French Parliamentary Commission of investigation of Cults activities
Encyclopedia
The French National Assembly
, the lower house of the Parliament of France
, set up a Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France on 11 July 1995 following the events involving the members of the Order of the Solar Temple
in late 1994 in the French region of Vercors
, in Switzerland
and in Canada
. Chaired by deputy Alain Gest, a member of the Union for French Democracy
conservative party, the Commission had to determine what should constitute a cult
. It came to categorize various groups according to their supposed threat or innocuity (towards members of the groups themselves or towards society
and the state
). The Commission reported back in December 1995.
Some non-French-citizens and certain organizations, including the Church of Scientology, criticized its categorization-methodology as such. The Parliamentary Commission always bore in mind the difficulties of establishing any objective
classification, although it never called into question the actual ethical and political imperatives of doing so, especially in the wake of the Order of the Solar Temple "mass suicides" and other dangerous cult activities occurring around the world (such as, for example, the 1995 poison-gas attack in Tokyo's subway by the Aum Shinrikyo
group). The Commission held various hearings with persons involved in new-religious-movement activities or involved in anti-cult movement
s, and had the French secret service
Renseignements Généraux give it lists of NRM activities and memberships. (For an expurgated, alphabeticized list of entities (with name-translations) included in the 1995 report, see List of groups referred to as cults in government reports)
Subsequent French Parliamentary Commissions on cults reported in 1999 and in 2006.
In a 2005 circulaire
which stressed ongoing vigilance in the fight against cults, the then-Prime Minister of France suggested that due to changes in cult behavior and organization, the list of specific cults (which formed a part of the 1995 report) had become less pertinent. The Prime Minister asked his civil servants in certain cases to avoid depending on generic lists of cult groups but instead to apply criteria set in consultation with the Interministerial Commission for Monitoring and Combating Cultic Deviances (MIVILUDES
).
. A report had already been done on this issue in 1983 by Alain Vivien
, on a request by the Prime Minister
.
The 1995 Commission attempted to measure the magnitude of the cult phenomenon at that time and compiled a list of 173 cults which met at least one of the ten criteria of dangerousness defined by the Direction centrale des renseignements généraux. However, it was not a definitive or exhaustive list. The day after the publication of the report, namely on 23 December 1995, the bodies of 16 victims of "collective suicide" of the Solar Temple were found, which contributed in giving to the report a particular resonance, although it did not mention the Ordre of the Solar Temple in its list.
Following this report, a Observatoire interministériel sur les sectes was established in 1996, then in 1998, the Government developed a new inter-ministerial organization, the Mission interministérielle de lutte contre les sectes (MILS), which was later replaced by the MIVILUDES. It therefore published its own studies, which are frequently confused with the parliamentary reports.
The second Parliamentary Commission on cults published its second report in 1999, and is commonly known as "parliamentary report on cults and money". It was intended to make an inventory of financial, inheritancial and tax situation of cults, their economic activities and their relationships with the business community.
In 2001, the About-Picard law
strengthened legislation against cults.
In 2006, the National Assembly of France decided to create a new parliamentary commission about the influence of cults and the consequences of their practices on the physical and mental health of minors.
In 2008, a Union for a Popular Movement
deputy, Jacques Myard
, submitted a proposal for a parliamentary commission on cults, especially in medical and paramedical fields.
, vice-chairman of the Commission, considered that the propositions were "insufficient" and wanted to adopt a "special legislation" to effectively fight against dangerous cults. He said: "This vote is thus not representative of the whole commission. If I had been present, I would have abstained." The rules of the National Assembly say the report is still valid regardless of the number present.
was the most important source of information.
Given the difficulty of defining the concept of cult, the Commission decided to resume the criteria followed by the Direction centrale des renseignements généraux, which it considers as "a body of evidence, each of which could lead to lengthy discussions."
The Commission believes that it "was aware that neither the novelty nor the small number of followers, or even eccentricity could be retained as criteria" and explains: "The scope of its study has been voluntarily restricted to a certain number of associations gathering, usually around a spiritual leader, people sharing the same belief in a being or a number of transcendental ideas, situated or not at odds with "traditional" religions (Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist) which were excluded from this study, and on which have, at one time or another, been suspected of any activity contrary to public policy or individual freedoms."
