Presentation by Rev. Heber C. Jentzsch, President of the
Church of Scientology International
to the
Discussion in Congress held by
The Institute on Religion and Public Policy
The State vs Religion in France
(cont...)

Within the last few years in France, there have been more than 200 court cases involving political figures, resulting in at least 150 convictions so far. If those instigating this bill were honest, they would admit that were it applied to political parties – and please note, they made very sure that this new bill contains language that expressly excludes “political parties defending political beliefs” – the major parties in France would face dissolution. As these facts show, if there is one thing that the instigators of the new bill attacking minority religions do not lack, it is hypocrisy.

And that hypocrisy is nowhere more evident than in the fact that two criminal convictions have been entered this year against M. Jacques Guyard, who was, respectively, the Rapporteur of the 1996 and the president of the 1999 parliamentary reports on so-called “sects”. Mr. Guyard, who promoted the bill in the National Assembly last month, was convicted, in one case, of defamation, (for falsely labeling the anthroposophical movement as a “sect”) and in the other, of influence peddling, for which he received a one-year prison sentence and a fine. Yet the reports by Guyard’s Commission, denounced by scholars, international human rights organizations and a French court as unscientific and biased, are being used to justify a bill to destroy minority religions in France.

There is no question that MILS, M. Vivien and the anti-religious propaganda groups with which he is closely affiliated are instrumental in bringing about this extremist and anti-democratic legislation. Dr. Gunn has asked the State Department to monitor the anti-religious movement in France, and his advice is well-directed. Unfortunately, the French government has chosen to steer by its lights, instead of being guided by international human rights laws. Regrettably, the French government has rejected the requirements of religious pluralism laid down by the United Nations Human Rights Committee, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Human Rights Directorate of the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.

As Americans, as religious leaders and as responsible individuals, we have a responsibility to speak out against such human rights abuses as I have described today. We must demand that France adhere to the international human rights covenants it has ratified – among them, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Helsinki Accords and the European Convention on Human Rights. And, although we have spoken only of France, major problems of religious intolerance also exist elsewhere in Europe. I urge you to give serious consideration to expressing the sense of the Congress by means of a Resolution that demands the governments of those nations comply with their international human rights obligations.

Thank you very much indeed, and I will be happy to answer any questions.

oOo