fwd: McNair propaganda
Tilman Hausherr
REPORT OF THE AD HOC COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE DISCRIMINATION AGAINST
RELIGIOUS AND ETHNIC MINORITIES IN GERMANY
OCTOBER 1996
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CONTENTS
PAGE
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2
MAIN REPORT 5
INTRODUCTION 5
RECOMMENDATIONS 8
Government Authorities 8
Media 8
Established Churches 8
SELECTED INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS
INTERVIEWED 10
Charismatic Christians 10
VPM 10
National Council of Jews 11
Unifiication Church 12
Church of Scientology 13
Sri Chinmoy 15
Professors Loew and Krumholtz 16
Orden Flat Lux 18
Racial Groups 17
Meetings with Officials 19
CULTURAL DISCRIMINATION 20
SOURCES OF DISCRIMINATION 22
A) Govermnent Officials and Political Parties 22
B) Document Centre on Members of Minority Religions in
Schleswig-Holstein 23
C) Education and Advanced Training for Prosecutors
and Judges on M'mon'ty Religions 24
D) Media 25
E) Political Opposition 26
F) Lutheran and Catholic Churches 27
THE MECHANISM 29
Examples 31
CONCLUSIONS 33
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========================================================================
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Between the 25th September and the 1st October 1996 an ad hoc
committee consisting of Lord MeNair, Lord Hylton (both members of the
House of Lords), Antony Flew (Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at
Reading University), Dr. Dennis O'Keefe (senior lecturer in the
Sociology of Education at the University of North London) and David
Rosser-Owen (writer and lecturer on religious affairs) travelled
across Germany in order to gather evidence pertaining to
discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities.
Representatives of 17 groups numbering from one to five individuals
were interviewed about their experiences of discrimination and/or
intolerance, the source of these and the mechanisms by which they
were carried out. Afler the introduction we have made certain
recommendations as to how the situation may be prevented from
deteriorating further.
We have to say from the outset that we were completely unprepared for
the sheer scale of prejudice, discrimination and even persecution
which our witnesses recounted. Our initial reactions were
astonishment and perplexity. What has astonished us is that, in a
rich, democratic country certain rather unpleasant things seem to
have been happening to members of what are officially categorized
as insects".
We had in mind while compiling our report the standards for behaviour
towards minority groups set forth in the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights and the United Nations Declaration on
Eliminating All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on
religion or Belief as well as human rights standards covered broadly
in the Universal Declaration of Hziman Rights and the European
Convention on Human Rights.
We found incontrovertibly that, in respect of the minority groups
whose representatives we interviewed, the relevant parts of these
instruments concerning minorities and religious freedom are in
Germany at the present time, subject to severe lapses in application
even though the government has a direct responsibility to enforce the
human rights standards established by international instruments and
to intervene where necessary in order to do so.
Our concern that the Gerrnan government was not fulfilling this
responsibility increased as representatives of the Ministry of
Interior and the Ministry of Justice maintained a position that
there was no discrimination in Germany and even if it did exist the
court system was available to those who felt they were being
discriminated against. Their unwillingness to face up to the problem
emphasised this lfofficial position" which contrasted sharply with
the evidence we were given by all our witnesses.
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It puzzled us that the officials we spoke to seemed to think media
hysteria about minority religions and philosophies and the attitudes
which that has engendered in the population to be perfectly normal.
Under the Constitution it is not the business of the State to take
issue with the beliefs of individual religious or philosophical
"Weltanschauung" - minorities. The German Constitution guarantees
members of these minorities certain rights in respect of freedom of
expression and belief and the government should be acting decisively
against interference with these rights.
Within the political, administrative and church structures there are
"sekte commissioners" (in German, sektenbeauftragter). Although the
German Constitution clearly obliges the government to refrain from
giving an opinion or judgement about religious matters these official
"sekte commissioners" are govermnent officials, paid from State
finances. The work of their church counterparts, whilst not paid by
the State, mirrors that of the govermnent officials. They create
written material and make public statements which claim, amongst
other things, to show the public and other officials how to
"recognize" members of sects.
"Characteristics" of sect members are said by government officials to
include such peculiarities as "having no ffiends", "being
humourless", and "having frequent short holidays". In the case of
one group, literature published by the government claims that members
of the group can be identified by sudden changes in body weight and
distinctive beard growth.
The German State is spending millions of deutschmarks per year on
anti-sekte personnel, propaganda and related actions, some estimates
go as high as 100 million per annum. The groups complained that
government officials were not interested in any kind of dialogue and
that official reports made (or attempted, as some have been and still
are being challenged in court) on minority groups were entirely one-
sided and did not make any attempt at impartiality.
Another example of discrimination is in the State of Scffleswig-
Holstein where a document collection centre law gives the right to
collect and disseminate sensitive personal information and expose the
identities of individuals associated with minority religions and
philosophies to all strata of society in order to ensure that he
government policy to blacklist and ostracise members of minority
religions is effectively implemented. This tactic violates core data
protection principles by creating a substructure of second class
citizens classified by their philosophy or religious beliefs.
There is, in truth, no difference in principle between extreme right
wing groups inciting racial hatred and extremist anti-sekte groups
inciting, religious hatred. Therefore it is wholly appropriate and
indeed vitally necessary for state prosecutors to investigate and to
prosecute vigorously violations of paragraph 130 of the German Penal
Code, which makes it illegal to attack the basic dignity of members
of groups of the population or to incite hatred or arbitrary
government actions against persons or groups and paragraph 166 which
makes it illegal to insult a religious denomination.
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We suggest that the German state governments include in the school
curriculum special courses to help young people develop an
understanding of, and sensitivity towards, members of all categories
of minority group. This proposal contrasts with the present
situation in which teachers are instructed to give out derogatory
information which can only incite the young people to bigotry.
One of our recommendations is to urge the government to establish a
forum where constructive dialogue takes place between govermnent and
minority religions and philosophies. Where there are anxieties about
the purpose and intentions of @roups, these should be discussed in an
atmosphere which is conducive to honest and open discussion, respect
for the law and existing social values - always bearing in mind basic
human rights principles incorporating freedom of religion, thought
and belief
The criminal law is sufficient to prosecute and punish wrong-doers.
It should be used to prosecute where there is evidence of an
infringement of existing criminal law. Vague and insubstantial,
generalized allegations against minority groups in absence of any
evidence of law-breaking should cease forthwith.
The purpose of our report is to provide constructive criticism and
achievable recommendations in order that the German government can
ensure improvements occur. European nations are movinc, closer and
closer to each other and it is important that matters such as we have
brought to light are fully resolved so that Europe can leave the past
behind & enter the 21 st century on a strong democratic foundation.
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REPORT OF THE AD HOC COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE DISRIMINATION AGAINST
RELIGIOUS AND ETHNIC MINORITIES
IN GERMANY
OCTOBER 1996
INTRODUCTION
Between the 25th September and the I st October 1996 an ad hoc
committee consisting of Lord McNair, Lord Hylton (both members of
the British House of Lords), Antony Flew (Professor Emeritus of
Philosophy at Reading University), Dr. Dennis O'Keefe (senior
lecturer in the Sociology of Education at the University of North
London) and David Rosser-Owen (writer and lecturer on reliclous
affairs) travelled across Germany in order to gather evidence
pertaining to discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities.
The members of the committee were initially alerted to the
possibility that such discrirrn'nation was occurring and on such a
disturbing, scale by statements made in various documents, inter
alia, the 1994 and 1995 reports to the UN from the United Nations
Special Rapporteur on the Application of the Declaration on
Eliminating all Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on
Religion or Belief (1,2) the Handbook on Religious Liberty Around the
World published by the Rutherford Institute in Charlottesvllle,
Virglru,a, USA, (3) and a 1995 publication by Human Rights
Watch/Helsinki entitled "Gerrnanyfor Germans", Xenophobia and Racist
Violence in Germany. (4)
Representatives of 17 groups numbering from one to five individuals
were interviewed a bout their experiences of discrimination and/or
intolerance, the source of these and the mechanisms by which they
were carried out. All were solely religious minorities except for
VPM, the Centre for Turkish Studies and the Kurdish Information
Centre. The delegation heard numerous accounts of individual
discrimination and received written accounts of others which totalled
over one hundred instances - more than enough to establish that a
worrying pattern exists.
We also met officials from the Federal Office for the Protection of
the Constitution at the Mnistry of the Interior and the Ministry of
Justice.
The committee was satisfied with the credibility of the personal
testimonies and in many cases received documentation which supported
the statements made. Extensive additional
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documentation was received from people and groups interviewed. Their
credibility was in any case underscored by their consistency and
number of sinu'lar testimonies.
We had in rrn'nd while compiling our report the standards for
behaviour towards minority groups set forth in the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the United Nations
Declaration on Eliminating All Forms of Intolerance and
Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief as well as human rights
standards covered broadly in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights. We found
incontrovertibly that, in respect of the minority groups whose
representatives we interviewed, the relevant parts of these
instruments concerning rmnorities and religious freedom are in
Germany at the present time, subject to severe lapses in application.
All states which have rati 'fied the above international instruments,
which includes Germany, need not only to respect these standards.
They also have a direct responsibility to enforce the human ri-hts
standards laid down in them, intervening where necessary in order
to do so.
The remit which we took upon ourselves was to investigate
discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities. Our purpose
in publishing this report is to help the German government avoid
problems which the present political drift may cause in the future.
Most of those we interviewed represented religious minorities. It was
the Turks and the Kurds who presented problems to us specifically
relating to ethnicity although they also constitute religious
minorities and a section is devoted to these groups.
Chapters I,II,M,MI of "Germany for Germans" by the Helsinki
Watch/Human Rights Committee, particularly Chapters M, Building a
Tolerant Multi-Cultural Society, and MI, The Legal Standard have been
helpful. Chapter M indicates to us the depths of the German
government's departure from this standard. The easy predisposition on
the part of ordinary Germans to adopt and give expression to an
intensely discriminatory viewpoint means that racism and religious
intolerance are present as cultural phenomena.