Mindful not to give a result exactly impartial, the Commission nevertheless chose these criteria to conduct a partial analysis of reality, holding the common sense that the public ascribes to the notion of cult.
The published report of the Parliamentary Commission of 1995 (also known as the Rapport Gest-Guyard), appeared on 22 December 1995. It remains to one of the few official attempts in the world to categorize various movements according to the potential threat they may present.
One of the first criticism came from Bishop Jean Vernette
, the national secretary of the French episcopate to the study of cults and new religious movements, which stressed that these criteria can be applied to almost all religions. Moreover, sociologists like Bruno Étienne
emphasized that the mental manipulation should not be defined by the policemen of the Renseignements généraux. The list of cults was based on the criteria defined by the Renseignements généraux, but without specifying which of their practices are specifically criticized.
In addition, the secrecy of the work made by the RG led to questions about the presence or absence of certain organizations in the list. Bruno Étienne questioned on the presence of the CEDIPAC SA company, formerly known as European Grouping of Marketing Professionals
(GEPM), while its activity is not in the religious field. The absence of Opus Dei
or the Freemasons also raised questions.
In addition, Yves Bertrand, General Director of the Renseignements généraux from 1992 to 2003, spoke in 2007 about his collaborative work with the parliamentary reports on cults, and believed that Scientology and Jehovah's Witnesses do not deserve to be diabolized and "to put on the same level some companies of thought and genuine cultic movements that alienate the freedom of their members, the result is the opposite of the desired goals".
, this work, "which was released after eight years of proceedings, only includes a form of presentation and a list their places of worship."
The Church of Scientology obtained access to documents of the Renseignements généraux, and its spokesman said: "There was nothing in the files."
The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God
also obtained the right of access to the file made by the Renseignements Généraux which justified its classification as cults in the parliamentary report. In a decision of 1 December 2005 validated by the Council of State, the Administrative Court of Appeal in Paris overturned the refusal of the Minister of Interior to grant the request of the association and ordered the files release.
The French branch of Tradition, Family Property
complained to its impossibility to rectify the report, saying: "The list established in the Report (...) contained similar unfair qualifications to certain groups falsely pinned as cult, with all appalling consequences for their members and their activities, the list being widely published in the media. But none of them had been heard. No one could get any rehabilitation or a new decision because no authority is recognized qualified to take over the case. The thing is serious in a State of law and there is concern that it may renew itself by other means."
, Jean-Pierre Raffarin
, issued a circulaire
which stressed that the government must exercise vigilance in taking account of the evolution of the cult-phenomenon, which (he wrote) made the list of movements attached to the Parliamentary Report of 1995 less and less pertinent, based on the observation that small groups form in a scattered, more mobile and less-easily identifiable manner, making use in particular of the possibilities of spreading offered by the Internet.
The Prime Minister asked his civil servants to update a number of instructions issued previously, to apply criteria set in consultation with the Interministerial Commission for Monitoring and Combating Cultic Deviances (MIVILUDES
), and to avoid falling back on lists of groups for the identification of cultic deviances.
, At the Heart of the Communication, Prima Verba, Energo-Chromo-Kinese
). The report said that the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Church of Scientology were the richest "cults", whose annual budget reached respectively 200,000,000 and 60,000,000 FF (about 30,500,000 € and 9,147,000 €). Sōka Gakkai, Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis
, Sukyo Mahikari
, New Apostolic Church
, Unification Church
, Dianova, Association of the Triumphant Vajra (Mandarom) and Anthroposophy
had an annual income between 20 and 50,000,000 FF (approximately between 3,000,000 € 7,600,000 €).
