Church[sic] attacks new French anti-cult law
Jon Henley in Paris
Friday June 23, 2000
The French parliament yesterday adopted Europe's toughest anti-sect
legislation yet, creating a controversial new crime of "mental
manipulation" punishable by a maximum fine of £50,000 and five years
imprisonment.
The move was applauded by Alain Vivien, head of a government committee
that has identified 173 dangerous quasi-religious groups in France,
but was denounced by both the Church of Scientology and the
Unification Church as fascist, anti-democratic and in breach of basic
human rights laws.
Current French law, described as "inadequate to deal with increasingly
sophisticated and manipulative groups" by Catherine Picard, one of the
MPs who proposed the bill, allows sect activities to be caught by
prosecutions for traditional crimes such as incitement to murder,
sexual assault, fraud and the abuse of a vulnerable individuals.
The new law allows judges to order the dissolution of any sect whose
members are convicted of a criminal offence. It also bans sects from
advertising, and prohibits them from opening missions or touting for
new members near schools, hospitals or retirement homes.
But the law's key weapon is the new crime of mental manipulation,
defined as "exercising, within a group whose activities are aimed at
creating or exploiting psychological dependence, heavy and repeated
pressure on a person, or using techniques likely to alter his
judgment, so as to induce him to behave in a way prejudicial to his
interests".
A justice ministry spokeswoman said the legal definition had been
prepared carefully to ensure that it could not be applied to
legitimate churches. But some Catholic leaders have expressed
reservations about the law, saying that may lead to "over-zealousness
and judicial excess", as well as discrimination against genuine
religions.
"This is a steep and slippery slope for democracy," said Danièle
Gounord, a spokeswoman for the Scientologists, which is not recognised
as a religion in France. "In western Europe, the only regime so far to
pass a law on mental manipulation was the fascist government of
Mussolini, in an attempt to get rid of the communists."
French Assembly OKs Legislation to Control Sects Reuters Jun 22 2000 11:54AM ET PARIS (Reuters) - The French National Assembly unanimously passed a bill to crack down on sects Thursday, provoking protests from Scientologists and the Unification Church. The bill created a specific criminal offense of "mental manipulation," or brainwashing. It set up procedures for courts to ban a group regarded as a sect and said banned groups which re-formed under another name would face criminal sanctions. The bill also provides for sects, as well as individual members, to be punished for fraud, illegal practice of medicine, wrongful advertising or sexual abuse. Justice Minister Elisabeth Guigou hailed the bill as "a significant advance giving a democratic state the legal tools to efficiently fight groups abusing its core values." Minority religious groups reacted angrily. Danielle Gounod, spokeswoman for the Church of Scientology which is under close scrutiny by the French authorities, said the bill would "sound the death knell for French democracy." "I say: Watch out. Watch out for individual liberties. Such a law is extremely serious for individual freedom," she told a news conference. Unlike in the United States, Scientology is not regarded in France as a religion and members complain of harassment and persecution. Guigou has raised the prospect of banning it. Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church said France's attitude had caused protests across the world. The French bill, which still has to go through the Senate, had been proposed by an Interministerial Mission for the Fight Against Sects. The mission, in a report published last February, said there were some 200 sects in France, most of them well organized. It said those that rejected democracy and spread racist ideas had to be banned, called for states in Europe and elsewhere to prevent the development of sects and urged new legislation to fight attacks on national security such as the use of computer viruses.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/low/english/world/europe/newsid_802000/802070.stm BBC News Online: World: Europe Thursday, 22 June, 2000, 20:01 GMT 21:01 UK France moves to outlaw cults [photo] Solar Temple The French National Assembly has unanimously passed a bill banning cults, in the face of international criticism. The legislation, which still has to be approved by the Senate, makes "mental manipulation" or brainwashing a criminal offence. "A fascist exercise worthy of a totalitarian state" The Church of Scientology Religious minorities have condemned the proposed law as anti-democratic, while academics have branded it draconian. However, the Justice Minister, Elisabeth Guigou, hailed it as "a significant advance giving a democratic state the legal tools efficiently to fight groups abusing its core values". Legal history For the first time in France, the bill aims to define a cult in legal terms. It sets up procedures for courts to ban groups regarded as sects and allows for criminal sanctions on banned groups which re-form under other names. The bill also provides for sects