They are also entrenched in the legal basis of citizenship. In
Chapter MI of the same publication, the point is made that
enfranchising the "foreigners" (many of whom in Britain would be
citizens as of right) would at least mean politicians had to listen
to their voters' political voice. We agree with the authors that
this is a prerequisite for improvement in respect of the safety and
social and political rights of ethnic and religious minorities. The
most chilling phenomenon we encountered was the assumption by
officials that current attitudes by them and by ordinary Germans
towards minorities in Germany are in some way normal.
Nor is it legitimate for the State to take issue with the doctrine of
individual religious or world view - "Weltanschauung" of minorities.
The German Constitution guarantees them certain rights in respect of
freedom of expression and the government must act decisively against
interference with these rights.
We have to say from the outset that we were completely unprepared for
the sheer scale of prejudice, discrimination and even persecution
which our witnesses recounted. Our initial reactions were
astonishment and perplexity. What has astonished us is that, in a
rich, democratic country - a country which has adopted the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Universal
Declaration on Human Rights and the European Convention
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on Human Rights and whose Constitution has strong human rights
provisions - certain things' seem to have been happening to members
of what are officially categorized as "sekten".
During our meeting with Dr Schoen, the Director of the Federal Office
for the Protection of the Constitution, he told us that the precise
German term used translates as "so-called sekte". This semantic
nicety, which Dr Schoen was at pains to emphasise, puzzled us because
it is clearly the authorities who are doing the "calling" so
presumably they feel free to call the groups by whatever name they
choose.
What has perplexed us is what are offered as reasons for treating
members of these seklen as pariahs. Whilst we are making points
about the meanings and implications of words we may perhaps usefully
add that Dr Schoen told us that in German "sekte" used to be a
neutral term but has in the last quarter of a century, or
thereabouts, become unfavourably suggestive. (It has always been
offensive to label any set of Christians a sect; the neutral term is
'denomination'.).
However we had already received some very disturbing documents
relating to the banning of sects by FEtler. These cast doubt on the
newness of the word "sekte" as a pejorative term and are available
from the Committee. In fact it should be remembered that the Jews
were also targeted as a "sekte " at that time. There is clearly a
greater variety of religious minorities in Germany sixty years on and
some of them may be viewed as perhaps more exotic than those existing
then, but it was more than a little eerie, having read these
documents, to be sittinc, h the senior German official discussing
the 'problem of sekten'.
For reference, we quote from The Small Religious Communities, (author
unknown) which was quoted as corru'ng from the Magazinefor Evangelic
(Lutheran) Church Law 1953154, Vol 3. The Chapter is entitled Small
Religious Communities in the State Church Law of the National
Socialist Regime. (5) Pages 2'j 5-23 6 names the religions banned by
the nazis. They number twenty four and include, with dates of the
banning orders, the Baptists (24/6/'j 5), the Seventh Day Adventists
(24/04/36), the Bahal Faith (21/05/37), Christian Science, 14/07/41,
Anthrosophical Society(20/0'J/37),Theosophical Society(20/03/')7).
About the first named, the Geheime Stadtspolizei (Secret Police)
wrote "The Community of the Baptists with its doctrine is apt to have
damaging, confusing and misleading effects on the population". (For
the modem counterpart of this policy see paragraph 8 of Section A of
Sources of Discrimination).
It must be said that on the whole, and thus far, a strong legal
system exists, based on the principles of the Constitution. There
were some reports (detailed later) of attempts by the government to
influence the independence of the 'udiciary on the subject of
minority religions but the delegation saw that the integrity of the
judiciary was largely maintained.
However from the officials we met we had the inescapable feeling that
we were being told either "I-Etler got it wrong in the way he dealt
with sects, but we have not. We are setting about it in a strictly
legal way", or "I-Etler was n'-ht about sects but he did not finish
the job". Either way the implications of the mind set are chilling.
We have the uneasy feeling that 'socalled sekten' are seen as an
untidiness on the German social and religious landscape.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
***************************
***************************
GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES
***************************************
1. There is, in truth, no difference in principle between
extremist right wing groups inciting racial hatred and extremist
anti-sekte groups inciting religious hatred. Therefore it is wholly
appropriate and indeed vitally necessary for state prosecutors to
investigate and to prosecute vigorously violations of paragraph 130 of
the German Penal Code, which makes it illegal to attack the basic
dignity of members of groups of the population or to incite hatred or
arbitrary government actions against persons or groups and paragraph
166 which makes it illegal to insult a religious denomination.
2. We urge the government to establish a forum where constructive
dialogue takes place between government and minority religions and
philosophies. Where there are anxieties about the purpose and
intentions of groups, these should be discussed in an atmosphere which
is conducive to honest and open discussion, respect for the law and
existing social values always bearing in nu'nd basic human rights
principles covering the freedom of religion, thought and belief
3. The criminal law is sufficient to prosecute and punish
wrong-doers. It should be used to prosecute where there is evidence
of an infringement of existing criminal law. Vague and insubstantial,
generalized allegations against minority groups where there is no
evidence of law-breaking should cease forthwith.
4. The government should build on existing training programmes
for public prosecutors and judges which are designed to develop
sensitivity to racial differences in order to ensure that the
constitutional protection applies to religious minorities as well.
5. We sug-est that the German State governments include in the
school curriculum special courses to help young people develop an
understanding of, and sensitivity towards, members of all categories
of minority groups.
6. Political parties should refrain from attempting to gain
political advantage from the socalled sekte issue and thus
sensationalising it further.
MEDIA
********
7. The German media monitoring bodies should review the balance
in reporting of this area. They should treat with urgency any
complaints received providing a real forum to address unequal and
unfair treatment. They should also develop awareness within their own
membership of religious freedom issues.
ESTABLISHED CHURCHES
**********************************
8. The hierarchy of both established Christian denominations must
urge and educate the priests and pastors under their responsibility to
respect the religious beliefs of others. In the case of
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the Catholic Church, for example, the Vatican II declarations,
already contain clear pronouncements concerning respect for other
religions. The European and World Council of Churches have also made
various statements about respecting the beliefs of others.
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SELECTED INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS INTERVIEWED
**********************************************************************
The following are summaries of the evidence from a selection of those
whom we interviewed.
Charismatic Christians
**************************
The delegation took evidence from Pastor Terry Jones, and co-Pastor
Charles Robinson of the Christian Church of Cologne. This is an
active Charismatic Christian church which has been ministering to the
people of Cologne for many years and has an attendance of about 1,200
people during the course of a weekend. They reported an intense
media campaign to discredit them coupled with an attempt to remove
their tax-free status. Charisma Magazine's November 1995 issue (6)
quotes Pastor Jones as saying "The Government here is very
unacco=odating; it is very anti-God. The only recognised churches
are the Lutheran and Catholic Churches. Everything, outside of that
is considered a cult" and also "Things are a little bit more
sophisticated now [than at the end of World war II]. But you feel the
same oppression, the same control. The German attitude is 'Unless
you are like we are, we will rub you out"'.
We were told that their religious doctrine was no different to that
of "several well-loved churches in England such as Holy Trinity,
Brompton, Kensington Temple, The Vineyard Churches" yet they have
been targeted as an extrenfist "sekte, " received bomb threats, the
Pastors have been threatened that they will be shot and Pastor Terry
Jones has actually been attacked with a knife. Since the media
campaign against them and their Church started they have been unable
to create any kind of balance in media reporting and now refuse to
even speak with representatives of the media because they have no hope
of being accurately reported. We doubt that the violence and threats
of violence would have occurred in the absence of such negative media
coverage.
The most disturbing situation Pastor Jones described is the attempt
by the Cologne authorities to remove their tax-free le charitable
status. The Church has received a de-registration order which stated
that "they did not contribute to the cultural, reli-ious, social or
spiritual value of German society". This appears to the Committee to
be a rather arrogant position to adopt in respect of another's
religion. It is certainly beyond the linu'ts of state neutrality.
Pastor Jones and his colleagues are now engaged in a court battle to
reverse this decision.
There were other reports of similar cases of discrimination from other
similar Christian churches.
VPM - Verein zur Foerderung der Psychologischen Menschenkenntnis
(The Association for the Advancement of Psychological Understanding
of Human Nature)
VPM is a group consisting mainly of professional such as teachers,
lawyers, parents, theologians, doctors, psychologists and people from
various other callings who are interested in the concerns of
psychology and education. They told us that "the work of VPM stands
in the tradition of Alfred Adler's Individual Psychology, cultural
anthropology and developmental psychology. New findings of results
and research are incorporated into VPM's work. (7) The main focus is
on psychological teaching and socio-ethical matters of general
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interest. Special consideration is given to the findings of research
into ethics and the formatiorf and preservation of values. The
association and its members are orientated towards Christian values
and are committed to the democratic system based on the rule of law."
They oppose drug use and experimentation and want to improve
educational standards within the education system. They are also
strongly in favour of the traditional family. There was nothing
exceptionable or dangerous about this group's ideas or work that could
be reproached. They are a secular pressure group, comparable to the
British Campaignfor Real Education with which they have close links.
VPM and CRE are both members of the European Association Mut zur Ethik
(Courage to Take a Moral Stance) which comprises 27 member
organizations and was initiated by VPM. It would be legitimate to
have a different view on educational policy matters but it is not
legitimate to stifle democratic debate in the oppressive manner as
outlined below.
VPM has become enmeshed in the network of "sekle priests" and "sekte
cor='ssioners" (see section on Sources of Discrimination below)
because their stand a ainst drugs runs counter to the views of some
powerful proponents of drug legalization. They have been viciously
attacked in the media as a "sekte".
We were told that the names of those attending VPM conferences have
been collected and circulated to the state education authorities of
Zurich and then filtered into Germany. Known members have been
refused civil servant status (which is almost unheard of) because of
their association with this group. Cases were cited where existing
teachers whose membership becomes known are told that they will never
be promoted to head teacher grade, and will never be appointed as drug
counsellors. VPM's experience illustrates the way in which the media
and the political forces collaborate to maxinuse pressure on these
rm'nority groups.
In summary, its opponents have stigmatised VPM with the convenient
propaganda label of "sekte ". The authorities, the public and the
media have unhesitatingly accepted this designation, thus underlining
the completely biased and blind acceptance of this label in present
day Germany. It is the gove=ent's responsibility to exert moral
leadership and uphold democracy and this is 'ust not happening.