, a complaint for defamation was filed against the president of the parliamentary commission Jacques Guyard. The Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris said that Guyard was "unable to justify of a serious investigation" to support his allegations, that he "repeatedly referred to "secret" nature of the work of the commission," and that "the contradictory nature of the investigation conducted just consisted of sending a questionnaire to sixty movements considered as cultic." In addition, "the judges felt that the injury of plaintiffs was "important (...) since the defamatory statements were made by a deputy president of the commission, whose authority and competence could not been doubted by the public". In September 2001, the Cour d'Appel de Paris maintained this conclusion but Jacques Guyard obtained his discharge on the ground of good faith.
s to political parties
in the US.
The 2000 annual report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
, released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
of the U.S. Department of State, stated:
The 2004 report concluded with an assessment that the restructuring of the main French agency concerned with this issue (referring to the new MIVILUDES
replacing its predecessor, the Mission Interministérielle pour la Lutte contre les Sectes [Interministerial Commission to Combat the Cults] (MILS)), had reportedly improved religious freedoms in France.
, from the UDF
, and others, stated that "certain people had believed that they could celebrate a so-called turning-point in the French policy of defending individual and collective liberties against the dangerous conduct of cults and a renewed questioning of the parliamentary reports of 1995 and 1999, as a result of the appearance of the Prime Minister's circulaire."
The spokespersons said that the issue addressed by the Prime Minister related to the data collected in 1995 and 1999 becoming stale.
They added that setting up a new Commission of Enquiry would permit a "coming to grips with a new state-of-play in the cultic movement".
On 28 June 2006, in response to a unanimous resolution of the Law Commission (commission des lois), the French National Assembly unanimously passed a resolution to set up a Parliamentary Commission of Enquiry into the influence of cultic movements and the consequences of their practices on the physical and mental health of minors. The 30 members of the Commission included Georges Fenech (President), Philippe Vuilque (rapporteur), Martine David and Alain Gest (Vice-Presidents) and Jean-Pierre Brard
and Rudy Salles (Secretaries).
The Commission presented its report to the Assembly on 19 December 2006. The report contained 50 recommendations which aimed to protect endangered children. The President of the Commission of Enquiry, George Fenech, accused public officials (and especially the bureau des cultes of the Ministry of the Interior, of "negligence, even complaisance". He expressed his astonishment at the lack of a good definition of the profession of psychotherapeutics, which he described as a "mine for cults" where gurus flourish.
French National Assembly
The French National Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of France under the Fifth Republic. The upper house is the Senate ....
, the lower house of the Parliament of France
Parliament of France
The French Parliament is the bicameral legislature of the French Republic, consisting of the Senate and the National Assembly . Each assembly conducts legislative sessions at a separate location in Paris: the Palais du Luxembourg for the Senate, the Palais Bourbon for the National Assembly.Each...
, set up a Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France on 11 July 1995 following the events involving the members of the Order of the Solar Temple
Order of the Solar Temple
The Order of the Solar Temple also known as Ordre du Temple Solaire in French, and the International Chivalric Organization of the Solar Tradition or simply as The Solar Temple was a secret society based upon the modern myth of the continuing existence of the Knights Templar...
in late 1994 in the French region of Vercors
Vercors
Vercors is an upland district in the south-east of France:* Vercors Caves, a set of long caves* Vercors Plateau, a range of mountains and plateaus in the department of Isère, French Alps* Vercors Regional Natural Park, a protected area of southeastern France...
, in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Chaired by deputy Alain Gest, a member of the Union for French Democracy
Union for French Democracy
The Union for French Democracy was a French centrist political party. It was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to counterbalance the Gaullist preponderance over the right. This name was chosen due to the title of Giscard d'Estaing's...
conservative party, the Commission had to determine what should constitute a cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
. It came to categorize various groups according to their supposed threat or innocuity (towards members of the groups themselves or towards society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
and the state
Sovereign state
A sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...
). The Commission reported back in December 1995.