and individual members to be punished for fraud, illegal practice of medicine, wrongful advertising or sexual abuse. The BBC Religious Affairs correspondent, Jane Little, says that France, which has blacklisted nearly 200 organisations as dangerous sects, has been at the forefront of a debate in Europe about how to deal with cults. Analysts say that pressure for the government to ban cults has grown since the mass suicide-murders of members of the Order of the Solar Temple in Switzerland and elsewhere in the mid-1990s. US criticism However, a US Government report last year raised questions about freedom of expression for new religious groups in France and several other European countries, including Germany. And last week, representatives of mainly American religious groups took out a full-page advertisement in the International Herald Tribune newspaper urging the government to withdraw the bill, or see France "compared to China" in its disrespect for human rights. cruise kidman The Church of Scientology, which believes it is one of the bill's targets, described the bill as a "fascist exercise worthy of a totalitarian state". Set up in the United States in 1954, the church claims 8 million members worldwide, including celebrities such as John Travolta and Tom Cruise and his wife Nicole Kidman. In February, a government committee recommended dissolving the church in France, on the grounds that its activities threatened public order. -- Damian J. Anderson <damian@unification.net> http://www.unification.net
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/World/Europe/2000- 06/anticult250600.shtml Churches in France oppose anti-cult law By John Lichfield in Paris 25 June 2000 When is a religion a sect? When can conversion, or evangelism, or even political campaigning, be described as "brainwashing"? The lower house of the French parliament last week adopted the first draft of Europe's most draconian law against religious sects. Three years ago the German government published a pamphlet accusing the Scientology sect of totalitarian tendencies, and several Länder have banned sect members from jobs in the public sector, but attempts to impose a wider ban in Germany have hit legal obstacles. If approved by the Senate or upper house, and then President Chirac, the French law would place a new criminal offence – "mental manipulation" – on the statute book. The intention is to allow the police and the parents of sect disciples to bring legal action against sects, even if the "victims" have made no complaint. The law would allow the French government to shut down sects convicted of mental manipulation on more than one occasion. However, the vagueness of the wording and the sweeping nature of the new law have set alarm bells ringing in mainstream French churches, as well as the headquarters of the Scientologists and the Moonies. "The role of the State is to protect religious liberty and guarantee its exercise, not to limit it," said Monseigneur Claude Dagens, the Roman Catholic bishop of Angoulême. "We want a laity which shows respect [for religion], not intolerance." Michel Bertrand, president of the council of Protestant churches in France (themselves persecuted in the not so distant past), said: "We will not move forward through repression, nor by casting suspicion on all forms of religious faith." He pointed out that the wording of the draft law could be interpreted as banning political campaigning. The draft law, proposed by Socialist members of the National Assembly but approved unanimously by deputies of all parties on Thursday, follows a parliamentary investigation into the proliferation of sects in France. Up to 500,000 French people are thought to belong to "new religions" or sects. The Scientologists are especially strong in France. However, the Socialist-led French government has itself expressed doubts about the wisdom and legality of the draft anti-sect law in its present form. The justice minister, Elisabeth Guigou, said the text might infringe the articles of the European Convention on Human Rights which guarantee liberty of belief, speech and association. She called for a "pause" before the text goes to the Senate, to seek the views of both human rights groups and churches. Under the text agreed on Thursday, it would be an offence to "exercise serious and repeated pressure on a person in order to create or exploit a state of dependence, which would lead the person, whether willingly or not, to act, or fail to act, in a way which would be gravely prejudicial to that individual". Danièle Gounord of the French Church of Scientology said the draft law was "the death-knell of democracy in France". Members of the Rael sect proclaimed that a "climate of persecution" now existed in France. As a result, they said, sect members would seek political asylum in the United States.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/0006/24/text/world16.html Mental manipulation now a crime as sects targeted Date: 24/06/2000