National Council of Jews.
******************************
The Committee met the Chairman of the National Council for Jews, Herr
Ignatz Bubis, at the Bundestag (the German Parliament). It is clear
that Herr Bubis has established an excellent workinc, relationship
with individual members of the Bundestag and was warmly greeted by
every Member of Parliament he met. It was also evident that the
government has paid considerable attention to his personal security as
there were evidently concerns about this. The Jews, he told us, are
well organised and all recognise the National Jewish Council as
speaking on their behalf From the end of World War Two until
reunification the Jewish population was about 30,000. After
reunification this increased to 60,000 as a result of immigration from
the former Soviet Union countries.
He also clarified a difference in the meaninc, of two German words.
He said one must listen carefully to the language they use. There are
graduations of dislike. The word "auslander
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means literally "foreigner". This is applied to the British, Swiss
and French for example. Non-whites, Roma and Sinti and presumably
members of religious minorities are "Fremde " or "strangers".
Presumably this means that the non-white minorities in Britain would
count as Fremde even though they are mainly British citizens and now
mostly by right of birth in the UK. He said that the problem with
Germans is that they hate "Fremden ".
However he said that in his estimation only about one half a percent
of Germans are out and out Nazis. A further 40% are xenophobic and
the balance are tolerant although he did qualify this last adjective
by saying that perhaps the word should be "indifFerent". His focus is
very much on the events earlier in the century which we, of course,
were not in Germany to investigate. He did say that the course of
history could have been different if the situation had been handled
before 1935. A-fter that it was too late to do anything to change the
unfolding course of events.
In the months following reunification there were reports in the
British press that skinheads were responsible for terrorising
foreigners, gastarbeiters (guest-workers), asylum seekers and the
disabled. We asked Herr Bubis about this phenomenon. He told us that
the number of skinheads was very low. Government approved statistics
show that the number of skinheads who are trouble makers is about
6,500. 90% of them are under thirty years old and 80% are under the
age of twenty one. He said that it is not they who are the danger, it
is the "skinheads in nice suits" (a quote from the author Gunter
Grass) - the ideological anti-Zionists and that the level of
intellectual support for these ideas has increased greatly in the past
few years. However, rather than talk openly in support of fascist
ideas, these people focus on the subject of "law and order".
We asked Herr Bubis about the situation of other groups. He said
there are about 100,000 Buddhists, mainly from Japan, India and
Kashmir and most live in Dusseldorf but that they have little
influence because they are not organised. We did in fact arrange to
meet people from one Buddhist group but they were unable to keep the
appointment.
Herr Bubis expressed sadness that the Muslims were not as organised as
the Jews and said that he had tried to help them to speak with one
voice but his efforts had not so far been successful. He has a good
working relationship with the Catholic Church. He also mentioned that
he was asked by the CDU Young Union to be a member of a tribunal they
were setting up to attack Scientology but he declined because it was
not his problem and he did not want to be involved with it. Asked
about the cases of cultural and artistic discrimination we had
encountered and the parallels with the 1930s he said that Germans have
to have someone to hate.
The Rutherford Institute covered in its 1996 survey of religious
liberty around the world that the President of the Israeli Cultural
Society reported that her members have had their tyres slashed and
"receive death threats in the mail and on the phone 'on a regular
basis.
Unification Church
**********************
The Unification Church was founded by the Rev Sun Yung Moon in the
1950s. The Gerrnan church began in 1964 and now has 850 members. Our
witnesses described various problems
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with the German authorities. In 1978 the Finance Ministry revoked
their tax exemption - thei'r charity status - which they contested.
The case reached the Constitutional Court in 1992 with the decision
standing. The courts examined the teachings of the Unification Church
and found points in their 21 principles to disagree with. The
acadenlics they called on as expert witnesses for the Constitutional
Court assured them the decision of the lower court would be
overturned. However after two years they were told that one document
was missing and so the case was dismissed and their charitable status
was lost on a technicality.
Another situation which they described in detail was the decision by
the Foreign Ministry not to allow the Reverend SunYung Moon to enter
Germany. They told us that government officials put in long hours
working through the night to persuade all the other Schengen countries
to follow suit by placing him on the "Schengen List". The
Unificationists' lawyers started a "fast track procedure" court action
to counter the government action but it was not successful and they
had to revert to a more usual longwinded procedure to obtain justice
as they saw it, but only to establish the principle that the ban had
been wrong as the event has long since passed.
The Uifificationists also wanted to start a kindergarten for their
members' children but were told their proposed kindergarten teacher
was unsuitable despite the fact that the person was fully qualified.
In common with other witnesses the Unificationists feel that life is
deliberately made difficult for them by Federal and State authorities
and that they then have to go to c 0 secure their constitutional
rights.
Scientology
**************
Scientology seems to be the most frequently attacked of the minority
religions, perhaps because it is also the biggest. The attention
devoted by the German state and certain officials to 'eradicating
Scientology' (the words of a CDU Young Union official not ours) was
extensively documented. The placing of Scientology 'In the cross
hairs' was commented on by the witnesses from the Unification Church
and Sri Chinmoy. It was suggested to us by witnesses that the State
and Churches are targeting Scientology as a prelude to and excuse for
the destruction of religious freedom for all religious and
philosophical minorities in Germany.
The Scientologists we met presented the delegation with a detailed and
well researched briefing. They provided a sampling of incidents of
discrimination against their Church and/or individual members. This
covered some 60 documented examples of discrimination and included an
updated "Volume 2" of their publication from earlier this year called
"Religious Apartheid 1996" (8), an indication of the deteriorating
situation through which they are living.
They told us that in September of 1994 the Federal Minister of Labour
and Social Control, Herr Bluem, issued a decree which stated that no
Scientologist could obtain a licence to operate an employment agency.
This directive was not based on any evidence of crirru'nal or civil
wrongdoing. It accused Scientology of being a "criminal association."
This charge was eagerly taken up by the media because of Herr Bluem's
hi-h public profile, but the Church has been convicted of no crime.
We were told, despite years of intensive investigations by German
authorities there has been no evidence of wrong-doing. Even so, this
ban was put in place, according to Bluem, as part of a "determined
fight" to ban Scientology in Germany.
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Mrs Claudia Engel, from Frankfurt, who started an employment agency
for au pairs, was a casualty of this ban. The State Labour Office of
Rffineland-Pfalz sent her the sekte filter form and demanded that she
acknowledge her afeliation with Scientology and thereby disqualify
herself from obtaining her licence or execute a declaration swearing
that she had never participated in Scientology and that she
disapproved of its teachings. She refused to do this and her licence
was revoked on the grounds that she was too "unreliable" to run an
employment agency because of her association and beliefs. A-fter
bringing the issue to court she was able to regain her licence with a
preliminary injunction because the court found that there was no
substance to the general accusations made against Scientologists by
the Nfinister of Employment and Social Control on which the issuance
of the "sekte filter" decree was based. The main case has still to be
heard. Since we returned from Germany we were informed that the
Social Court in Nuremberg ruled in another case that denial of such a
licence to a Scientologist, on the basis of his religion, is against
the law.
We also received a copy of the application form to become a member of
the Christian Democrat Party. (12) There are two preconditions for
membership. One is common to all such application forms known to the
Committee and states that the applicant is not a member of any other
political party. The other is a declaration that the applicant is not
a Scientologist. We were told that all other major political parties
took a similar line. In other words, a German Scientologist may not
participate in the democratic process as a member of any of the main
political parties.
Scientology also provides the best illustration of the way the courts
system is used to tie up the attention and resources of minority
croups. It is quite true of course, as Dr Schoen said, that the
courts system is available to anyone who feels their constitutional
rl-hts are beina violated. However the German Churches of
Scientolo,-y and individual Scientologists currently have about 70
court cases in progress and approximately another 120 adnu'nlstrative
proceedings pending with government agencies. This legal morass is
further complicated because Germany has court systems for various
branches of law comprising civil/penal, labour, administrative and tax
law spread across the sixteen States with one Federal Supreme Court
for each of the branches of law. It shows how, in the absence of cood
will even the best le-al system can be abused. They also pointed out
to us how unfair it is that they and other minority groups are
compelled to fight for their existence in the courts but when they do
they get acused of being militant and litigous.
If one takes into account the following parts on "Education and
Advanced Training for Prosecutors and Judges" and the "Document Centre
on Minority Religions" (16) (section on Sources of Discrimination) one
has to conclude that the authorities intend to ensure that, over a
period of time, both the legal framework of human rights and the
're-educated' attitude of the judces make the position of nearly all
religious minorities untenable as a result of the erosion of
previously high judicial standards.
The huge number of court cases in which this Church (and others) and
its members are involved would, if they win the cases, indicate
constitutional violations on a major scale on the part of the German
authorities who put forward the rather disingenuous view that as all
these cases are in progress they cannot comment. It is precisely the
large number of occasions on which such disparate groups feel the need
to have recourse to the courts to establish their
14
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rights under law that makes it clear that something is very wrong.
The time that cases take to' wend their way through the different
levels of court places a further burden on these very small groups of
devotees. (The Oshos, followers of an Indian meditation teacher, have
been pursuing a court case they feel is important to the survival of
their movement in Germany for twelve years).
The Scientologists gave us an interesting internal CDU document. (13)
It describes the discussion within the CDU about their religion and
states why the CDU says that membership of Scientology is incompatible
with membership of the CDU. Scientologists believe in the spiritual
nature of mankind and that the soul is separate from the body.
According to the CDU document this is incompatible with the CDU
membership because it puts the individual above the state. (This shows
an interesting parallel with the Congress of Nicea in 553 CE. More
than one religious following holds that the Christian Church abandoned
the doctrine of reincarnation at that Congress because it sat uneasily
with the claimed divinity of the Roman emperors).
The Committee members each have different religions or beliefs but
clearly the truth about matters of life and death exists independently
of what each person or any political party chooses to believe.
Setting the authority of the state above individual spirituality in
tl-lis very materialistic way bodes ill for the future of human
freedom.