Some non-French-citizens and certain organizations, including the Church of Scientology, criticized its categorization-methodology as such. The Parliamentary Commission always bore in mind the difficulties of establishing any objective
Objectivity (philosophy)
Objectivity is a central philosophical concept which has been variously defined by sources. A proposition is generally considered to be objectively true when its truth conditions are met and are "mind-independent"—that is, not met by the judgment of a conscious entity or subject.- Objectivism...
classification, although it never called into question the actual ethical and political imperatives of doing so, especially in the wake of the Order of the Solar Temple "mass suicides" and other dangerous cult activities occurring around the world (such as, for example, the 1995 poison-gas attack in Tokyo's subway by the Aum Shinrikyo
Aum Shinrikyo
Aum Shinrikyo was a Japanese new religious movement. The group was founded by Shoko Asahara in 1984. The group gained international notoriety in 1995, when it carried out the Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway....
group). The Commission held various hearings with persons involved in new-religious-movement activities or involved in anti-cult movement
Anti-cult movement
The anti-cult movement is a term used by academics and others to refer to groups and individuals who oppose cults and new religious movements. Sociologists David G...
s, and had the French secret service
Secret service
A secret service describes a government agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For instance, a country may establish a secret service which has some...
Renseignements Généraux give it lists of NRM activities and memberships. (For an expurgated, alphabeticized list of entities (with name-translations) included in the 1995 report, see List of groups referred to as cults in government reports)
Subsequent French Parliamentary Commissions on cults reported in 1999 and in 2006.
In a 2005 circulaire
Circulaire
In France, Italy, Belgium, and some other civil law countries, a circulaire , circolare or omzendbrief consists of a text intended for the members of a service, of an enterprise, or of an administration....
which stressed ongoing vigilance in the fight against cults, the then-Prime Minister of France suggested that due to changes in cult behavior and organization, the list of specific cults (which formed a part of the 1995 report) had become less pertinent. The Prime Minister asked his civil servants in certain cases to avoid depending on generic lists of cult groups but instead to apply criteria set in consultation with the Interministerial Commission for Monitoring and Combating Cultic Deviances (MIVILUDES
MIVILUDES
MIVILUDES , a French government agency, has the task of:* observing and analyzing movements perceived as constituting a threat to public order or that violate French law*...
).
History
The first Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France was created in 1995, but the cults had long been watched by the Direction centrale des renseignements générauxDirection centrale des renseignements généraux
The Direction Centrale des Renseignements Généraux , often called Renseignements Généraux , was the intelligence service of the French police, answerable to the Direction Générale de la Police Nationale , and, ultimately, the Ministry of the Interior...
. A report had already been done on this issue in 1983 by Alain Vivien
Alain Vivien
Alain Vivien is a French Socialist Party politician, best known for chairing the French Mission Interministérielle pour la Lutte contre les Sectes, MILS, a ministerial organism designed to observe the activities of various religious organizations defined as "Sectes" .-Early career:He was mayor of...
, on a request by the Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
.
The 1995 Commission attempted to measure the magnitude of the cult phenomenon at that time and compiled a list of 173 cults which met at least one of the ten criteria of dangerousness defined by the Direction centrale des renseignements généraux. However, it was not a definitive or exhaustive list. The day after the publication of the report, namely on 23 December 1995, the bodies of 16 victims of "collective suicide" of the Solar Temple were found, which contributed in giving to the report a particular resonance, although it did not mention the Ordre of the Solar Temple in its list.
Following this report, a Observatoire interministériel sur les sectes was established in 1996, then in 1998, the Government developed a new inter-ministerial organization, the Mission interministérielle de lutte contre les sectes (MILS), which was later replaced by the MIVILUDES. It therefore published its own studies, which are frequently confused with the parliamentary reports.
The second Parliamentary Commission on cults published its second report in 1999, and is commonly known as "parliamentary report on cults and money". It was intended to make an inventory of financial, inheritancial and tax situation of cults, their economic activities and their relationships with the business community.
In 2001, the About-Picard law
About-Picard law
The 2001 About-Picard law [abu pika:r] , a piece of French legislation, broadly speaking, makes it possible to act against organisations when such organisations have become involved in certain crimes...
strengthened legislation against cults.
In 2006, the National Assembly of France decided to create a new parliamentary commission about the influence of cults and the consequences of their practices on the physical and mental health of minors.