Paris: The French Parliament has adopted Europe's toughest anti-sect legislation, creating a controversial new crime of "mental manipulation" punishable by a maximum fine of $A125,000 and five years in jail. The move on Thursday was applauded by Mr Alain Vivien, the head of a government committee that has identified 173 dangerous quasi-religious groups in France, but was denounced by both the Church of Scientology and the Unification Church as fascist, anti-democratic and in breach of basic human rights laws. Current French law, described as "inadequate to deal with increasingly sophisticated and manipulative groups" by Ms Catherine Picard, one of the MPs who proposed the bill, allows sect activities to be caught by prosecutions for traditional crimes such as incitement to murder, sexual assault, fraud and the abuse of vulnerable individuals. The new law allows judges to order the dissolution of any sect whose members are convicted of a crime. It also bans sects from advertising, and prohibits them from opening missions or touting for new members near schools, hospitals or retirement homes. But the law's key weapon is the new crime of mental manipulation, defined as "exercising, within a group whose activities are aimed at creating or exploiting psychological dependence, heavy and repeated pressure on a person, or using techniques likely to alter his judgment, so as to induce him to behave in a way prejudicial to his interests". A Justice Ministry spokeswoman said the legal definition had been prepared carefully to ensure that it could not be applied to legitimate churches. But some Catholic leaders have expressed reservations about the law, saying it may lead to "over-zealousness and judicial excess", as well as discrimination against genuine religions. "This is a steep and slippery slope for democracy," said a spokeswoman for the Scientologists, whose beliefs are not recognised as a religion in France. "In western Europe the only regime ... to pass a law on mental manipulation was the fascist government of Mussolini." The Guardian
France aims at banning 'dangerous' sects United Press International June 23, 2000 PARIS, June 23 (UPI) -- French Justice Minister Elisabeth Guigou says a proposed French law legally defining cults and banning them -- only just approved by the National Assembly -- is a "significant advance for democratic states." The proposed statute won National Assembly approval Thursday and now needs only the final support of the French Senate before it is enacted. It has the backing of the Socalist-led government of Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. Guigou told French radio today the new law would arm the country with "appropriate legal tools needed to combat cults." The language in the legislation makes "mental manipulation" or brainwashing a criminal offence. The statute has come under fierce attack by various religious minorities -- most especially the Church of Scientology, which charges the statute as "anti-democratic." A spokeswoman for the Scientologists in France, Danihle Gounord, said Friday of the new law: "This is a steep and slippery slope for democracy. ... In western Europe, the only regime so far to pass a law on mental manipulation was the fascist government of Mussolini, in an attempt to get rid of the communists." Under the proposed new law, courts would have a particular procedure to follow by which groups could be defined as cults and banned and -- significantly -- kept under a ban even if they reform under a new name. A government committee in France has already branded 173 sects as what the called dangerous quasi-religious groups in the country. But both the Church of Scientology and the Unification Church have called such identification fascist, anti-democratic and a breach of basic human rights laws. The head of the government committee identifying so-called dangerous sects is Alain Vivien. And in February, he said there should be no total bans imposed on all sects, but that "extremely dangerous" organizations -- and he singled out the Church of Scientology in particular -- should be disbanded by government order. His committee report asserted French Scientology church leaders were manipulated by church headquarters in Los Angeles. Vivien also claimed Scientology in France included "underground activities led from abroad." The Church of Scientology has an estimated 30,000 members in France, among its estimated 8 million members worldwide. A sponsor of the measure, Catherine Picard, claims current French law is unable to address what she calls "increasingly sophisticated and manipulative groups." Just a week ago, representatives of largely American religious groups bought a full-page advertisement in the International Herald Tribune newspaper urging the government to back away from the proposed law. Support for any such law, the advertisement said, would result in France being "compared to China" in its disrespect for human rights. The Church of Scientology was established in the United States in 1954, and now has some celebrity members, including actors John Travolta and Tom Cruise and his wife. Nicole Kidman. The impetus for the new was the mass suicides of members of the Order of the Solar Temple in the mid-1990s, and allegations of extortion and brain-washing leveled at a number of other cults. According to one recent poll, 73 percent of French people believe sects are a danger to democracy, and 86 percent support banning the likes of such sects as the Church of Scientology or the Order of the Solar Temple.
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