Sri Chinmoy
**************
From the oral and written evidence submitted by the followers of Sri
Chinmoy, a philosopher, athlete and meditation teacher from India, we
discovered that they are dedicated to achieving world peace by
spreading a peace message through literature, art, music and athletics
and through meetings with world leaders. They have 150 to 200 members
in Germany.
The book that the followers of Sri Chi=oy brought with them contains
pictures of his meetings wit ' h some of these world leaders and
includes their messages to him. (1 7) Pope Paul VI told him "This
meeting of ours has been most essential. Your message and my message
are the same, and from Pope John Paul H, "I am very grateful for your
visit. God Bless You and all your contemplative activities".
FEs followers apparently do not receive as warm a welcome in Germany.
The witness from Sri Chinmoy told us "We make ourselves visible and
they shoot at us from the forest", in talkine, about the bureaucratic
obstruction which his movement experiences.
They express their love of life and their devotion to their leader's
quest for peace in the world by organising concerts and marathon
running and other athletics events. The facilities they need for
these are almost all within the gift of local authorities. They
recounted instances where concert venues and sporting facilities are
closed to them for no apparent reason. On one occasion they organised
a marathon run only to find that they were not allowed to use the
showers at the sports centre. The City Council of Cologne has decided
that no public rooms were to be let to Sri Chinmoy groups.
15
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Professors Konrad Loew and Walter Krumholz
******************************************************
The delegation interviewed two distinguished academics - Professor
Loew from the University of Bayreuth and Professor Krumholz from the
University of Berlin.. Both are appalled at the tragedy which is
engulfing their country. Both have studied new religious movements
and their members in Germany. They made two main points:
Firstly, they have each come to the same conclusion as academics in
other West European countries and in the United States, that the
concepts of brainwashing and mind control are not a valid theoretical
construct for viewing new religious movements or denominations and
they simply do not work in practice. Even using the most simplistic
argument it is obvious that if they were valid techniques the groups
which used them would make and keep far more converts than they do.
Most of the groups we interviewed had a minuscule membership of
hundreds or at most a few thousand. Even Scientology, with a reported
30,000 parishioners only makes up 0.04% of Germany's population.
Secondly, they said, the accusations made against these groups are
simply witch hunts which echo the Germany of the 1930s. They say that
the damage that this is doing to German society makes them extremely
pessimistic about the future of their country. The pain they feel at
this conclusion was evident in their words and in their faces. They
themselves have also experienced ostracism within their own
communities and Professor Krumholz was anxious about the effects of
social ostracism on his family were he to be too outspoken. Professor
Krumholz met Ms Renate Rennebach, the SPD's sect expert and was amazed
to hear her express her determination to have Scientology banned
despite the fact that she openly admitted that the Church had been
thoroughly investigated and found not to be involved in any criminal
activity.
Professor Krumholz also described a meeting with Ms Renate Renebach,
the SPD's "sekte Commssioner. She expressed her flustration that she
could not find anything incriminating about Scientology but she was
determined to find a way to ban them in Germany.
Orden Fiat Lux
******************
Our witness was Herr Eicke the husband of Uriella, the leader of this
Christian spiritual healinc, group. (1 8) It has about 700 members in
Germany, Austria and Switzerland and was founded in 1977 by Uriella
who is a spiritual healer. He told us that she heals all kinds of
illness with the power of God while in a trance. They have a centre
in Austria, one at Egnear Zurich and one in the south of the Black
Forest.
The active discrimination against them began in 1992 with an hour long
TV programme which was repeated several times in rapid succession. He
told us that it started innocuously enough with interviews with
Uriella and himself but in the second part of the programme it was
alleged that she was responsible for the deaths of three people in
Germany in 1988. Herr Eike explained that the truth was that she
never treated any of the three. They asked her to treat them but she
was in Switzerland and they were too far away. Instead, she advised
them to see a doctor. The programme was followed by a great media
interest in Orden Fiat Lux and was repeated in several other European
countries.
16
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
Three days after the programme, many of the fourteen or fifteen houses
owned by the group were raided by a large number of police and
detectives. Documents were removed and shortly afterwards between two
and three hundred of Uriella's patients were visited by police trying
to build a case against her. Seven court cases resulted and the Orden
Fiat Lux won all of them.
One of the charges was supplying natural healing products which
Uriella does on two Sundays per month. This is illegal in Germany but
she only does this at Egg near Zurich and there is no law against it
in that Swiss canton. It was alleged that she made an extortionate
amount of money selling these products and Herr Eicke told us that,
while it is her only income, the profit she makes is in line with
other similar products.
It is not only Uriella who carries out spiritual healing. Herr Eicke
and four or five others have been charged in Germany under the Healing
Practitioner Law of 1939 which forbids spiritual healing except as
part of a religious ceremony. It is necessary to have a permit to
carry out spiritual healing and they had one from 1990 until 1992 when
it was cancelled or not renewed by the authorities. The procedure was
that some local government officials decided that this law had been
broken and ordered the accused to pay a fine of 20,000 DM, It is up to
them to contest this order which they have been doin since 1992 as it
moves from one level of court to the next.
The negative press, radio and TV coverage they receive is similar in
all three German speaking countries. Herr Eicke told us that they are
harassed by the Lutheran and Catholic Churches, as well as the legal
and administrative machinery of the government.
Racial Groups
*****************
Really only two racial groups were spoken to, but they do between them
represent the majority of the non-German racial population of the
country. These were the Turks and the Kurds. There were two
interesting "subgroups" - the Yazldis (or Zoroastrians) and an old
Greek Orthodox community in Munich. There was anecdotal evidence from
a German Muslim that his wife, a British woman of Pakistani descent,
was the target of racial harassment and abuse because of her colour.
A further racial community left documentary submissions, but the
Committee was unable to interview them. These were the Sinti and Roma
groups ("Gypsies").
The common threads that seem to bind the discrimination from
officialdom against them together, and it seems to be extreme, is
bureaucratic policy and the demand for "tidiness".
There are between 400,000 and 600,000 Kurds living in Germany. As far
as official-think is concerned, they must be one of Turkish, Iraqi,
Iranian or Syrian nationality. Therefore, if a Kurd is in need of any
official papers (birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc.) then
he or she must go to the relevant embassy or consulate. Officialdom
does not recognise the problem that the person might be wanted by the
police or military "back home" - even though he or she might be
accepted as a refugee in Germany - if he or she were to enter
diplomatically sovereign territory then an arrest might follow. So,
frequently, Kurds take great personal risks just to acquire simple
documents for German officials. In a number of cases cited to the
17
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
Committee, members could only draw the conclusion that all too often
officials' requests were trivial and sight of such documents
unnecessary.
"Kurds being Turks must therefore also be Muslims; or all Kurds are
Muslims anyway" - this is another bureaucratic tidiness that catches
out the Yazidis. They are a community of Zoroastrians, but are not
recognised as a separate religion in Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria
where they are classified as Muslims. In Germany, where they try to
practice openly as Zoroastrians, they are still officially classified
as Muslims, because that is how their countries of nationality define
them.
Both Kurdish groups spoken to mentioned that it would be a great help
if Germany recognised dual nationality.
There is no right to "mother-tongue" teaching in German schools, and
policies set by the Lander (States) vary. Public libraries do not
seem to stock books and audio-visual material 'm Kurdish, and Kurdish
festivals - notably Navroz - are not allowed by the authorities. This
last is in part because in the past the extremist group PKK have used
the occasion to stage violent demonstrations. But mostly this lack of
official provision for the Kurds is because officially, they are Turks
(or Iranians or Arabs).
The three racial groups (Kurds, Sinti-Roma and Turks) all make similar
points a boutthe difficulties they experience for them to become
German citizens, even if they are now in the third Generation (i.e. it
was their grand-parents who migrated to Germany, for whatever reason -
usually for work as Gastarbeiter or "guest worker"). This produces
insecurity and instability within the communities. It also produces
officially sponsored inequities where a third--eneration German Turk
is forced to go back to Turkev (they are even disparagingly called
"Almanlilar or Germans in Turkish), because their continuing
Gastarbeiter status is increasingly viewed as taking jobs away from
Germans. As Germany enters ever-deepening recession this is becoming
a serious point of friction between the inunigrant and "host"
communities. A survey reported that over 51 percent of Germans
supported the notion that "Germany should be for the Germans."
The Greek Orthodox community met in imunich seems to be the victim of
similar "tidiness". It does not accept or possibly even recognise,
the authority of the Patriarch in Istanbul but only that of a
Metropolitan in Athens. However, the other Greek Orthodox communities
do accept the authority of Istanbul. The Turkish authorities do not
seem to care one way or the other how this small community behaves,
but the local municipality, and the Roman Catholic Cardinal's office,
do. We were told that they would like the community to be absorbed
into another Greek Orthodox community further out of the city, and
presumably then the church they occupy could revert to being a Roman
Catholic one, which it was for 300 years before the mid-1800s.
The Turks report a great deal of discrimination. In this the Kurds
(and other Middle Eastern Muslims) can be bracketed with them. It is
unclear whether this discrin-fination, however, is religious, racial
or because they are seen as taking jobs that Germans would now love to
have.
18
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Meetings with Officials
***************************
We asked through official channels for meetings with the Directors of
two State Offices and the Director of the Federal Office for the
Protection of the Constitution. These come under the State and
Federal Nfinistries of the Interior. In the event we met Dr Schoen,
the Director of the Federal Office which is a security organisation
charged with protecting the State from extremists on both the left and
right of the political spectrum. Frau Kahner the Head of the Churches
and Sekten Department of Dr Schoen's Department was also seen. We
were a little puzzled because when we tried to press the issues we had
come to discuss she said that she has nothing to do with "sekten "
only churches.
We also asked for meetings with the Interior Nfinistry and the
Nfinistry for Youth, Family, Women and the Elderly People's AfFairs
and the Enquete Commission but these could not be arranged. It was
not necessarily due to short notice because the officials of the
Enquete Commission wanted to know if we were their equivalent in the
UK. When they discovered we were concerned that a body such as theirs
should even exist they declined to meet.