In 2008, a Union for a Popular Movement
Union for a Popular Movement
The Union for a Popular Movement is a centre-right political party in France, and one of the two major contemporary political parties in the country along with the center-left Socialist Party...
deputy, Jacques Myard
Jacques Myard
Jacques Myard is a member of the National Assembly of France. He represents the Yvelines department, and is a member of the Union for a Popular Movement.-References:...
, submitted a proposal for a parliamentary commission on cults, especially in medical and paramedical fields.
Commission of 1995
Its report was unanimously adopted on 20 December 1995 by the 7 deputies who were present (out of 21; the other members had not received their notification because of a postal service strike). Jean-Pierre BrardJean-Pierre Brard
Jean-Pierre Brard, , is a French politician.-Biography:Initially a teacher, he entered politics and was elected was deputy mayor of Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis a post he held until 1984, when he was elected mayor of the same city. He remained mayor until March 2008. He has also been a deputy to...
, vice-chairman of the Commission, considered that the propositions were "insufficient" and wanted to adopt a "special legislation" to effectively fight against dangerous cults. He said: "This vote is thus not representative of the whole commission. If I had been present, I would have abstained." The rules of the National Assembly say the report is still valid regardless of the number present.
Definition of "cult"
The report says: "Twenty hearings were conducted in these conditions, for a total of twenty-one hours. They have allowed the Commission to take note of information, experience and analysis of people having, for various reasons, a thorough knowledge of the cult phenomenon, whether administrators, doctors, lawyers, clergymen, representatives of organizations that assist victims of cults, and of course, former members of cults and leaders of cultic associations. The Commission has also requested assistance from various agencies in an attempt to refine the best knowledge of the scope of his study." The Minister of the InteriorMinister of the Interior (France)
The Minister of the Interior in France is one of the most important governmental cabinet positions, responsible for the following:* The general interior security of the country, with respect to criminal acts or natural catastrophes...
was the most important source of information.
Given the difficulty of defining the concept of cult, the Commission decided to resume the criteria followed by the Direction centrale des renseignements généraux, which it considers as "a body of evidence, each of which could lead to lengthy discussions."
- Threats to people:
- mental destabilization;
- exaggerated financial demands;
- separation from one's home environment;
- damage to physical integrity;
- indoctrination of children;
- Threats to the community:
- more or less anti-social speech;
- public disorder;
- importance of judicial involvements;
- possible diversion of traditional economic circuits;
- attempts to infiltration of public powers.
The Commission believes that it "was aware that neither the novelty nor the small number of followers, or even eccentricity could be retained as criteria" and explains: "The scope of its study has been voluntarily restricted to a certain number of associations gathering, usually around a spiritual leader, people sharing the same belief in a being or a number of transcendental ideas, situated or not at odds with "traditional" religions (Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist) which were excluded from this study, and on which have, at one time or another, been suspected of any activity contrary to public policy or individual freedoms."
Mindful not to give a result exactly impartial, the Commission nevertheless chose these criteria to conduct a partial analysis of reality, holding the common sense that the public ascribes to the notion of cult.
The published report of the Parliamentary Commission of 1995 (also known as the Rapport Gest-Guyard), appeared on 22 December 1995. It remains to one of the few official attempts in the world to categorize various movements according to the potential threat they may present.
Controversies on the criteria and sources
The criteria chosen by the Renseignements généraux to establish the dangerousness of a movement were criticized, because they are considered as vague and may include many organizations, religious or not.One of the first criticism came from Bishop Jean Vernette
Jean Vernette
Jean Vernette , was a French priest of the diocese of Montauban. In 1973, he was appointed national secretary of the French episcopate for the study of cults and new religious movements. He published several books on cults and new therapies...
, the national secretary of the French episcopate to the study of cults and new religious movements, which stressed that these criteria can be applied to almost all religions. Moreover, sociologists like Bruno Étienne
Bruno Étienne
Bruno Étienne was a French sociologist and a political analyst. He was a specialist of Algeria, Islam and anthropology of the religious fact....
emphasized that the mental manipulation should not be defined by the policemen of the Renseignements généraux. The list of cults was based on the criteria defined by the Renseignements généraux, but without specifying which of their practices are specifically criticized.
