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LE SECTICIDE L'ANTI - SCIENTOLOGIE

(International Herald Tribune, édition américaine seule, 23/3/2000)

Dear M. Jospin, No doubt you read Le Monde. And thus, perhaps you saw an article about "an investigatory public hearing"recently held into human rights abuses committed by, among others, Alain Vivien, chairman of the "Interministerial Mission To Fight Against Sects (MILS)", part of your office. Some of us were on the expert panel at that hearing. Held at the Forum of Grenelle in Paris, it was attended by more than 300 people from 38 religious movements. Twenty-nine victims from throughout France testified about abuses suffered in their private and professional lives, all due to their religious beliefs. The French press described the atmosphere as "electric", but that description is, if anything, understated. What truly appalled us was that the outrageous human rights abuses we heard could actually be taking place in a democratic nation. It seemed that the ghost of U.S Senator Joseph McCarthy had come to haunt France. There are also other compelling historical parallels to what is happening today. We think of the shameful Revocation Edict of 1685, by which Louis XIV ended a period of relative tolerance for French Protestants and revived widespread religious persecution. Yet equally shameful, on December 16, 1999, a new "Revocation Edict" was maneuvered through the French Senate when a mere handful of its 321 members were present. Ironically, perhaps tellingly, it rejuvenates and expands a 1936 law authored by the infamous Pierre Laval, who became the Vichy government's leader under the Nazis and was executed as a collaborator in 1945. The new bill would give the authorities the

power, provided only that certain ill-defined conditions are met, to simply dissolve any religious, cultural or political organisation the government disagrees with. The Catholic Church, or any of France's political parties, having seen many from their ranks convicted and jailed, could be dissolved. As a member of the Senate observed, "A movement may be dissolved because a leader has twice been found guilty of writing bad checks for 10 francs." But make no mistake, the real target of the bill is religions whose beliefs and practices the government disagrees wirh -- the religions whose members so movingly told their stories of discrimination and abuse at the Forum of Grenelle. It is the latest escalation of religious intolerance begun with a 1996 Parliamentary Commission report which blacklisted 172 religious minorities, including Protestant and Catholic denominations, as "sects." The Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights have both held that governments have no right to make arbitrary distinctions between "sect" and "religion." Whereas the Swedish, Dutch and British governments have engaged in dialogue with minority faiths, your government has chosen to persecute them. France has a vital part to play in the nurturing of democratic principles throughout the world. We urge you to disband MILS, and instead adopt a policy of dialogue with minority faiths and not one of destruction. By so doing, you can restore France's reputation for freedom of religion, freedom of association and freedom of speech.

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"One by one, the movements...came to the bar to complain of 'sectarian harassment', of the 'new Inquisition'." --Le Monde, March 7. 2000

Nancy Lee Atkins Executive director Toledo Metropolitan Mission Toledo, Ohio, USA Ed Bloch Director, The Interfaith Alliance of New York State Latham, New York, USA Lee Boothby International Commission for Freedom of conscience Washington, D.C., USA James S. Burton Executive, Greater Dayton Christians Connections Dayton, Ohio, USA The Rev. Machrina L. Blasdell Executive Director, Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County Walnut Creek, California, USA Mary Lu Bowen Executive Director, New York State Council of Churches Albany, New York, USA The Rev. Mamie Bryant Presiding Pastor, Hollis Avenue United Church of Christ Hollis, New York, USA The Rev. Dr. Calvin OButts President, Council of Churches of the City of New York Pastor, Abyssinian Baptist Church New York, USA

Dr. Derek Davis Director, J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Relations Baylor University Waco, Texas, USA Prof. Francis Dessart Council for Human Rights and Religious Freedom Belgium James V. Dougans Ministry Coordinator Indiana Partners for Christian Unity and Mission Indianapolis, Indiana, USA Willy Fautre Human Rights Without Frontier Belgium Dan Fefferman Executive Director International Coalition for Religious Freedom Washington, D.C., USA The First Church of Christ Scientist Boston, Massachussets, USA Rabbi Kenneth Fradkin New Jersey Mr. John Patrick Gilroy Chair, Peace with Justice Broome County Council of Churches Binghamton, New York, USA