We also met Dr Meyer-Ladewig of the Justice NEnistry. An official
from the NEnistry for Youth, Family, Women and Elderly People's
AfFairs was supposed to attend this meeting but was unable to do so.
19
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CULTURAL DISCRIMINATION
*************************************
*************************************
In the Germany of the 1990s, attacks on artists who are members of an
unfavoured "sekte seem to be gathering pace. The technique employed
is a refinement and intensification of the procedure known in Germany
by the English word, "outing", which is applied to professionals in
any field as our case studies clearly show.
Artists have to communicate. All art, unless for the sole and private
pleasure of its creator, is a communication, whether it is visual or
performance art. We describe later in our report the concatenation of
sekte priests, sekte commissioners, media and creative generators of
administrative difficulties which homes in on the artist's
communication lines where he or she is most vulnerable. Art, of
course, was of considerable interest to the authorities in Germany
before the war. Recent revelations about the wartime trade in
"degenerate art" and art works deemed acceptable find another echo in
today's Germany. 'this was highlighted in a recent publication called
Art as Propaganda by Stephen Feinstein, Chairman, Department of
History, University of Wisconsin. (19)
The attackers are really quite sophisticated and approach each sekte
with a target specific strategy. For example, Sri Chinmoy, organizes
marathon runs and musical events. As mentioned in the previous
section they recounted instances where concert venues and sporting
facilities have been unaccountably closed to them. On one occasion
they were told they could not use the showers.
In addition to the artists we inter-viewed, we have been given
documentation which describes quite unacceptable discrimination.
Reports in the media about two recent situations highlight the
absurdity. In August 1996, as the release of the Tom Cruise film,
Mission: Impossible, approached, a spokesman of the Youth Union of the
CDU issued a statement urging Germans to boycott the film because
Cruise is a Scientologist.
NB. The Youth Union of the CDU has issued a booklet comparing "sekten"
with insects which should be killed with a fly swat and this was
distributed at a CDU Party conference with the authorisation of the
General Secretary of the CDU despite protests from the religious
groups.
John Travolta, whose film Phenomenon was to be released in October 96,
was also a target of political forces. He is a member of the Church
of Scientology and there were absurd claims that Phenomenon was an
attempt to "Infiltrate" Scientology ideas into Germany. In fact, the
script was written by a non-Scientologist called Gerald De Piego
before John Travolta was even considered for the part. (20)
Our witnesses included two other artists. One, Gottfried Heinwein, a
well-known painter of portraits and cover art, gave numerous examples
of discrimination including the absurd demand that he withdraw from an
exhibition (where he was showing his collection of original sketches
and paintings of Donald Duck) because they said he was a
Scientologist, and that, therefore, allegedly made his exhibition
unsupportable. He was also required to sign a statement (which he
refused to do) saying, in effect, that he denounces the Scientology
religion. He stated that he had been systematically banned from
exhibiting his work all over
20
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
Germany and was "socially dead" due to the campaign against him. A
few years ago he bought a mediaeval castle as a home and studio.
Press reports said that he held a leading position in Scientology and
had kidnapped children whom he was keeping at the castle. As a result
of this kind of propaganda, he found that galleries with whom he did
business would have nothing more to do with him.
Another very well known German artist, the painter Pablo Roehrig, is a
member of the Church of Scientology. He has suffered considerably in
his professional life because of his membership. He told us that
Scientology had been under attack for some time in Germany but that it
had become more intensive and much more personal starting in 1990.
A-fter he was personally attacked in the media his income halved from
the 1991 figure and he had to reduce the staff in his workshop from 22
to 7. Therehavebeenmediareportsthatjustlookingatone of his pictures
can "brainwash" someone into becoming a Scientologist. A very well
known German entertainer and TV personality who bought three of his
pictures later declared that he did not know Roehrig was a
Scientologist when he bought the pictures and publicly distanced
himself from the artist. This illustrates the way that social
pressure is brought to bear on even the associates of members of the
targeted groups.
The delegation also received documentary evidence of discrimination
against other Scientology artists. Chick Corea, the world famous
Americanjazz piam'st, was scheduled to give a concert in
Baden-Wuerttenburg in 199'j but local government officials banned him
from
performing in that German state. Other discrimination by political
flaures followed, During his frequent European tours, Corea used to
give about a dozen performances in Germany. This has been reduced to
two offers, at most, from German promoters. He attributes this to the
government-backed discrirru'nation campaign against him.
Similarly, a performance in 1993 by a folk group called Golden Bough
in the city of Stade was interrupted by a demonstration by the Junge
Union when they marched on stage with banners to protest that the
auditorium was being made available to artists who were
Scientologists. The stage was eventually cleared but the concert was
severely disrupted and the audience intimidated. This was but one
incident in a succession which included several cancelled concerts by
different local authorities on the grounds of the musicians' religion.
One prominent German folk music magazine listed the names of the
members of Golden Bough among other Scientology musicians and urged
the public to boycott all performances by Scientologists..
21
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
SOURCES OF DISCRIMINATION
From evidence presented to the delegation we came to the conclusion
that there were several interconnected and mutually reinforcing
sources of discriminatory attacks on the groups we interviewed. These
can be distinguished as follows:
A) Government Officials and Political Parties
Responsibility for upholding human rights standards within Germany
rests with the German govermnent. International human rights
instruments and the German Constitution impose on it the duty to take
more than a simply neutral stance but to carry out active measures
against discrimination. In fact the government appears to be taking
neither course of action. Instead it is actively supporting the
discrimination with propaganda, financial and human resources as well
as with legal measures.
Within the political and administrative structure there are also
"sekte commissioners" - in German, sektebeauftragter. Their task is
sirffilar to that of their religious counterparts which are covered in
detail later in this section. Indeed, and this reflects the closeness
of Church and State 'm Germany, their work mirrors that of the sekte
priestlpfarrer and the allegations they make are equally extreme and
equally vague and unsubstantiated. It was also reported to the
delegation that approximately 20% of elected German politicians are
trained priests or pastors.
Although the German Constitution clearly obli-es the government to
refrain from giving an opinion or judgement about religious matters,
these official "sekle co='ssioners" are goverrunent officials, paid
from State finances. They create written material and make public
statements which claim to show the public and other officials how to
"recocnize" members of sekten. Ursula Caberta has been employed by
the Hamburg State Interior Ministry to run the "working circle
Scientology". She published a 1'j point list of characteristics that
would enable one to recognize a Scientologist. This list included
such points as "having no friends", "beinc, humourless", "not joining
in discussions" and "having frequent short holidays". This also
appeared in Bunte Magazine. (9)
The Bavarian government has created literature for use in schools (29)
which claims that Scientologists can be recognized because they are
susceptible to sudden changes in body weight and distinctive beard
growth.
Scientologists we met could not contain their amusement when shown
this list but did point out that in the social climate of Germany
today it is almost impossible to make known any religious affiliation
other than to the established religions without thereafter
experiencing at least some, often extreme, form of discrimination.
This was echoed by adherents of all the other religions and other
groups we spoke to.
Another example of political discrimination is the campaign by the
Young Union, the youth wing of the CDU. It published a booklet called
"InSects, No Thanks! " which depicts members of minority religions as
flies being exterminated by a fly swatter held in the hands of the
Youn. Union. The publication has derogatory, inflammatory and untrue
information about
22
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
minority religions. There are forces at work subverting and
channelling the idealism of young-' people as Hitler did with the
Hitler Youth.
It is apparent that the German State is spending millions of
deutschmarks per year on antisekte personnel, propaganda and related
actions, some estimates go as high as 100 million per annum. In
addition to this, most groups complained that govermnent officials
were not interested in any kind of dialogue, that the material
published by the authorities on minority groups has been entirely
one-sided and does not make any attempt at impartiality. There are
moves by the Federal and State governments to publish brochures
listing "sekten " that are regarded with disfavour. Some groups which
have been included provisionally are challenging their inclusion in
the Federal govemment's "sekte " brochure in court.
An Enquete Commission (Commission of Inquiry) of the Bundestag has
been initiated by Federal Social Democratic Party Member of Parliament
Mrs. Rennebach. We were informed that she is both a member of the
Lutheran synod from Berlin and an advisory member of the Board of the
most important German anti-sekle group called AGPF in Bonn. The
Commission is targeting 600 "sekten " in Germany, amongst them such
groups as the Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Anthroposophists and
Scientologists. We were also told from several -roups that the
Enquete Commission has been staffed exclusively with outspoken
opponents of the "new religions" in Germany who are now acting as
"experts" with the stated purpose of proposing new legislation against
these "sekten
Our own experience reinforced this perception of the official attitude
as representatives of the Nfirn'str.v of Interior and the Ministry of
Justice maintained a position that there was no discrinu'nation in
Germany and even if it did exist the court system was available to
those who felt they were bein. discriminated against. Their
unwillingness to face up to the problem emphasised this "official
position" which contrasted sharply with the evidence we were given
byallourwitnesses.
Wewishtomakenocriticismor'udgmenthereabouttheintrinsic constitutional
and legal relationship between Church and State in Germany. However
there appears to be cause for concern that certain elements within the
Lutheran and Catholic Churches exploit their powerful connections to
the government to manipulate the State for their own ends.
B) Document Centre on Members of Minority Religions in
Schleswig,Holstein
Another example of direct discrimination by government is in the State
of Schleswig-Holstein. The State Parliament amended its data
protection law in September 1994 to create a document centre
containing information about individuals connected to "sekten". This
law is a specimen of selective legislation which strips away the
fundamental privacy richts of members of groups labelled as "sekten"
by excluding them from data protection safeguards enjoyed by all
German citizens whilst opening these members to public, social and
professional ostracism as well as blacklisting,
In March 1995, the State Parliament published a report entitled
"Activities of Sects in Schleswig Holstein". (21) This report provides
information on eight minority religions targeted by the government and
details the ominous purpose of the document centre. The
23
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
report states that information collected by the document centre on
individuals who are members of the targeted religions will be shared
with federal, state and municipal govermnent offices, social
organisations, unions, trade associations and chambers of commerce,
churches, private groups, educational institutions and the Parliament.
The report also calls for the ct education and advanced training of
prosecutors and judges regarding targeted religious groups" - actions
clearly designed to strip away neutral enforcement and application of
the law.