In addition, the secrecy of the work made by the RG led to questions about the presence or absence of certain organizations in the list. Bruno Étienne questioned on the presence of the CEDIPAC SA company, formerly known as European Grouping of Marketing Professionals
European Grouping of Marketing Professionals
The European Grouping of Marketing Professionals, widely named GEPM, then renamed CEDIPAC SA, was a multi-level marketing company founded in U.S. in 1988 by Jean Godzich, a former member of Amway. In France, its headquarters were based in Fleury-sur-Andelle, Eure, and it employed approximately 360...
(GEPM), while its activity is not in the religious field. The absence of Opus Dei
Opus Dei
Opus Dei, formally known as The Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei , is an organization of the Catholic Church that teaches that everyone is called to holiness and that ordinary life is a path to sanctity. The majority of its membership are lay people, with secular priests under the...
or the Freemasons also raised questions.
In addition, Yves Bertrand, General Director of the Renseignements généraux from 1992 to 2003, spoke in 2007 about his collaborative work with the parliamentary reports on cults, and believed that Scientology and Jehovah's Witnesses do not deserve to be diabolized and "to put on the same level some companies of thought and genuine cultic movements that alienate the freedom of their members, the result is the opposite of the desired goals".
Controversies on the files content
Some movements have sought access to documents that led to their classification from the list of cults by the parliamentary commission. They State refused, invoking the risk to public safety and security of the State in case of disclosure of information from Renseignements généraux. Several movements engaged in legal proceedings that lasted several years before they can access these secret documents. The Association of Jehovah's Witnesses won finally succeeded in 2006, after the demand was filed to the Council of State. The first judgments on this issue were given in 2005 by the Administrative Court of Appeal of Paris after examining the documents to assess the merits of the refusal of the Ministry of Interior, who mentioned the risk to public safety. On 3 July 2006, the Council of State rejected the appeal of the Minister of Interior and confirmed the same day the annulment of the decision of the Minister of Interior who refused to provide to the Christian Federation of Jehovah's Witnesses the documents made by the Renseignements généraux for the second report. On 18 December 2006, at a press conference in Paris, Jehovah's Witnesses released the files prepared by the Renseignements généraux for the Commission on cults in 1995. According to Le MondeLe Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
, this work, "which was released after eight years of proceedings, only includes a form of presentation and a list their places of worship."
The Church of Scientology obtained access to documents of the Renseignements généraux, and its spokesman said: "There was nothing in the files."
The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God
Universal Church of the Kingdom of God
Universal Church of the Kingdom of God is a Pentecostal Christian organisation established in Brazil on July 9, 1977, with a presence in many countries...
also obtained the right of access to the file made by the Renseignements Généraux which justified its classification as cults in the parliamentary report. In a decision of 1 December 2005 validated by the Council of State, the Administrative Court of Appeal in Paris overturned the refusal of the Minister of Interior to grant the request of the association and ordered the files release.
Lack of contradictory debate
The parliamentary report was strongly criticized by U.S. officials. In 1999, a report on religious freedom around the world conducted by the State Department accused it of not having heard the groups accused and the lack of contradictory debate.The French branch of Tradition, Family Property
American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property
The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property is a civic organization of traditional Roman Catholic inspiration...
complained to its impossibility to rectify the report, saying: "The list established in the Report (...) contained similar unfair qualifications to certain groups falsely pinned as cult, with all appalling consequences for their members and their activities, the list being widely published in the media. But none of them had been heard. No one could get any rehabilitation or a new decision because no authority is recognized qualified to take over the case. The thing is serious in a State of law and there is concern that it may renew itself by other means."
Raffarin's circulaire, 2005
On 27 May 2005 (just before he left office), the then Prime Minister of FrancePrime Minister of France
The Prime Minister of France in the Fifth Republic is the head of government and of the Council of Ministers of France. The head of state is the President of the French Republic...
, Jean-Pierre Raffarin
Jean-Pierre Raffarin
Jean-Pierre Raffarin is a French conservative politician and senator for Vienne.Jean-Pierre Raffarin served as the Prime Minister of France from 6 May 2002 to 31 May 2005, resigning after France's rejection of the referendum on the European Union draft constitution. However, after Raffarin...
