The handling of the new spiritual movements by the french state

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

O ver the centuries, the image of France has often swung between the
“country of freedom” and the “birthplace of intolerance”. To quote
only one example, the Saint-Barthélemy massacre, on 24th August
1572, was the result of campaigns of crazy rumours concocted against
Protestants. 30,000 of them perished in a few days throughout all of France.
In the 1970s, associations specializing in the fight against New Religious
Movements began to spring up in France. Intense lobbying, based on the
spreading of fear of spiritual and religious minorities, allowed them to obtain
public finance close to the figure of a million euros every year for themselves
as well as for the government structures that they inspired.
The European Federation of Centers of Research and Information on the Cult
phenomenon (FECRIS) was itself founded in France, born of that Franco-
French sphere of influence whose action is tainted with intolerance. The
FECRIS has become the relay, on a European level, of these campaigns that
fight against minority movements. In 2006, the only public financial support
for the FECRIS came, in fact, from the French Prime Minister.
Militant groups, such as the FECRIS, frequently boast about the French
experience which they claim is at the cutting edge as regards the fight against
minorities, as it has managed to create government instances and a new
legislation to “safeguard against the dangers of the new beliefs”.
The reality on the field is however a long way from justifying the necessity of
: these extraordinary measures that violate freedom of belief.
This brochure brings together the testimonies of some senior civil-servants who
are directly concerned, through their work, with the issue of the new spiritual
and religious movements in France.
Rumours have, since the 1970s, fuelled the tabloid-press and have often
been the justification for the granting of significant funds to associations that
are fighting against the new spiritual and religious movements, and creating
a lot of suffering amongst their members.

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

1

the anomalies

Summary

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

X Statement of Dominique de Villepin, Prime Minister,
to the National Assembly p. 7

X Ministry of the Interior p. 11

X Ministry of National Education p. 13

X Ministry of Justice p. 15

X Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Service p. 17

X Ministry of Foreign Affairs p. 19

X Others: ‘Renseignements generaux” (French Intelligence Service),
General Director of the National Police Force,
Justice, National Gendarmerie p. 20

X Enquiry by the Ministry for Labour and Solidarity p. 25

X State cost: in staff p. 29

X State cost: in funding p. 31

X Where does this alarmist information on new forms of spirituality
come from? p. 33

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

X Conclusion p. 37

3

the anomalies

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

X “We noticed that it [the sectarian problem]
was very marginal.”
Ministry of Justice (see page 15)
0
X “No incident involving children.”
Ministry of the Interior (see page 11) 0
X “During the past school year (…) 19,000 reports
to the District Attorneys, concerning children
who were believed to be in danger for various
reasons. When we asked the academy inspectors
which, amongst these endangered children,
were cases involving sectarian movements,
8
they told us that there were 8.”
Ministry of National Education
(see page 13)

X “In the last three years […], we have not had
any cases.”
Ministry of Youth, Sports and
Community Service (see page 17)
0
X “I have only found evidence of two cases.”
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
(see page 19)
2
5

the anomalies

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

On September 6th 2005 the Prime Minister, in response to a
question asked by MP Philippe Vuilque, president of the study group
on cults, declared:

X “Cases of physical or psychological
mistreatment of minors relating
to the belonging of one or both
parents to a so-called sectarian
movement are extremely rare.”

7

the anomalies

Parliamentary Enquiry Commission

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

X Their statements are as follows:

XXX

9

the anomalies

XXX Ministry of the Interior

Statement of Mr Didier Leschi
Head of the Central Bureau of cults
Tuesday October 17th 2006

X “So, during a monitoring committee of the MIVILUDES, I requested that a
survey be made in cooperation with local health authorities and hospitals
in order to make a census of the facts constituting breaches of the peace
related to blood transfusion refusals.
The representative from the Ministry of Health within the decision-making
body of the MIVILUDES told us, at that time, that such a census was
impossible because, fearing legal proceedings, hospital management staff
would hesitate to report breaches of the peace.
This explanation seems weak to me, especially if the lives of thousands of
children are at stake.
The figure of 45,000 Jehovah’s Witness children has at times been put
forward. Hospital workers are protected by their status and are obliged to
report criminal offences to the District Attorney.
In light of this hearing, I asked the prefectures [regional government
authority] to count the number of incidents linked to bloods
transfusion over the past three years. A few incidents came to light,
which were often resolved through discussion. No incident involving
children 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.