Arthur I. Golden Clerk of Session, First Presbytarian Church in Jamaica Jamaica, New York, USA Imam Baqui Hamed Host, "Al-Islam in America" New York, NY, USA The Rev. Robert E. Hanson Executive Director Interreligious Council of Central New York Syracuse, New York, USA The Rev. Gary L. Harke Executive Director Pennsylvania Council of Churches Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA The Rev. Dr. John E. Hiemstra Executive Director Council of Churches of the City of New York New York, NY, USA Pastor Robert Hostetter First Pastor of Protestant Liberal Church in Brussels and head of the Protestant Federal Radio/TV Emissions Belgium The Rev. Dr. Arleon L. Kelley Retired Executive Steward New York Fellowship of Churches Past President National Association of Ecumenical and Interfaith Staff Albany, New York, USA

Mr. Stan Koehler Managing Director Meditation Awareness Network New York, NY, USA Joël La Bruyère President of Omnium des Libertés Paris, France The Rev. Charles R. Landon, Jr. Executive Director, Churches United of the Quad City Area Rock Island, Illinois, USA Mikhaïl Levdansky Rabbinical Scholar New York, NY, USA Dr. James Lewis Department of Religious Studies University of Wisconsin Madison, Wisconsin, USA The Rev. N.J. L'Heureux, Jr. Executive Director, Queens Federation of Churches Richmond Hill, New York, USA Secretary/Moderator Committee on religious Liberty National Council of Churches of Christ in USA Dr. Franklin H. Littell Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies Richard Stockton College of New Jersey Pomona, New Jersey, USA

Dr. David Little Harvard Divinity School Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA The Rev. Allen D. MacLean President, Queens Federation of Churches Richmond Hill, New York, USA The Rev. James C. Miller Executive Minister Rhode Island State Council of Churches Providence, Rhode Island, USA The Rev. James Murphy Coordinator Capital Region Ecumenical Organization Scotia, New York, USA The Rev. Jim Nicholls "Voice of Freedom" USA The Rev. Jon Norton Executive Minister Synod of New York Reformed Church in America Tarryton, New York, USA The Venerable Piyatasse President Buddhist Council of New York New York, NY, USA The Rev. Dr. John L. Pratt President, Brooklin Council of churches Brooklin, New york, USA

Abdelkader Rhamani President Berbere Academy of Exchange and Cultural Research France The Rev. George Robertson Professor of Religion Maryland Bible College, USA Melissa Rogers General Counsel Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs Washington, D.C., USA Daoud Rosser-Owen President Association for British Muslims London, England Kheled Saffuir Islamic Institute Washington, D.C., USA Irving Sarnoff Founder Friends of the United Nations Los Angeles, California, USA The Rev. Dr. Lars J. Silverness Chaplain Emeritus JFK Protestant Chapel JFK International Airport New York, USA

The Right Reverend Francis C. Spataro, D.D. Bishop Visitor, St Peter & St Paul Independant Evangelical Lutheran Church Astoria, New York, USA John M. Swomley, Ph.D President Americans for Religious Liberty Kansas City, Missouri, USA The Rev. Msgr. Hilarios Ungerer, D.D. Archbishop, Free Catholic Church in Germany Munich, Germany The Rev. K.Gordon White Associate General Secretary Consultation on church Union Lowell, Massachussetts, USA The Rev. DR. G.S. Wilson Professor of humanities Strayer University Virginia, USA The Rev. Wesley H. Wakefield Bishop-General The Bible Holiness Movement Vancouver, B.C., Canada The Rev. Hugh Wire Retired Presbytarian Church (USA) Berkeley, California, USA

(affiliations are for identifications purpose only)