Tlfis document collection centre law gives the government the right to
collect and disseminate sensitive personal information and expose the
identities of individuals associated with minority religions to all
strata of society in order to ensure that the government policy to
blacklist and ostracise members of minority religions is effectively
implemented. This tactic violates core data protection principles by
creating a substructure of second class citizens classified by their
philosophy or religious beliefs.
C) "Education and Advanced Training for Prosecutors and Judges"
on Minority Religions.
The point was made to the Committee by a senior and highly respected
member of the British judiciary that in Britain 'udges attend
Government funded training courses to develop their understanding and
sensitivity on minority/racial matters so that they are not
inadvertently causing offence to members of minorities. In Germany we
were given a somewhat opposite example in so far as the re-education
of judges and public prosecutors has already started. As covered in
the previous section the State Parliament of Scffleswig-Holstein has
called for action to re-educate 'udges and prosecutors.
We also discovered that in Germany in-service training has been given
a completely new twist. Two lawyers who act for minority groups
managed to 'oin a government funded training programme for public
prosecutors. The purpose is nothing less than to subvert the course
of justice and "re-educate" the judges so they fall in line with the
governinent's view on minority religions and groups.
On this occasion the lecturer was Frau Dr, Wettengel, a leading
government "sekte expert". The "instruction" was very much in the
same vein as the government funded documentation attached to this
report. On the evening after the seminar, in a wine bar, one of the
two lawyers who had attended this seminar was horrified to hear the
judge in a case where he, as the defence lawyer, was acting for the
minority group, was discussing his client's case in a jocular fashion
with the sekte expert.
We were told that the State of North Rhine Westfalia also organises
courses on sekten and in fact organised the above "training" of judges
and prosecutors at the governmentally controlled "German Academy of
Judges" in 1993.
24
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
D) Media
There has been an astonishing volume of media coverage of Sekten. VPM
reported that the original article which attacked the group, in the
weekly journal Der Spiegel, was followed by many hundreds of newspaper
references to their group, all unfavourable, within the following
weeks. Interestingly, the article was repeatedly trailered on TV and
radio news in the days prior to publication. They told us that this
is most unusual.
Another group reports that it is not unusual to receive several
hundred negative articles a week. Just as the officials we spoke to
assured us (rather disingenuously we thought) that any group or
individual who felt aggrieved could go to court to seek redress so
they also said that in Germany there is freedom of the press. This is
fine but freedom of the press must include the effective right of
reply otherwise it simply becomes the tyranny of the majority view.
All groups we interviewed complained that the media would either alter
their statements, take them completely out of context or simply give
them no opportunity at all to put their point of view. Their common
experience is that the media is interested only in sensationalising
and misrepresenting their position and gives preferential treatment to
the "authoritative" voices of the government and the established
Churches. This may also ring true for minority groups in other
countries but given the extraordinary volume of negative media
coverage of minority groups the German langua-e press seems to have
brought this to an altogether higher level of discrimination which
amounts to nothing short of a propaganda campaign. This is the only
description that adequately characterises the sheer volume of
one-sided reporting which they described.
Althoueh the riaht of reply does exist under German law covering the
media, it is (as in many countries) restricted to correcting factual
errors. From a legal point of view the producers and presenters are
generally very careful not to quote any challengeable facts but to
express their views as hostile opinion. This is in any case likely to
be more effective in damning the group concerned because it creates a
powerful negative imace in the mind of the reader, viewer or listener.
There is no legal remedy for this. Again and again, while in Germany,
it was brought home to us the extent to which the functioning of civil
society, under any constitution, depends on good will and good faith.
In Germany, in respect of those minority faiths and philosophies whom
we interviewed , these are notable by their absence.
Pastor Jones of the Christian Church of Cologne, for example, has
reached the point where he refuses to have anything to do with the
German press because he can never get any reporter to represent him
accurately. For accurate reporting of the situation in Germany one
has to look overseas as the news story from the New York "Amsterdam
News " (22) shows (see section on Lutheran and Catholic Churches)..
An example of how the hatred is spilling over into neighbouring
countries is an article from the Nordschleswiger, a German language
newspaper in southern Demark. This reads like the sort of hate
propaganda that bigots might anonymously push through someone's
letterbox. In fact it was the Sunday evem'ng edition of the
Nordschleswiger from 12th October 1996. In this case the diatribe is
directed against Scientologists.
25
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Since 1990 and reunification, cartoons have appeared in German
magazines which bear a chilling resemblance to those in der Stueriner,
the Stormtrooper, the Nazi magazine of the 1930s and 40s. (23) These
cartoons seem to build on stereotypes already present in the minds of
the population. It is almost as if some former Nazi black
propagandist had been stuck to the wrong side of the wall, waiting
nearly half a century to emerge in 1990, to continue to ply his trade.
The point here is not that this means the individuals
being targeted are going to suffer the same fate as before. It simply
establishes that the same emotive images are being used as before and
contribute to a social climate where people are easily ostracised.
It should be said that the media in this electronic age has immense
power to shape the mind set of a population. Whoever is steering this
campaign has lost no opportunity to influence the German people
against these, mostly tiny, minority groups. In respect of those we
interviewed, this intensive and extensive campaign has been
"successful" and the majority of the German people have been led to
believe evil of their compatriots.
There is an oppressive conformity of views reflecting the only view
about minority religions and philosophies which appears in the media.
There is no other explanation for the "fear of conta 'on" that was so
apparent to us. Minority groups have been so reviled for so long that
to be publicly associated with such a group or with one of its members
is to risk the fate of "social death". One witness referred to a
phrase in Goldhagen's book Ordinary Germans in this context.
E) Political Opposition
VPM had done their own investigation on the use of the word "sekte "
and where the discrimination was coming from and have drawn certain
conclusions. This is quoted below.
"The term sect is nowadays used as a political weapon mainly by the
Marxists to stigmatize opponents (people with other opinions). This
method originated in socialist countries and was formulated already by
Lenin in his writing. The effect of such a stigma is similar to
labelling someone as a Fascist (cf the publication by Prof Helmuth
Knuetter "Die Faschismuskeule"). This procedure can perhaps be
compared to the often used and politically motivated label of racist
to brand a political opponent and to distract attention away from a
proper discussion on the basis of arguments."
"To stigmatize an organisation as a sect has the effect that no
discussion using arguments and factual evidence will take place but
that the group or organisation will be outed by society and left
without a voice."
26
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F) Lutheran and Catholic Churches
At least 140 "sekte " priests and pastors or 'pfarrer " form a network
throughout Germany. Their function is to disseminate unproven,
negative, generalized propaganda about any group they choose to
categorize as a "sekte". This network seems to operate throughout
German society and passes out a wide variety of printed material
accusing the members of these groups of anti-social activities which
include "psycho terror," "brainwashing," "mind-control", being, a
state within a state" and being a "criminal organisation".
Although as far as we could discover these accusations are not
substantiated by any evidence that would support a prosecution, they
have been made with such frequency and over such a long period that
the German people have apparently come to believe them. This is shown
by the way in which ordinary Germans turn on ffiends and colleagues
who have been "outed" as sekte members and thereafter refuse any
further contact. If the accusations had any substance, a rash of
criminal convictions would long ago have closed down these
organisations,
Declining church attendance may be a precipitating factor for the
Lutheran and Catholic Churches but the question has to be asked
whether in fact empty churches or loss of revenue is the greater
concern. It would be interesting to discover whether church
attendance has fallen faster in recent years as persecution of
minorities has increased. The imposition of the 8% solidarity tax to
finance reunification was a heavy blow to many German families and it
was compulsory, whereas they could opt out of the church tax.
Political opportunism and "me too-ism" - the rush to conform - do
evidently also play a part in the attacks on these Groups.
According to the fi-ures given to the Committee in oral and written
evidence, the Lutheran and Catholic churches receive about 9 billion
DM per annum in church tax. This is levied on individuals by the
State at the rate of 5% of the income of church members and is paid to
the churches. In addition, the German State pays the churches about
10 billion DM to run hospitals and kindergartens and for the purpose
of training their priests and pastors in universities. The Federal
Ministry of Defence also pays about 50 million DM to the churches for
salaries of priests and pastors servicing the military.
We were told that the churches also own or have shares in insurance
companies, banks publishing houses, breweries, a vineyard and a
variety of other commercial activities. The established Churches are
also said to be the two lar-est non-aoverrimental landowners in
Germany. If true, it is a little ironic for the sekle priests to
claim that some of the minority ,groups we interviewed are really
businesses because they publish and sell books or provide courses to
spread the word about their faith or philosophy.
If a member of either the Lutheran or Catholic Churches wishes to stop
being a member they have to contract out of paying the church tax.
This can result in social ostracism, especially in small, rural
communities where it might be made public, so church membership
remains high. Church attendance, on the other hand, is around 2%
(lower than the figures for the Church of England) according to our
witnesses from the Charismatic Christian Church of Cologne.
We do of course understand that the established churches are concerned
about loss of membership and therefore of income and want to prevent
further erosion. However the total
27
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membership of the new religions and new denominations are, as far as
we could determine, only about 50,000 to 100,000. The Catholic and
Lutheran churches between them lost 446,000 members in just one recent
year, according to figures available to the Committee. The minority
religions simply do not absorb those leaving the established Churches.
There is something medieval about the unjustified and shortsighted
persecution of these very small minority religions and philosophies.
According to a children's book we given in Germany (Hexen und
Hexenwahn - Witches and Witch Hysteria -from the Was Ist Was - What Is
What - series) the area of the former West Germany had, during the
12th and 13th centuries, the highest total of witch bumings at over
15,000. The alarming thing about this book was the voyeuristic
detachment of the style in which it was written. This attribute also
came across in the failure of the officials we spoke to take
responsibility for what is being done to these minority religions and
philosophies. The parallel between the late 20th Century persecution
encountered and the witch hunts of the Nfiddle Ages struck us on more
than one occasion. It is highlighted by the title of Professor Loew's
book, Hexen und Hexenjaegern, (Witches and Witch Hunts) written about
the witch hunt on his person after having acted in his capacity of
scholar for the Unification Church in Germany.
