 'able-bodied seaman.'
In EPF, my day began at 6:00 am. I scrubbed clothes from 6:00 am
until 12:00 noon without breakfast or any breaks. The clothes
were scrubbed by hand in a bucket, and I was directed to rinse
each article in 13 separate buckets. Then I hung the clothes on
the deck to dry.
After one-half hour lunch I was assigned to clean six cabins.
Cabins had to meet white glove inspection. This meant a white
glove or Q-tip was used to check corners and shelves of each cabin
for dust. If the cabins were not cleaned to white-glove
perfection, I had to run a lap around the boat before recleaning
the room. A lap was equivalent to about one-fifth of a mile. My
day would end about 12:00 midnight.
On rainy days I ironed the clothes dry. This required ironing
during the evening hours and into the morning hours. On many
occasions I ironed through the night, finishing at 6:00 am. I
then started washing the next morning's clothing. On occasion I
worked three or four days without sleep. I fell asleep at the
ironing board with a hot iron in my hand. My senior, 'Doreen'
Gilliam, 'caught' me sleeping and yanked my head off the board.
She ordered me to run laps and assigned me a condition of 'Doubt.'
A condition of 'Doubt' required 15 hours of 'amends work'. This
additional work had to be performed during my sleep and meal time.
Until I completed my amends work, I was ordered not to communicate
with anyone. I ate lunch alone. Finally, I spoke up, telling
them I had enough. I was sent to the Commanding messenger, and
she assigned me one month in the galley, washing pots and pans. I
washed pots and pans for one month and went back into the EPF.
EPF was like prison. I had to say 'sir' to everyone and was
generally allowed 15 minutes for meals. They would not let me out
of the EPF until I proved myself. I was totally brainwashed to
receive and take orders. I was paid $2.90 per week for this work.
While in EPF I never heard from my parents, no phone calls or
letters. Aboard the ship, I received a Telex from Peter Albert,
who was the Continental Justice Chief, FOLO. The Telex informed
me my father had been declared an SP (Suppressive Person). They
said he was a 'plant,' a spy within Scientology. I began crying
and asked to leave, telling them I could convince my father to
return to Scientology.
Dede Riesdorf, the 'Super Cargo' of our 'org', would not permit me
to leave. I explained I wanted to leave and reunite with my mom
and dad, but she would not permit this. She told me to
'disconnect' from my parents because my parents were SP's.
Disconnection meant no more communication with my parents. They
told me my parents would not make it in the world, but that I
would make it in the world.
Tony Armstrong, the commanding officer, assigned me a 'condition
of Doubt' and ordered me back on the EPF. She said since I wished
to leave I had to return to the EPF. I was automatically assigned
15 'hours of amends' due to the 'condition of Doubt.' I returned
to the 6:00 am - midnight schedule, again, occasionally working
twenty-four hours a day. Approximately one month after, I was
reassigned to 'Training Routines' (TR).
During the Training Routines, myself and two other practiced
carrying messages to LRH. We had to listen to a message, repeat
it in the same tone, and practice salutes.
'Ghosting' was on-the-job training where I learned how to serve
LRH. I followed another messenger around and observed her carry
his hat, light his cigarettes, carry his ashtray, and prepare his
toiletries. Eventually, I performed those duties.
As his servant I would sit outside his room and help him out of
bed when he called 'messenger.' I responded by assisting him out
of bed, lighting his cigarette, running his shower, preparing his
toiletries and helping him dress. After that I ran to his office
to check it, hoping it passed white glove inspection. He
frequently exploded if he found dust or dirt or smelled soap in
his clothes. That is why we used 13 buckets to rinse.
I then would set up LRH's auditing room; he audited himself. Then
I prepared a snack for him. LRH would go into auditing for
several hours. Later, I delivered messages to LRH. I carried
messages between Hubbard and the Telex machines on the Apollo,
which were connected to Scientology Organizations on land. The
messages were also sent via Telex to RONY when someone went
ashore.