, issued a circulaire
Circulaire
In France, Italy, Belgium, and some other civil law countries, a circulaire , circolare or omzendbrief consists of a text intended for the members of a service, of an enterprise, or of an administration....
which stressed that the government must exercise vigilance in taking account of the evolution of the cult-phenomenon, which (he wrote) made the list of movements attached to the Parliamentary Report of 1995 less and less pertinent, based on the observation that small groups form in a scattered, more mobile and less-easily identifiable manner, making use in particular of the possibilities of spreading offered by the Internet.
The Prime Minister asked his civil servants to update a number of instructions issued previously, to apply criteria set in consultation with the Interministerial Commission for Monitoring and Combating Cultic Deviances (MIVILUDES
MIVILUDES
MIVILUDES , a French government agency, has the task of:* observing and analyzing movements perceived as constituting a threat to public order or that violate French law*...
), and to avoid falling back on lists of groups for the identification of cultic deviances.
Content
A further French parliamentary commission reported in 1999 on cults in connection with money and the economy. Several groups previoulsy omitted in the 1995 report were added (AMORC, AnthroposophyAnthroposophy
Anthroposophy, a philosophy founded by Rudolf Steiner, postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world accessible to direct experience through inner development...
, At the Heart of the Communication, Prima Verba, Energo-Chromo-Kinese
Energo-Chromo-Kinese
Energo-Chromo-Kinese, also named ECK, is a pseudo-scientific and esoteric-oriented new religious movement founded in October 1987 in Villefranche-sur-Mer by Patrick Véret, a former acupuncturist and homeopath, and his wife, Danièle Drouant....
). The report said that the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Church of Scientology were the richest "cults", whose annual budget reached respectively 200,000,000 and 60,000,000 FF (about 30,500,000 € and 9,147,000 €). Sōka Gakkai, Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis
Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis
The Ancient and Mystical Order Rosæ Crucis , also called Rosicrucian Order, is a philosophical and humanist worldwide fraternal organization. Members are known as students...
, Sukyo Mahikari
Sukyo Mahikari
Sukyo Mahikari is a nonprofit spiritual and community service organization with centers in more than 75 countries. Originally founded by Kotama Okada in 1959 under the name L.H. Yokoshi Tomo no Kai, Sukyo Mahikari was registered on 23 June 1978 by Keishu Okada as part of an amicable settlement...
, New Apostolic Church
New Apostolic Church
The New Apostolic Church is a chiliastic church, converted to Protestantism as a free church from the Catholic Apostolic Church. The church has existed since 1879 in Germany and since 1897 in the Netherlands...
, Unification Church
Unification Church
The Unification Church is a new religious movement founded by Korean religious leader Sun Myung Moon. In 1954, the Unification Church was formally and legally established in Seoul, South Korea, as The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity . In 1994, Moon gave the church...
, Dianova, Association of the Triumphant Vajra (Mandarom) and Anthroposophy
Anthroposophy
Anthroposophy, a philosophy founded by Rudolf Steiner, postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world accessible to direct experience through inner development...
had an annual income between 20 and 50,000,000 FF (approximately between 3,000,000 € 7,600,000 €).
Controversy about Anthroposophy
The publication of this report provoked strong reactions; however, the Union des associations médicales anthroposophiques de France, the Société financière de la NEF and the Fédération des Écoles Steiner, owned by Anthroposophy, attempted legal action. After presenting the report on France 2France 2
France 2 is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ô...
, a complaint for defamation was filed against the president of the parliamentary commission Jacques Guyard. The Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris said that Guyard was "unable to justify of a serious investigation" to support his allegations, that he "repeatedly referred to "secret" nature of the work of the commission," and that "the contradictory nature of the investigation conducted just consisted of sending a questionnaire to sixty movements considered as cultic." In addition, "the judges felt that the injury of plaintiffs was "important (...) since the defamatory statements were made by a deputy president of the commission, whose authority and competence could not been doubted by the public". In September 2001, the Cour d'Appel de Paris maintained this conclusion but Jacques Guyard obtained his discharge on the ground of good faith.