The New York "Amsterdam News", (22) a Black American newspaper
reported a meeting with members of Universelles Leben (Universal Life)
a Christian denomination with members in several German towns and
cities. This report was alarming when viewed against the backdrop of
Germany's 20th Century history. The article contradicts what we were
told by the sern'or civil servants we met. The paper's reporter wrote
:
"According to [Dr Gert] Hetzel, a lawyer and former Lutheran
Protestant, "Our community began 17 years ago. We are Christians. We
are pacifists. We live according to the Ten Commandments and we have
never harmed anyone". However, says Hetzel, the Christian leadership
in the Catholic and Lutheran Churches have publicly, verbally
brutalized them for a decade, and as a result have created an
atmosphere of hatred towards the Universelles Leben community making
them the target of misinformed citizens, bigots and right wing gangs.
"There is supposed to be separation of church and state in Germany but
in reality church and state are the same" relates [Jeanette] Wood who
earns her living as a translator.
"The Universelles Leben..... has filed a case with the state
prosecutor in imunich acainst various officers of the churches, citing
their violation of paragraph 1' )0 of the German Penal Code, which
makes it illegal to incite hatred and racism against a person or group
and Paragraph 166 which makes it illegal to insult a religious
denomination.
"The laws are reminders to Germans that one of Ifitler's tactics was
to incite hatred towards religious communities, which eventually
resulted in the extermination of six million people."
28
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THE MECHANISM
************************
************************
One of the tasks which the Committee set itself was to determine the
mechanisms which a modem, democratic, materially sophisticated state,
situated in the heart of Europe, could use to deviate from the high
standards required by the various international instruments to which
Germany is a signatory.
The mechanism that allows the persecution we have uncovered to occur
has two stages. First, what we can only describe as propaganda
campaigns soften up the populace and second, make it ready to accept
huge restrictions on the basic freedoms of these minority groups. The
German people apparently do not realise that, by their acquiescence,
they also, in the long run, sacrifice those freedoms for themselves.
The propaganda campaign against minority religions and other groups
intensified after reunification. This was the experience of many of
our witnesses. We urge academic readers of this report to consider
giving this phenomenon detailed study. It would surely be fruitful
ground for historians and sociologists. We are puzzled by it. What,
of all the things that chanc,ed with the tearing down of the Wall,
caused this reemergence of tendencies we all hoped had ceased to exist
but perhaps suspected were still lurking beneath the surface?
Whatever the answer, it is the responsibility of the German government
to rein in the forces behind this renewed persecution.
We were provided with an agenda and speakers list for a conference the
week following our visit that was to take place at Wannsee, near
Berlin. Most of the main protagonists of the war on "Sekten" are
listed and the purpose of the meeting was to agree on strategy and
tactics for dealiner with the "Sekte Problem". It may have escaped
their notice that this was the venue of the Wannsee Conference at
which the Nazis planned the Final Solution, but then it may not. At
the very least, the choice of this location does indicate a certain
insensitivity.
The conference was held under the patronage of Norbert Bluem, the
Federal Minister for Emplovment and Social Order, a Catholic
theologian by training and also one of Scientology's most dedicated
attackers, and the Bishop of Berlin-Brandenburg. It was sponsored by
the provincial priests' office for sekten and the "Weltanschauung" -
worldview (philosophical) questions centre of Berlin-Brandenburg in
association with the Berlin Dlalocue Centre (28) and the
Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. (Stiftung means "foundation". The
Konrad-AdenauerStifrun propagates the policies of the CDU within
Germany and abroad).
The propaganda campaign itself has two aspects. First a climate of
apprehension has been created in which most Germans have apparently
been led to believe that Germany is in danger of being, overrun by a
collection of Moonies, Oshos, Hindu meditators, Scientologists and
Charismatic Christians. The techniques employed to bring about this
state of affairs are the standard procedures for sowing disinformation
in the minds of the population. More recently, during, the nazi era
and the Soviet period this has been used to varying degrees by black
propagandists the world over. People who are made anxious are easier
to mould to the pohtician's will. The government is in fact fuelling
the whole campaign by publishing propaganda which supports and
encourages it.
29
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It is hard to resist the conclusion that the Scffleswig-Holstein
documentation centre indicates malevolent intent towards the
minorities affected. In deciding how to react to this move, one
either has to side with the German government and the network of sekte
priests and sekte commissioners against all mainstream academic
opinion worldwide in the fields of the sociology of religion and
social anthropology or conclude that, to borrow from Shakespeare,
there appears to be something rotten in the state of Germany.
It is clear from the volume of negative media articles reported by our
witnesses that a sustained media bombardment has been taking place
which has increased in intensity since 1990. It is a well known
principle of advertising that the more plays the message gets the more
likely it is to be believed and acted on. If the message telling
people to hate and fear certain groups is repeated often enough it too
will be believed. The media messages are also repeatedly reinforced
by authority figures in the government and the established Churches
which enhances their effectiveness. Havinc, created a climate of
apprehension, the propagandists proceeded to the next stage which is
to darken any association with these nunority groups to such an
extreme decrree that anyone discovered to be a member or even anyone
associated with a member is damned by association in the popular mind.
This has the result that ffiends and associates of anyone "outed" as a
member of one of these groups are likely to shun them and refuse all
further contact. It seems as though they are afraid they will
themselves be accused for not reporting their erstwhile ffiend to the
authorities. A situation has been created in which people are forced
by social pressure to ostracise their friends and business associates.
Once the propagandists have achieved this, the infrastructure of
repression against these groups can be installed without protest by
the general population because to speak up against the power of the
State, Churches and media in these matters in the Germany of 1996
means to court social and economic destruction. Academics who are
prepared to speak out for reason, for democratic principles and for
'ustice on behalf of members of these minority groups are themselves
attacked and accused by the media. In other words, the media has
completely failed to do an honest job of reporting views which dissent
from the prevailing institutional orthodoxy and of encouraging the
expression of the many different viewpoints which characterize a
healthy democracy.
In the Committee's view it would be extremely unwise for the members
of any ethnic or religious minority, not immediately targeted, to
shrug their shoulders and thank the Lord they are not in the firing
line, this time. We should remember Pastor Niemoeller's famous words:
"When the Nazis came for the Communists I said nothing; I was not a
Communist. When they came for the Social Democrats 1 said nothing; I
was not a Social Democrat. When they came for the Catholics I did not
protest; I was not a Catholic. Then they came for me but there was no
one to speak up for me ".
The figure of 2% we were quoted for church attendance in Catholic and
Lutheran Churches by the Charismatic Christians may or may not be
accurate but clearly there is problem for the pastors and priests as
there is in most European countries: their flocks are not coming to
church on Sundays. Despairing of filling their churches, some priests
of the established religions have taken to holding public meetings to
denounce the "Sekten" and any member
30
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they know of The parallels with the Nfiddle Ages struck us in this
respect also.
In the section on sources of discrimination we describe the sekle
member documentation centre in Schleswig-Holstein. The passing of the
legislation to strip members of minority groups of their
constitutional rights under the data protection legislation is an
example of seriously declining moral and political standards. It is a
clear signal that those who are involved with the progranune to
eradicate minorities believe that the propaganda campaign has been
successful and that it is time to install the ffiftastructure of
repression.
It is worth noting here that in September 1996, the former Federal
Minister of Justice, Sabina Leuthheusser-Schnarrenburger, criticised
measures proposed specifically against Scientologists as a tactic to
set aside "constitutional principles, the rule of law, [and] the
restriction of the authority of the State." In other words, the former
Federal Justice Minister is saying that the attacks against the seklen
are simply a device to dismantle constitutional safeguards for all
Germans. This is a very powerful statement bearing in mind that it
was made aclainst former colleagues in Helmut Koffl's cabinet. In the
conditions prevailing in Germany it show great strength of character.
Examples
***********
We end this section of the report with a number of examples which show
how the mechanism is reinforced by the system to ostracise targeted
individuals and groups. Our focus is on the German -overmnent because
of its ultimate responsibility for implementing, international human
rights agreements.
A) A booklet has been written and distributed to teachers by the
education authorities in the State of Bavaria. (29) It contains false
and derogatory information about various minority groups. Teachers
have to warn their pupils about the listed Seklen using the booklet.
This has resulted in school children drawing pictures of supposed
sekte members cutting open people's heads with a chainsaw taking out
their brains and washing them in a washing machine.
B) The Bavarian State has determined that, from the 1 st November
1996, anyone who is employed by the State of Bavaria must sign a form
(30) which states that they are not a member of the Church of
Scientology and have never done any courses in Scientology. If the
person refuses to sign the declaration they will be prohibited from
being employed by the State. It is not clear whethe-r this applies to
existing civil servants or to new applicants only.
The Federal government should be restraining the State governments.
The fact that it is not only not doing so but is giving a lead by such
discriminatory policies demonstrates the lack of moral leadership from
national figures and their apparent blindness to the dangers of the
present situation.
C) A "sektefilter" has also been issued by the Berlin
administration. (31) It requires every supplier of goods or services
to the state government to sign a declaration that they are not a
member of the Church of Scientology and have not have they done any
Selentology courses. The State of Hamburg has adopted a similar
declaration with the purpose of excluding Scientologists from business
relations, not only with the government, but also with other
31
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private business partners.
D) Two teachers in Hamburg who are members of VPM have been told
they will not be given permanent civil servant status. To deny civil
service status after the usual two years service is completely unheard
of.
E) The Bundestag has set up a parliamentary commission (the
Enquete Commission) to propose a catalogue of measures including
passing legislation to restrain "sekten " in Germany. The Federal
government is ,oina to publish a brochure which warns the public about
various new religions or denominations. Several groups have ongoing
court actions to force the government to take their name off the list.
We understand about twenty groups are listed whilst the Enquete
Commission is considering about 600 religious groups to be affected by
its future recommendations.
The membership of the Enquete Commission totals eighteen or twenty.
Half are members of the Bundestag and half are "sekte experts"
appointed by the Bundestag. There is no representative of any
minority religious croup nor any neutral academic who has studied the
sociology of religion as we understand the subject in Britain or
America. The 600 minority croups provisionally considered have not
been asked to present their case and are thus excluded from the
parliamentary debate or process.