While on the Apollo, I observed numerous punishments meted out for
many minor infractions or mistakes made in connection with
Hubbard's very strict and bizarre policies. On a number of
occasions, I saw people placed in the 'chain lockers' of the boat
on direct orders of Hubbard. These lockers were small, smelly
holes, covered by grates where the chain for the anchor was
stored. I saw one boy held in there for 30 nights, crying and
begging to be released. He was only allowed out to clean the
bilges where the sewer and refuse of the ship collected. I
believe his 'crimes' were taking or using a musical instrument, I
believe a flute, of someone else without permission. I also saw a
young boy and a young girl thrown in the chain lockers at separate
times because of romantic involvements they had with other people.
Hubbard fanatically prohibited involvement between the sexes, or
out-2D, as it is called in Scientoloy. Married persons were
allowed to see each other but it was strictly controlled.
LRH told me he was selling the ship and moving to a land base.
The boat was sold sometime during October 1975. Approximately 500
people moved to Daytona Beach. We rented several hotels in
Daytona. After several months we moved to the Fort Harrison in
Clearwater. At first, LRH called it the United Churches. I heard
LRH scheme this cover. He said we would be called United
Churches, although no other real churches were involved. Finally,
Mayor Cazares discovered that United Churches was a cover name for
Scientology.
I discovered this scheme by reading public relations office
papers. These papers were prepared by the public relations office,
and the papers explained the United Church front. A public
relations officer was a person who dealt with the public.
At Fort Harrison, security guards were stationed outside to
prevent people from 'blowing'. To 'blow' meant to leave
Scientology. People were not allowed to just leave Scientology.
Approximately 30 to 40 people tried to escape. These people were
caught and placed in the RPF (Rehabilitation Project Force). The
RPF was a Scientology 'concentration camp', where people who were
'security threats' were kept under guard. The RPF at Fort
Harrison was in a storage area.
Some people were allowed to 'leave' after being 'security
checked', searched, and after having their Scientology-related
books and materials confiscated, even if they had paid for them.
These people also had to sign documents pertaining to their
'crimes' and sign various documents prepared by the Guardian's
Office, the 'GO'. The GO was the secret police arm of
Scientology.
At Fort Harrison I remained LRH's personal messenger. I observed
LRH control the operation of Scientology in the various 'orgs'
worldwide from Fort Harrison. I coded and decoded messages to and
directly from Hubbard. Hubbard used approximately 15 codes at
this time to conceal his operations, programs and policies, which
he disseminated worldwide. I personally delivered messages
concerning Operation Snowhite, Operation Freakout, Operation
Goldmine, and other Scientology secret and illegal operations. I
also filed these operations in Hubbard's personal filing cabinet,
and later in filing cabinets of the GO.
All Telex communications were processed through his messengers.
These Telexes were coded and sent to: Los Angeles, United States
Guardian's Office, Folo, RONY, Africa, Henning Heldt, Arthur
Maren, Jane Kember and other individuals and locations. Telexes
were sent to all Guardian Offices worldwide. One Telex from LRH
questioned Mayor Cazares' educational background. He discovered
this information through a private investigator.
LRH declared people Suppressive Persons if they escaped from
Scientology. He sent Telexes to the Guardian's Office listing the
SP's. I have seen names of people declared SP's by LRH.
In February, 1976 Hubbard left for New York. I performed the same
duties of coding and decoding messages for the Guardian's Office.
I received many messages from Hubbard. When Hubbard was in La
Qunita, California, I continued to code and decode messages from
Hubbard to the Guardian's Office seven days a week until August
1977.
In August 1977 I refused to perform a certain order and was sent
to the galley, where I performed menial labor until I emotionally
broke apart and was sent to the Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF)
on the direct orders of Hubbard.
In the RPF you were labeled 'treasonous' and force to work 18
hours a day, 7 days a week, and oftentimes received only 'rice and
beans' and water. During this time I personally observed a person
chained to pipes in the boiler room in the Fort Harrison building
for a period of weeks. In the RPF I saw people screaming and
crying during the constant 'auditing' on the E-meter. The E-meter
is a lie detector used during auditing. RPF prisoners were forced
to undergo 'auditing' in order to 'audit out' their evil purposes
against Hubbard and Scientology. I cried virtually the whole time
I was in the RPF.
Finally, in November 1977 I decided I had to escape. At
approximately 4:30 a.m. I stole the keys from a guard who was
sleeping at the door to the storage area where we slept. I
crawled through an air duct on my stomach, where I observed the
telephone in the lobby. I saw no one, ran to the telephone, and
called my father and told him of the situation. He told me he
would send my uncle to come and get me and take me to Fort
Lauderdale. I convinced the officers in the RPF that my uncle was
a VIP for the Miami Dolphins (which was not true), and that if
they refused his request to visit, that might cause bad public
relations. Finally, with my uncle's assistance, I escaped and
flew back to Las Vegas.
Approximately two weeks after I returned to Las Vegas, two of
Hubbards's agents came to my house and told me that Hubbard wanted
to see me. I told them I would never return. They then asked if
I would go for a cup of coffee with them. After a short while I
agreed to have coffee. I got in the car, in the front seat, and
sat between the two agents. After driving a few minutes, I
noticed we were driving to the highway, and I asked where we were
going. They told me I was being taken to Los Angeles to see
Hubbard.
In Los Angeles I was locked in a room and forced to undergo a
'security check' on the E-meter. I was very scared and crying,
and told them I had a family reunion to go to during the Holidays.
I told them I had relatives on the police department in Las Vegas,
and that I would come back after the Holidays. I convinced them
to release me, and I returned home by bus. For weeks after I
arrived home, they constantly called me to find out when I would
return. I said Never!
I was in Scientology from the age of 13 to the age of 18. I
received at some times approximately $2.50 a week pay, and at
other times approximately $17.50 a week. I received no education,
and in fact phony classrooms were set up in Florida to demonstrate
to educational officials of Clearwater from knowing we were living
and sleeping on the floor in hallways and storage areas, sometimes
without mattresses.
The Organization currently has approximately $800.00 of my
personal property. When I demanded it be returned to me, they
sent me a bill for the amount of $58,000, which I returned to
them, and they thereafter sent me a 'corrected' bill for
$36,005.70, which I have attached to this statement.
In December 1979, after a class action suit was brought by former
members of Scientology, I received an 'Amnesty Proclamation',
which I have also attached. It is possible that some former
members of Scientology may be deceived by this Amnesty and return
to Scientology. I feel frightened for them because I know what it
is like inside Scientology. I just hope the public learns what
Hubbard is really doing.
The facts, of which I have personal knowledge, set forth in the
foregoing affidavit are true. Facts of which I do not have
personal knowledge, I believe to be true based on my best
information and belief. The dates stated herein cover many years
and represent my best memory, but I am not precisely certain of
their accuracy.
Signed under the pain and penalties of perjury this day of January
25, 1980.
Tonja C. Burden of Las Vegas, Nevada
---
http://lastliberal.org / I support privatization of religion.
Free random & sequential signature changer http://holysmoke.org/sig
"Atheism is a religion like not collecting stamps is a hobby."
wbarwell
> On Wed, 25 Jan 2006 12:45:39 -0600, wbarwell
> <wbar...@mylinuxisp.com> wrote:
>
>> DECLARATION OF TONJA BURDEN
>
> Also:
>
> Affidavit of Tonja Burden
> ((Editor's comments in double parenthesis - Homer))
>
> AFFIDAVIT OF TONJA BURDEN
>
> 25 January 1980
Yes, that one is common as dirt.
The one I posted was new to me.
I had to spend some time cleaning it up
from two rather bad FACTnet scans
and a fuzzy tiff.
.....................
But now they are back together.