XXX
11

the anomalies

XXX Ministry of National Education

Statement of Mr Jean-Yves Dupuis
General Inspector

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


XXX

13

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

XXX National Education: XXX Ministry of Justice

Statement of Mr Thierry-Xavier GIRARDOT Statement of Mme SANCY
Director of Legal Affairs at the Ministry for national education, Office of Legal affairs of legislation, Director of judicial
higher education and research protection for youth
(Minutes of the session of October 10th 2006) Tuesday October 3rd 2006

X Mr Thierry-Xavier GIRARDOT:
“The unit for the prevention of sectarian phenomena has prepared a X “Three years ago, in collaboration with a Judge for children, we carried out
quantitative report over the most recent period: the number of verifications a survey in order to pinpoint statistically what the sectarian problem
carried out, the number of formal demands to send children to school, might represent in the work of magistrates and educators, and we
etc. I do not know if we have data concerning the entire period since the noticed that it was very marginal in comparison with all the other
law came into effect, but over the past year, we have counted slightly problems that our administration has to handle for these same
fewer than 3,000 children schooled at home, carried out 1,119 checks, of minors, namely, problems of violence, of lack of schooling, of
which 23 resulted in a formal demand to send the child to school in a professional integration and of domestic difficulties.”
teaching establishment, not generally for reasons related to sectarianism,
but simply because the education provided by the family did not meet the
requirements of the 1999 decree, henceforth codified in the regulatory
part of the education code.” recorded at the Presidency of the National Assembly
Mr Chairman: Summary of hearings – page 288

“Of these twenty- three children, exactly how many cases involved
the 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

XXX

22 15

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

XXX French Intelligence Service, National Police Force: XXX Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Service

Statement of Mr Joel BOUCHITE Statement of Etienne Madranges
Central Director of the “Renseignements generaux” (French Director of youth and popular education
Intelligence Service), of the Ministry of the Interior and Territory Wednesday October 18th 2006
development (Minutes of the session of October 4th 2006)

X Mr Joel BOUCHITE:
“In any case, 60,000 children within our national jurisdiction, that seems
X “The minister has set up a national unit coordinated by the general
inspector. Representatives from the youth, sports and community service
a lot to me. In the course of our operations in the field, in the prefectures, administrations meet regularly. It hears experts, summons departmental
with the national education administration, the DDASS (social services managers, and ensures that the minister’s policy of prevention is indeed
dealing with children), the recreational centers and all organisations carried out.
dealing with youth, we have never had 60,000 reports, nor even At a local level, we have appointed a correspondent in each department
30,000, but at the most a few dozen…” [administrative subdivision of France administered by a Prefect].
These correspondents forward information to us. But this is not enough.
Source : report no. 3507 recorded at the Presidency of the National Assembly
on December 12th 2006. Summary of hearings – page 329-330 We regularly organize meetings with the regional directors for youth and
sports.
[…]
The forwarding of information takes place via the correspondents,
but also via our inspectors, who inspect sports establishments,
vacation centers and recreational centers.
Statement of Mr Michel GAUDIN Statistically, in the field of youth, we have very little information
forwarded to us.
General Director of the National Police Force […] Statistically, over the past three years, we had no evidence of
(Minutes of the session of October 11th 2006) minors being deliberately put at risk.”

X Michel GAUDIN:
“I have the feeling that the phenomenon, whilst it is worrying in certain
specific cases involving children, is not a form of delinquency which Source: report no. 3507
has the scope to generate too much concern.” recorded at the Presidency of the National Assembly
on December 12th 2006. Summary of hearings – page 385-386

XXX

20 17

the anomalies

XXX Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Statement of Mme Françoise Le Bihan
Deputy Director of the Department for French people abroad
and for foreigners in France (DFAE)

“Our department is in charge of everything relating to the consular
X protection of French citizens abroad, and therefore of children. Thus it is
within the entire perimeter of our actions that I looked for those aspects
which might be of interest to your mission. To do so, I differentiated
between the illegal displacement of children, arranged marriages which
may involve children, the help that we give to French children residing
abroad who are in distress. Within this vast domain, I only found
evidence of two cases related to sectarian behavior: the first one, in
Canada, which was all over the newspapers, is that of Mrs Getliffe and her
children [Mrs Getliffe, a French mother, kidnapped her children who were
allowed to visit her during the holidays. The custody of the children had
been given to the divorced father, a member of a minority group living in
Canada. She was sentenced to several months of imprisonment in this
country], the second, for which I do not wish to give names, involves the
father of a child whose mother took him to Switzerland.
[…]
Mr Chairman:
Have you not been informed of reports of displaced children in ashrams in
India?
Mme Françoise le Bihan:
No. For both of the departments which make up our administration, the
one concerned with the implementing of conventions regarding legal
cooperation and the other with consular protection, there have been no
cases other than the two I have just mentioned.”
Summary of hearings – page 4532-433

XXX
19

the anomalies

XXX Justice:

Hearing with Mme Carola ARRIGHI de CASANOVA
Deputy Director of the Administration of judicial and civil affairs
and Seal (DACS) at the Ministry of Justice
(Minutes of the session of October 12th 2006)

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

Statement of Mr Michel RISPE
Head of the Office for civil and commercial international
assistance at the Ministry for Justice

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

21

the anomalies

XXX Gendarmerie nationale*:

Statement of General Guy PARAYRE
Director of the National Gendarmerie*

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


*A national force sharing various police duties

23

the anomalies

Enquiry by the Ministry for Labour and Solidarity
This file is also very illustrative, it was obtained by requesting the Ministry for Labour and Solidarity for
access to administrative documents. In it we can find methods of investigation that are quite biased. On
23rd 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 is
an administrative body at county level] selected due to the presumed situation of children at risk in groups
described as “cults”.
Almost all of the answers from the General Councils show that the actual situations are completely the
opposite 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:

X General Council of Alpes de Hautes Provence, letter dated 27 July 1998
“[…] do not compromise their health, their safety, their morality or their
educational conditions”
“ In addition, given the above declaration, on 23rd January 1997, the
Children’s’ Judge dismissed the case for educational assistance concerning
these minors”

X General Council of Alpes-Maritimes, letter dated 20 August 1998
“ [..] is the father of 3 children, the youngest of which, aged 15 years, was
experiencing no difficulty”.
“For the moment, this context hasn’t been the subject of any particular
report and the community [..] is unknown to the county social services.”

X General Council of Bouches-du-Rhône, letter dated 30th July 1999
“The children are undergoing normal schooling”

X General Council of Corrèze, letter dated 9th February 1999
“I hereby inform you that there are no minors living in ‘communities’ or cult
communities in the county of Corrèze.”

X General Council of Drôme, letter dated 18 December 1998
“A school inspection carried out in 1997 proved satisfactory.”

XXX
25

the anomalies

X X X Enquiry by the Ministry for Labour and Solidarity
X Generalfairly long of Gironde, by the Medico-Social Centre,
“After a
Council letter dated 1st October 1999
period of observation
I have received no information that would lead us to suspect cult practices.”

General Council of Isère, letter dated 18th August 1999
X Group 1 “The children were in good health, their bodyweight was rather
above the norm at birth. Everything was normal.”
Group 2 “No element of danger concerning the children was observed by
the social assistants of successive sectors, who intervened in
this community.”

General Council of Jura, letter dated 21st December 1998
X “The enclosed social report currently makes no mention of any particular
difficulties.”

General Council of Haute-Loire, letter dated 13th November 1998
X “The findings are that, in the local community, no suspicious way of life has
been noticed concerning the children who attend the school. The nursery is
medically monitored by an independent medical doctor.”

General Council of la Moselle, letter dated 24th September 1998
X “The schooling and socialization of the children is proceeding according to
what is current normal practice. The same is true for medical care.”

General Council of la Saône et Loire, letter dated 10th February 1999
X “All the children are attending school, in local schools, and these families
pose no particular problem.”

General Council of Tarn-et-Garonne, letter dated 10th February 1999
X “As regards particularly those children residing in the Tarn et Garonne
region, whose families are involved in these structures, neither the
neighborhood, nor the medico-social workers nor the schools have informed
us of any particular problems in their regard.”

27

the anomalies

State cost: in staff
The disinformation regarding spiritual minorities has led the Government to take
extraordinary measures, mobilizing all of the State’s services.

X MIVILUDES :
The office: 13 people
Steering Committee: 26 people
Orientation Committee: 30 people

70 training sessions, 2,000 people trained in 2005

Several trips abroad.
Source: MIVILUDES Report to the Prime Minister, 2006

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

X National Assembly:
Three Parliamentary Enquiry Commissions in 11 years

A permanent study group at the National Assembly
Source: National Assembly website

29

the anomalies

State cost: in funding
Stabilizing public finances is, at present, and rightly so, a government priority as well as
a concern for French citizens.
The private anti-cult associations UNADFI, CCMM and FECRIS seem to be escaping this
rule and are neither subject to restriction nor inspection of their expenditure.
Private associations
almost 100 % financed by the State
or by the local authorities
UNADFI
Ministry subventions 2005: 368,373.00 €
Membership dues and donations: 1,954.00 €
Source: profit and loss accounts 2005

CCMM
Ministry Subventions
2001 (last available year): 197,572.00 €
Prime Minister’s subventions
For the acquisition of new premises: 700,000.00 €
Membership dues for 2001: 7,006.00 €
Note: in 2001 the CCMM went into receivership and the premises
purchased with this Prime Minister’s subvention were sold off a few
months later to pay off the debts of the association.
Source: annual accounts 2001 and annexes

FECRIS
Prime Minister’s subventions 2006: 50,000.00 €
Membership dues: 2,782.00 €
Source: report 3363, National Assembly
Note: in 2005 and 2006, according to our documentation, France was the
only state to finance this association.
31

the anomalies

Where does this alarmist information
on new forms of spirituality come from ?
A limited but active group of militants are submerging parliamentarians,
the government, the local authorities, the media, etc. with alarmist
information.
Amongst them we find: Jean-Pierre Brard, Georges Fenech, Philippe
Vuilque, 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 against
factious groups. This new text would recommend the pure and
simple prohibition of cults.”
Jean-Pierre Brard, 93 Hebdo 8/14 August 1997
“I’ve never had any dialogue with anyone whatsoever that was in
any 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 parliamentarians
working on a European level on this subject, to say what must not
be defined. Because the definition of the term ‘cult’, which in France
is not legally defined, would allow cult movements to leave the
framework of the definition” Catherine Picard, former MP,
author of the law of June 12, 2001 and president of the UNADFI.

33

the anomalies

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

RAPE
X A rape every 2 hours
4,412 cases of rape committed on adults
Source: Ministry of the Interior, 2005

SUICIDE
X A suicide every 40 minutes
160,000 attempted suicides
More than 11,000 deaths per year
Source: infosuicide.org

DRUG TRAFFICKING
X An arrest every 5 minutes
93,817 questionings for use of narcotics
78,287 seizures of narcotic products
Source: National file of perpetrators of offences
against legislation on narcotics (OCRTIS), 2006

SCHOOL VIOLENCE
X A serious incident every 6 minutes
82,007 serious incidents reported in 2005/2006
Source: Department of Education data- SIGNA

ROAD ACCIDENTS
X ROAD ACCIDENTS
82,993 accidents involving personal injury — 105,980 injured
4,942 killed
Source: Ministry of Interior - Road Safety, 2006

35

the anomalies

Conclusion
The facts recounted in this brochure confirm what our association
has upheld since its creation : citizens members of spiritual and
religious minorities are perfectly integrated in French society.
It is therefore unjust and unacceptable that actions of harassment be
taken against them, actions that are financed by the taxpayer to
the extent of more than a million euros per year (this figure only
takes the financing of the UNADFI, the CCMM, the FECRIS and
the MIVILUDES).

To attack spiritual and religious beliefs and practices represents
: a disturbance of the peace !

In its article 9, the European Convention for the Protection of Human
Rights and Fundamental Freedoms stipulates: “Everyone has the
right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right
includes 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 and
observance.”
Similarly, the Law of December 9, 1905 established the principle of
Co-ordination of Associations and Individuals separation between Churches and the State and guarantees freedom
for the Freedom of Conscience of religion, article 1: “The Republic ensures freedom of conscience.
The association Cap LC was created to defend opinion minorities; it is open to It guarantees the free exercise of worship, restricted only by those
individuals and associations of all obedience that share a profound attachment to limitations decreed in the interest of preserving law and order.”
freedom of conscience. A witch hunt — initiated by a few people — is being carried out
We hereby request the cessation of the discriminatory policy against
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
: minority beliefs.

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

37
© CAP LC 2007 All rights reserved

The handling of the new spiritual movements by the french state

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to The handling of the new spiritual movements by the french state

Similar to The handling of the new spiritual movements by the french state (7)

More from sti1966

More from sti1966 (18)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

The handling of the new spiritual movements by the french state