Third-party comments, 2000
The Clinton administration In the United States of America criticized the Parliamentary commission. Paris reacted in turn by criticizing this perceived interference in French internal matters, and by noting the importance of political funds donated by new religious movementNew religious movement
A new religious movement is a religious community or ethical, spiritual, or philosophical group of modern origin, which has a peripheral place within the dominant religious culture. NRMs may be novel in origin or they may be part of a wider religion, such as Christianity, Hinduism or Buddhism, in...
s to political parties
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in the US.
The 2000 annual report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the leadership of both political parties in the Senate...
, released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Affairs at the United States Department of State is one of three bureaus and two offices that constitute the Office of the Under Secretary for Global Affairs...
of the U.S. Department of State, stated:
The ensuing publicity [by the release of a parliamentary report against "sectes"] contributed to an atmosphere of intolerance and bias against minority religions. Some religious groups reported that their members suffered increased intolerance after having been identified on the list.
Third-party comments, 2004
In its 2004 annual report, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom stated:
[...] official government initiatives and activities that targets "sects" or "cults" have fueled an atmosphere of intolerance toward members of minority religions in France. [...] These initiatives [the publication of reports characterizing specific groups as dangerous and the creating of agencies to monitor and fight these groups] are particularly troubling because they are serving as models for countries in Eastern Europe where the rule of law and other human rights are much weaker than in France.
The 2004 report concluded with an assessment that the restructuring of the main French agency concerned with this issue (referring to the new MIVILUDES
MIVILUDES
MIVILUDES , a French government agency, has the task of:* observing and analyzing movements perceived as constituting a threat to public order or that violate French law*...
replacing its predecessor, the Mission Interministérielle pour la Lutte contre les Sectes [Interministerial Commission to Combat the Cults] (MILS)), had reportedly improved religious freedoms in France.
Commission of 2006
In a press-release dated 28 June 2006, several deputies from the Socialist PartySocialist Party (France)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France and the largest party of the French centre-left. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in France, along with the center-right Union for a Popular Movement...
, from the UDF
Union for French Democracy
The Union for French Democracy was a French centrist political party. It was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to counterbalance the Gaullist preponderance over the right. This name was chosen due to the title of Giscard d'Estaing's...
, and others, stated that "certain people had believed that they could celebrate a so-called turning-point in the French policy of defending individual and collective liberties against the dangerous conduct of cults and a renewed questioning of the parliamentary reports of 1995 and 1999, as a result of the appearance of the Prime Minister's circulaire."
The spokespersons said that the issue addressed by the Prime Minister related to the data collected in 1995 and 1999 becoming stale.
They added that setting up a new Commission of Enquiry would permit a "coming to grips with a new state-of-play in the cultic movement".
On 28 June 2006, in response to a unanimous resolution of the Law Commission (commission des lois), the French National Assembly unanimously passed a resolution to set up a Parliamentary Commission of Enquiry into the influence of cultic movements and the consequences of their practices on the physical and mental health of minors. The 30 members of the Commission included Georges Fenech (President), Philippe Vuilque (rapporteur), Martine David and Alain Gest (Vice-Presidents) and Jean-Pierre Brard
Jean-Pierre Brard
Jean-Pierre Brard, , is a French politician.-Biography:Initially a teacher, he entered politics and was elected was deputy mayor of Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis a post he held until 1984, when he was elected mayor of the same city. He remained mayor until March 2008. He has also been a deputy to...
and Rudy Salles (Secretaries).
The Commission presented its report to the Assembly on 19 December 2006. The report contained 50 recommendations which aimed to protect endangered children. The President of the Commission of Enquiry, George Fenech, accused public officials (and especially the bureau des cultes of the Ministry of the Interior, of "negligence, even complaisance". He expressed his astonishment at the lack of a good definition of the profession of psychotherapeutics, which he described as a "mine for cults" where gurus flourish.
See also
- Groups referred to as cults in government reports
- Status of religious freedom in FranceStatus of religious freedom in FranceFreedom of religion in France is guaranteed by the constitutional rights set forth in the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen....