the handling of the new spiritual movements by the french state

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The handling of new spiritual movements by the French state: the anomalies:

Over the centuries, the image of France has often swung between the“country of freedom” and the “birthplace of intolerance”. To quoteonly one example, the Saint-Barthélemy massacre, on 24th August

1572, was the result of campaigns of crazy rumours concocted againstProtestants. 30,000 of them perished in a few days throughout all of France. In the 1970s, associations specializing in the fight against New ReligiousMovements began to spring up in France. Intense lobbying, based on thespreading of fear of spiritual and religious minorities, allowed them to obtainpublic finance close to the figure of a million euros every year for themselvesas well as for the government structures that they inspired. The European Federation of Centers of Research and Information on the Cultphenomenon (FECRIS) was itself founded in France, born of that Franco-French sphere of influence whose action is tainted with intolerance. TheFECRIS has become the relay, on a European level, of these campaigns thatfight against minority movements. In 2006, the only public financial supportfor the FECRIS came, in fact, from the French Prime Minister. Militant groups, such as the FECRIS, frequently boast about the Frenchexperience which they claim is at the cutting edge as regards the fight againstminorities, as it has managed to create government instances and a newlegislation to “safeguard against the dangers of the new beliefs”. The reality on the field is however a long way from justifying the necessity ofthese extraordinary measures that violate freedom of belief.This brochure brings together the testimonies of some senior civil-servants whoare directly concerned, through their work, with the issue of the new spiritualand religious movements in France. Rumours have, since the 1970s, fuelled the tabloid-press and have oftenbeen the justification for the granting of significant funds to associations thatare fighting against the new spiritual and religious movements, and creatinga lot of suffering amongst their members.

As you will be able to see, these official testimonies nullify such rumours.

The official figures regarding the “cult problem” given by 5 ministries p. 5

Statement of Dominique de Villepin, Prime Minister,

to the National Assembly p. 7

Ministry of the Interior p. 11

Ministry of National Education p. 13

Ministry of Justice p. 15

Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Service p. 17

Ministry of Foreign Affairs p. 19

Others: ‘Renseignements generaux” (French Intelligence Service),

General Director of the National Police Force,

Justice, National Gendarmerie p. 20

Enquiry by the Ministry for Labour and Solidarity p. 25

State cost: in staff p. 29

State cost: in funding p. 31

Where does this alarmist information on new forms of spirituality

come from? p. 33

But what are the real problems that need to be addressed? p. 35

Conclusion p. 37

Summary

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The official figures regarding the “cult problem” given by 5 ministries

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“We noticed that it [the sectarian problem]was very marginal.”

Ministry of Justice (see page 15)

“No incident involving children.”

Ministry of the Interior (see page 11)

“During the past school year (…) 19,000 reports to the District Attorneys, concerning children who were believed to be in danger for variousreasons. When we asked the academy inspectorswhich, amongst these endangered children, were cases involving sectarian movements, they told us that there were 8.”

Ministry of National Education(see page 13)

“In the last three years […], we have not had any cases.”

Ministry of Youth, Sports andCommunity Service (see page 17)

“I have only found evidence of two cases.”

Ministry of Foreign Affairs(see page 19)

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On September 6th 2005 the Prime Minister, in response to aquestion asked by MP Philippe Vuilque, president of the study groupon cults, declared:

“Cases of physical or psychologicalmistreatment of minors relatingto the belonging of one or bothparents to a so-called sectarianmovement are extremely rare.”

Statement of Dominique de Villepin, Prime Minister, to the National Assembly

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From June to December 2006, a Parliamentary Enquiry Commissionquestioned many government officials on the situation of children within spiritual minorities in France.

Their statements are as follows:

Parliamentary Enquiry Commission

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Statement of Mr Didier LeschiHead of the Central Bureau of cultsTuesday October 17th 2006

“So, during a monitoring committee of the MIVILUDES, I requested that asurvey be made in cooperation with local health authorities and hospitalsin order to make a census of the facts constituting breaches of the peacerelated to blood transfusion refusals.The representative from the Ministry of Health within the decision-makingbody of the MIVILUDES told us, at that time, that such a census wasimpossible because, fearing legal proceedings, hospital management staffwould hesitate to report breaches of the peace. This explanation seems weak to me, especially if the lives of thousands ofchildren are at stake.The figure of 45,000 Jehovah’s Witness children has at times been putforward. Hospital workers are protected by their status and are obliged toreport criminal offences to the District Attorney. In light of this hearing, I asked the prefectures [regional governmentauthority] to count the number of incidents linked to bloodstransfusion over the past three years. A few incidents came to light,which were often resolved through discussion. No incident involvingchildren or lives considered at risk condition was noted.”

Source: report no. 3507 recorded at the Presidency of the National Assembly

on December 12th 2006. Summary of hearings – page 446

NB.The InterMinisterial Mission for Vigilance and Fight against Sectarian Abuses(MIVILUDES), created by decree on November 28th 2002, is under the authority of the Prime Minister.

Ministry of the Interior

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Statement of Mr Jean-Yves DupuisGeneral InspectorTuesday October 10th 2006

“In preparation for our hearing before your enquiry commission, wequickly carried out a survey with all our academy inspectors. During thepast school year, the academy inspectors and vice-chancellors of academy[regional education authority] made 19,000 reports to DistrictAttorneys concerning children who were supposed to be in dangerfor various reasons.When we asked the academy inspectors which were the casesinvolving sectarian movements amongst these endangered children,they told us that there were 8.”



Ministry of National Education

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Statement of Mr Thierry-Xavier GIRARDOT

Director of Legal Affairs at the Ministry for national education,higher education and research(Minutes of the session of October 10th 2006)

Mr Thierry-Xavier GIRARDOT:“The unit for the prevention of sectarian phenomena has prepared aquantitative report over the most recent period: the number of verificationscarried out, the number of formal demands to send children to school,etc. I do not know if we have data concerning the entire period since thelaw came into effect, but over the past year, we have counted slightlyfewer than 3,000 children schooled at home, carried out 1,119 checks, ofwhich 23 resulted in a formal demand to send the child to school in ateaching establishment, not generally for reasons related to sectarianism,but simply because the education provided by the family did not meet therequirements of the 1999 decree, henceforth codified in the regulatorypart of the education code.”

Mr Chairman:“Of these twenty- three children, exactly how many cases involvedthe sectarian phenomenon?”

Mr Thierry-Xavier GIRARDOT:“I’m not sure there was a single one…”

Source: report no. 3507 recorded at the Presidency of the National Assembly on December 12th 2006. Summary of hearings – page 334

National Education:

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Statement of Mme SANCYOffice of Legal affairs of legislation, Director of judicialprotection for youthTuesday October 3rd 2006

“Three years ago, in collaboration with a Judge for children, we carried outa survey in order to pinpoint statistically what the sectarian problemmight represent in the work of magistrates and educators, and wenoticed that it was very marginal in comparison with all the otherproblems that our administration has to handle for these sameminors, namely, problems of violence, of lack of schooling, ofprofessional integration and of domestic difficulties.”



Ministry of Justice

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Statement of Mr Joel BOUCHITE

Central Director of the “Renseignements generaux” (French

Intelligence Service), of the Ministry of the Interior and Territorydevelopment (Minutes of the session of October 4th 2006)

Mr Joel BOUCHITE:“In any case, 60,000 children within our national jurisdiction, that seemsa lot to me. In the course of our operations in the field, in the prefectures,with the national education administration, the DDASS (social servicesdealing with children), the recreational centers and all organisationsdealing with youth, we have never had 60,000 reports, nor even30,000, but at the most a few dozen…”

Source : report no. 3507 recorded at the Presidency of the National Assembly on December 12th 2006. Summary of hearings – page 329-330

Statement of Mr Michel GAUDIN

General Director of the National Police Force(Minutes of the session of October 11th 2006)

Michel GAUDIN:“I have the feeling that the phenomenon, whilst it is worrying in certainspecific cases involving children, is not a form of delinquency whichhas the scope to generate too much concern.”

Source: report no. 3507 recorded at the Presidency of the National Assembly on December 12th 2006. Summary of hearings – page 385-386

French Intelligence Service, National Police Force:


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Statement of Etienne MadrangesDirector of youth and popular educationWednesday October 18th 2006

“The minister has set up a national unit coordinated by the generalinspector. Representatives from the youth, sports and community serviceadministrations meet regularly. It hears experts, summons departmentalmanagers, and ensures that the minister’s policy of prevention is indeedcarried out.At a local level, we have appointed a correspondent in each department[administrative subdivision of France administered by a Prefect]. These correspondents forward information to us. But this is not enough.We regularly organize meetings with the regional directors for youth andsports.[…]The forwarding of information takes place via the correspondents, but also via our inspectors, who inspect sports establishments, vacation centers and recreational centers. Statistically, in the field of youth, we have very little informationforwarded to us. […] Statistically, over the past three years, we had no evidence ofminors being deliberately put at risk.”



Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Service

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Statement of Mme Françoise Le BihanDeputy Director of the Department for French people abroadand for foreigners in France (DFAE)Tuesday October 17th 2006

“Our department is in charge of everything relating to the consularprotection of French citizens abroad, and therefore of children. Thus it iswithin the entire perimeter of our actions that I looked for those aspectswhich might be of interest to your mission. To do so, I differentiatedbetween the illegal displacement of children, arranged marriages whichmay involve children, the help that we give to French children residingabroad who are in distress. Within this vast domain, I only foundevidence of two cases related to sectarian behavior: the first one, inCanada, which was all over the newspapers, is that of Mrs Getliffe and herchildren [Mrs Getliffe, a French mother, kidnapped her children who wereallowed to visit her during the holidays. The custody of the children hadbeen given to the divorced father, a member of a minority group living inCanada. She was sentenced to several months of imprisonment in thiscountry], the second, for which I do not wish to give names, involves thefather of a child whose mother took him to Switzerland.[…]Mr Chairman: Have you not been informed of reports of displaced children in ashrams inIndia?Mme Françoise le Bihan: No. For both of the departments which make up our administration, theone concerned with the implementing of conventions regarding legalcooperation and the other with consular protection, there have been nocases other than the two I have just mentioned.”


on December 12th 2006. Summary of hearings – page 4532-433

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

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Hearing with Mme Carola ARRIGHI de CASANOVA

Deputy Director of the Administration of judicial and civil affairsand Seal (DACS) at the Ministry of Justice(Minutes of the session of October 12th 2006)

Mme Carola ARRIGHI de CASANOVA:First of all, I must point out that two departments deal with the illegaldisplacement of children: the office for civil and commercial internationalassistance which deals with almost all of the international conventions,such as those regulating the obtaining of proof and the transmission ofjudicial acts, and the mission for assistance in international mediation forfamilies – the MAMIF – which was created in 2001 within my sub-department in order to try to resolve certain domestic conflicts, either incases where we haven’t been able to apply international conventions, or incases where we feel there is a possibility the parents will reach anagreement.I should say right away that we are hardly ever faced with situationsrelated to cults.”


Statement of Mr Michel RISPE

Head of the Office for civil and commercial internationalassistance at the Ministry for Justice(Minutes of the session of October 12th 2006)

Mr Michel RISPE:“To date not one file has been opened, amongst the five hundredfiles we have, in which there have been allegations of belonging to asectarian organization.”


Justice:

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Statement of General Guy PARAYRE

Director of the National Gendarmerie*(Minutes of the session of October 4th 2006)

Mr. Guy PARAYRE:“Associations interested in cults sometimes claim that 20,000 minorscould be under the influence of sectarian movements. The absence of anorm for precisely delineating the sort of situation in which it is reasonableto speak of the implication of these minors in such movementsnevertheless requires that we approach these figures with care.In any case, even if they only constitute the visible part of thephenomenon, the number of cases dealt with by the gendarmerie isat a much lower level than these estimations: since 2004, onlythirty-seven proceedings have been initiated by units of thegendarmerie.”


*A national force sharing various police duties

Gendarmerie nationale*:

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This file is also very illustrative, it was obtained by requesting the Ministry for Labour and Solidarity foraccess to administrative documents. In it we can find methods of investigation that are quite biased. On23rd June 1998, at the request of the Inter-ministerial Observatory on cults, a very alarmist set of files,mentioning serious potential risks, was sent to 32 General Councils [translator’s note : a General Council isan administrative body at county level] selected due to the presumed situation of children at risk in groupsdescribed as “cults”.Almost all of the answers from the General Councils show that the actual situations are completely theopposite of what the Observatory had estimated, and that the children aren’t faced with any difficulties,were in good health and led a life like that of other children.Here we present you with the answers from the General Councils that responded to the enquiry:

General Council of Alpes de Hautes Provence, letter dated 27 July 1998

“[…] do not compromise their health, their safety, their morality or theireducational conditions”“ In addition, given the above declaration, on 23rd January 1997, theChildren’s’ Judge dismissed the case for educational assistance concerningthese minors”

General Council of Alpes-Maritimes, letter dated 20 August 1998

“ [..] is the father of 3 children, the youngest of which, aged 15 years, wasexperiencing no difficulty”.“For the moment, this context hasn’t been the subject of any particularreport and the community [..] is unknown to the county social services.”

General Council of Bouches-du-Rhône, letter dated 30th July 1999

“The children are undergoing normal schooling”

General Council of Corrèze, letter dated 9th February 1999

“I hereby inform you that there are no minors living in ‘communities’ or cultcommunities in the county of Corrèze.”

General Council of Drôme, letter dated 18 December 1998

“A school inspection carried out in 1997 proved satisfactory.”

Enquiry by the Ministry for Labour and Solidarity

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General Council of Gironde, letter dated 1st October 1999

“After a fairly long period of observation by the Medico-Social Centre, I have received no information that would lead us to suspect cult practices.”

General Council of Isère, letter dated 18th August 1999

Group 1 “The children were in good health, their bodyweight was ratherabove the norm at birth. Everything was normal.”

Group 2 “No element of danger concerning the children was observed bythe social assistants of successive sectors, who intervened inthis community.”

General Council of Jura, letter dated 21st December 1998

“The enclosed social report currently makes no mention of any particulardifficulties.”

General Council of Haute-Loire, letter dated 13th November 1998

“The findings are that, in the local community, no suspicious way of life hasbeen noticed concerning the children who attend the school. The nursery ismedically monitored by an independent medical doctor.”

General Council of la Moselle, letter dated 24th September 1998

“The schooling and socialization of the children is proceeding according towhat is current normal practice. The same is true for medical care.”

General Council of la Saône et Loire, letter dated 10th February 1999

“All the children are attending school, in local schools, and these familiespose no particular problem.”

General Council of Tarn-et-Garonne, letter dated 10th February 1999

“As regards particularly those children residing in the Tarn et Garonneregion, whose families are involved in these structures, neither theneighborhood, nor the medico-social workers nor the schools have informedus of any particular problems in their regard.”

Enquiry by the Ministry for Labour and Solidarity

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The disinformation regarding spiritual minorities has led the Government to takeextraordinary measures, mobilizing all of the State’s services.

MIVILUDES : The office: 13 peopleSteering Committee: 26 peopleOrientation Committee: 30 people

70 training sessions, 2,000 people trained in 2005

Several trips abroad.

Source: MIVILUDES Report to the Prime Minister, 2006

A national network of “cult” correspondents:One or several ‘cult’ correspondents per ministryA county ‘watchdog’ cell in each Police County HeadquartersA ‘cult’ correspondent in each school administrative sectorA magistrate specializing in ‘cults’ in each Court of Appeal

National Assembly:Three Parliamentary Enquiry Commissions in 11 years

A permanent study group at the National Assembly

Source: National Assembly website

State cost: in staff

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Stabilizing public finances is, at present, and rightly so, a government priority as well asa concern for French citizens. The private anti-cult associations UNADFI, CCMM and FECRIS seem to be escaping thisrule and are neither subject to restriction nor inspection of their expenditure.

Private associations almost 100 % financed by the State or by the local authorities

U N A D F I

Ministry subventions 2005:

Membership dues and donations:Source: profit and loss accounts 2005

C C M M

Ministry Subventions 2001 (last available year):

Prime Minister’s subventionsFor the acquisition of new premises:

Membership dues for 2001:

Note: in 2001 the CCMM went into receivership and the premisespurchased with this Prime Minister’s subvention were sold off a fewmonths later to pay off the debts of the association.

Source: annual accounts 2001 and annexes

F E C R I S

Prime Minister’s subventions 2006:

Membership dues:

Source: report 3363, National Assembly

Note: in 2005 and 2006, according to our documentation, France was theonly state to finance this association.

State cost: in funding

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197,572.00 €

368,373.00 €1,954.00 €

700,000.00 €

50,000.00 €2,782.00 €

7,006.00 €

A limited but active group of militants are submerging parliamentarians,the government, the local authorities, the media, etc. with alarmistinformation.Amongst them we find: Jean-Pierre Brard, Georges Fenech, PhilippeVuilque, Catherine Picard.

Their messages have changed very little over the past 20 years. Below are some quotes which show their state of mind:

“Only a special legislation, establishing the offence of membership,…. would allow us to fight this phenomenon.”

Jean-Pierre Brard (MP), France Soir dated 27/12/95

“A cult misdemeanor must be created”

Jean-Pierre Brard, Télérama [translators note: this is a TV magazine]

31st January 1996

“We need an anti-cult law inspired by the law of 1936 againstfactious groups. This new text would recommend the pure andsimple prohibition of cults.”

Jean-Pierre Brard, 93 Hebdo 8/14 August 1997

“I’ve never had any dialogue with anyone whatsoever that was inany way connected with cult movements”.

Georges Fenech(President of the Parliamentary Enquiry Commission on cults — 2006),

Sud Radio 8th June 2007

“We have decided, in agreement with all the parliamentariansworking on a European level on this subject, to say what must notbe defined. Because the definition of the term ‘cult’, which in Franceis not legally defined, would allow cult movements to leave theframework of the definition” Catherine Picard, former MP,

author of the law of June 12, 2001 and president of the UNADFI.

Where does this alarmist information on new forms of spirituality come from ?

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R A P E

A rape every 2 hours 4,412 cases of rape committed on adults

Source: Ministry of the Interior, 2005

S U I C I D E

A suicide every 40 minutes160,000 attempted suicidesMore than 11,000 deaths per year

Source: infosuicide.org

D R U G T R A F F I C K I N G

An arrest every 5 minutes93,817 questionings for use of narcotics78,287 seizures of narcotic products

Source: National file of perpetrators of offences against legislation on narcotics (OCRTIS), 2006

S C H O O L V I O L E N C E

A serious incident every 6 minutes82,007 serious incidents reported in 2005/2006

Source: Department of Education data- SIGNA

R O A D A C C I D E N T S

ROAD ACCIDENTS 82,993 accidents involving personal injury — 105,980 injured4,942 killed

Source: Ministry of Interior - Road Safety, 2006

But what are the real problems that need to be addressed ?

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The facts recounted in this brochure confirm what our associationhas upheld since its creation : citizens members of spiritual andreligious minorities are perfectly integrated in French society. It is therefore unjust and unacceptable that actions of harassment betaken against them, actions that are financed by the taxpayer tothe extent of more than a million euros per year (this figure onlytakes the financing of the UNADFI, the CCMM, the FECRIS andthe MIVILUDES).

To attack spiritual and religious beliefs and practices representsa disturbance of the peace !

In its article 9, the European Convention for the Protection of HumanRights and Fundamental Freedoms stipulates: “Everyone has theright to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this rightincludes freedom to change his religion or belief and freedom,either alone or in community with others and in public or private,to manifest his religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice andobservance.”

Similarly, the Law of December 9, 1905 established the principle ofseparation between Churches and the State and guarantees freedomof religion, article 1: “The Republic ensures freedom of conscience.It guarantees the free exercise of worship, restricted only by thoselimitations decreed in the interest of preserving law and order.”

We hereby request the cessation of the discriminatory policy againstminority beliefs.

Conclusion

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Co-ordination of Associations and Individualsfor the Freedom of Conscience

The association Cap LC was created to defend opinion minorities; it is open to

individuals and associations of all obedience that share a profound attachment to

freedom of conscience. A witch hunt — initiated by a few people — is being carried out

in France against groups dealing with spiritual and personal enhancement, alternative

medicine and psychotherapy, new religious movements… CAP LC wants to create a

springboard of information, communication and action for individuals and groups

affected by the following issues: freedom of conscience, religious freedom, freedom of

therapy, freedom of conviction, freedom of thought, freedom of worship.

12, rue Campagne Première - 75014 Paris — www.coordiap.com

© CAP LC 2007 All rights reserved

the handling of the new spiritual movements by the french state

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