In May of this year, sekte expert Ursula Caberta of the Hamburg State
Interior Ministry and Brigitte Dewald-Koch of the iunistry for
Culture, Youth, Family and Women of RhinelandPalatinate were listed as
speakers at a management counselling conference organised by a company
called Management Circle. (32) Its purpose was to warn business people
how to detect "sekle members" in their company. This shows clearly
how the government is actlvelv pushing its "dangerous sekten" message
into the private sector. The head of the Lutheran working croup for
religious and world outlook (weltanschauung) questions in Frankfurt,
Kurt-Helmuth Eimuth also spoke. The religious rrunorities targeted at
this conference were the Schovah's Witnesses, Universal Life and
Scientology. Two well known German companies, Lufthansa and BASF also
supplied speakers.
After the coffee break on 21 st May 1996 there was a practical example
of how the Warsteiner Brewery dealt with the "scurrilous" rumour that
they employed some people who are members of a "sekte". The session
title translates as "How does a company react to character
assassination and defamation" ie how does a company deny that it
employs members of sekte. From the subsection headings it is clear
that an intensive public relations campaign which included national
advertising was needed to restore public confidence in the brewery's
products.
We note from this that the government is inextricably involved in
advising the private sector how to deal with an imaginary danger which
the government itself has done much to create. The organiser of the
conference, Dr Steven Goldner has clearly tapped into a lucrative new
market which he personally helped to establish a "demand" for, and for
which he now offers his"solution" to the business community.
32
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CONCLUSIONS
*******************
*******************
We are astonished at the millions of deutschmarks and the thousands of
man hours that are being poured into this campaign against minority
religions. Our inescapable conclusion is that significant elements
witl-lin the state and church apparatus have been brought to bear on
these minority religions and philosophies in an attempt to destroy
them.
It dawned on us that we can only make sense of this intense effort if
it is the prelude to something else, something far bigger and more
important but we were unable to work out in the short time available
what this bigger project may be. The observation by the former
Federal Minister of Justice is a possibility to be considered in this
regard. We hope that our report wi 'H stimulate further research. It
may also be that readers of the report will identify a number of other
interesting areas. We also hope that the results of this research
will inform policy making in Europe and North America and set a trend
towards more tolerance and a pluralist society worthy of the title
"democracy.".
We end with an urgent plea for dialogue based on facts, reason and the
desire to advance the democratic process. We hope that the
Committee's visit to Germany and our report will focus the attention
of the International Community on what is taking place there. There
is already disquiet in international human rights organisations. It
is vital that the German government confronts the reality of what is
happening. In the Comrnittee's view, the situation has degenerated
beyond the point where private initiatives will be adequate to rectify
it. It needs the concerted attention of the democratic nations.
Nowhere in our report do we sugcest that events will inevitably follow
a slrffilar pattern to that of the thirties. That would be
unthinkable and, post holocaust, quite impossible. However t ere are
unquestionably comparisons that can be drawn regarding the persecution
of minorities and these are of considerable concern to the Committee.
In reality, the build up to the holocaust lasted as long as the
horrors which followed and this build up was orchestrated bv nazis.
During that time the propaganda machine rolled and the population was
prepared, carefully and systematically, to accept the final solution.
We have been struck by the parallels, not with the obscene horror of
that terrible fate which eventually came about, but with the
preparatory phase. We are left with the uneasy feeling that the
population is being prepared, systematically and carefully, for some
kind of total exclusion of these minority groups from-Germany.
It is evident that elements within Germany are progressively
increasing the pressure in their struggle against minority religions
and justifying each new imposition as the months go by. They may be
hopinc, and calculating that their targets are of insufficient concern
or importance to the rest of the world for any voices of protest to be
raised.
The members of the Committee, feel the need to point out that freedom
is indivisible and undertake to maintain a watching brief on the
situation. The German government is not only failing to fulfill its
obligations to protect the rights of minorities under the European
Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, it is also directly responsible for fostering a
climate of intolerance a-ainst them. Moral
33
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leadership is essential to discharge this responsibility but is
marhestly absent in the treatment of minority groups as a whole. On
the contrary the govermnent is leading a crusade against minority
religions and ideas. The consequences of this process will inevitably
be destructive for Germany as a modem democratic state.
The purpose of our report is to provide constructive criticism and
achievable recommendations in order that the German government can
ensure that the necessary improvements occur. European nations are
moving closer and closer to each other and it is important that
matters such as those we have brought to light are completely resolved
so that Europe can leave the past behind and enter the 21st century on
a strong, democratic foundation.
END
34
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ENDNOTES
1.
20 December, 1994 United Nations Report, from the United Nations
Special Rapporteur on the Application of the Declaration on
Elimination of all forms of Intolerance and Discrimination based on
Religion or Belief-
2.
15 December,1995 United Nations report entitled, "Application of the
Declaration on all forms of Intolerance and Discrimination based on
Relicion or Conviction.
3.
Around the World, The Rutherford Institute. "Handbook on Relicious
Liberty.
4.
Helsinki Watch/Human Rights report entitled, "Germany for Germans".
5.
Quoted from the book,"The Small Religious Communities," (author
unknown) in magazine for Evangelic (Lutheran) Church Law," 1953/1954
3rd Volume. Chapter: "Small Reliaous Communities in the State Church
Law of the National Socialistic Regime.
6.
November 1995, Charisma article, "German Charismatic Churches Face
Persecution. Threats of Violence."
7.
Selection of VPM's conference papers.
8.
"Relicious Apartheid: Germany, Volume 2.
9.
"Bunte" article of 22 August 1996. "How do I recognize a
Scientologist.
10.
"The Scientology Organization - Goals, Practices and Dangers"
published by the Federal Family Minister, Claudia Nolte.
11.
Administration Office Berlin; "Declaration of Tender/contractor
concerning Scientology."
12.
Membership Application for the CDU Political Party.
13.
CDU internal document: incompatibility of Scientology with CDU
membership.
14.
Bavarian Ministry for School, Culture, Science and Arts,
"Enlightenment about the Scientology Organisation.
15.
State Labour Office
16.
Parliament of the Federal State of Schleswig-Halstein, "Draft of a Law
to change the Federal State Data Protection Law.
17.
"Sri Chinmoy, A Global Man of Peace" extract, "With World
Leaders."
18.
Orden Fiat Lux letter dated 27tb- September 1996.
19.
"Art as Propaganda against Jews and Scientologists in Germany,"
Stephen C. Feinstein, Ph.D.
20.
Gerald Piego -: Phenomenon.
21.
Activities of Sects in the State of Schleswig Holstein.
22.
Amsterdam News,
23.
Hate and Propaganda publication, published by the Church of
Scientology. (German version)
24.
List of sect priests/commissioners - Catholic, Lutheran and State.
25.
Numers leaving the Lutheran and the Catholic Churches.
26.
"Von Hexen Und Hexenjaegern, " Dr Konrad Loew. Available from Dr Loew
on request.
27.
"Hexen und Hexenwahn," children's Book.
28.
Berlin Dialog Centre Conference Programme - 30 September to 3 October
1996.
29.
"Schulkulter" April 1996.
30.
Bavarian State civil service
31.
Berlin Contractors
32.
Management Circle
The documents referenced in these end notes, or parts of them as
appropriate, may be obtained from the Committee's rapporteur, Lord
McNair, House of Lords, London, SW1A OPW.
Joe Cisar
Tilman Hausherr wrote:
>
> REPORT OF THE AD HOC COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE DISCRIMINATION AGAINST
> RELIGIOUS AND ETHNIC MINORITIES IN GERMANY
> the sheer scale of prejudice, discrimination and even persecution
> which our witnesses recounted. Our initial reactions were
> astonishment and perplexity. What has astonished us is that, in a
> rich, democratic country certain rather unpleasant things seem to
> have been happening to members of what are officially categorized
> as insects".
Lord McNair ought to come over to a democracy like the United States
where we burn down the churches of the people we don't like.
Joe Cisar
reply to: iy...@cleveland.freenet.edu Xenu Mania
http://www.innernet.net/joecisar/conmenu.htm
The biggest men with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the
smallest men with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.
Tilman Hausherr
Here my response when I got this (I browsed quickly through it)
>Professors Konrad Loew and Walter Krumholz
W.K.'s son is a scientologist. It is unclear if he is one himself or
not. WK was involved in very shady businesses with his son.
>Orden Fiat Lux
That's the woman ("Uriella") who fell from a horse and now believes that
Jesus is speaking to her. She and her culties appear so funny, I could
scream. Sadly she is responsible for the death of several people (but
acquitted). She made money by selling bathwater contaminated with her
holy fingers. Hilarious.
Most of this stuff in the report comes from scientology. If I would
comment all this it would be twice as long. Sorry.
The report does not mention the many lost cases.
> Recent revelations about the wartime trade in
>"degenerate art" and art works deemed acceptable find another echo in
>today's Germany. 'this was highlighted in a recent publication called
>Art as Propaganda by Stephen Feinstein, Chairman, Department of
>History, University of Wisconsin. (19)
this was paid by scientology.
>There is no right to "mother-tongue" teaching in German schools, and
>policies set by the Lander (States) vary. Public libraries do not
>seem to stock books and audio-visual material 'm Kurdish, and Kurdish
>festivals - notably Navroz - are not allowed by the authorities. This
>last is in part because in the past the extremist group PKK have used
>the occasion to stage violent demonstrations. But mostly this lack of
>official provision for the Kurds is because officially, they are Turks
>(or Iranians or Arabs).
Why should people be educated in another language?! German is the
official language. I have also not heard of spanish schools in the US.
If we provide this for the Kurds, we would also have to do it for the
millions of other people who speak a foreign language, like
- french
- english
- turkish
- greek
- spanish
- italian
etc.
What does exist are schools with mixed languages.
Besides, this has nothing to do with religious persecution.
Tilman
--
Tilman Hausherr [KoX, SP4]
til...@berlin.snafu.de http://www.snafu.de/~tilman/#cos
Resistance is futile. You will be enturbulated. Xenu always prevails.
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