•   PRChina •   India •   Indonesia •   Iran •   DPRKorea •   Nigeria •   Pakistan •   Russia •   Sudan •   Vietnam	•   U.S. capital markets •   Middle East •   Freedoms to change religion & engage   in public religious expression & persuasion •   other activities •   cooperation with other agencies •   Commissioners' terms expire	links Cross-Purposes   9.21.97   Franklin Foer, Slate archives The spurious campaign against Christians' persecution
	[ NatSec boogeyman collection;   how many have we sold weapons to in last 20 years ? Cuba must've been ranked 11th.]

12   Disclosure of rights violations in U.S. capital markets   ¹

•   business activity in those countries, incl expansion or diversification plans
•   identity of all foreign govt agencies with which do business
•   relation of business to violations of religious freedom & HRts or
•   contribution proceeds raised in U.S. debt & equity markets make to business hence potential foreign violations

•   U.S. investors in deciding to purchase securities
•   shareholders exercising ownership rights incl proposing shareholder resolutions for annual mtg & proxy
•   Treasury Dept Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ¹ sanctions enforcement
•   U.S. policymakers policy formulation re violator nations & U.S. capital markets

Talisman shares already traded on U.S. markets and further offerings possible so long as avoid Sudan earmarked proceeds because Talisman Sudan business not predominant part of overall business. Commission in May 2000 & March 2001 recommended flat ban against securities by any foreign co. in Sudan oil. and, short of such flat ban, U.S. require foreign co. describe Sudan business and disclose if SEC sales are Sudan support or not. Recommendation now extends that. More China corp.'s SEC sales likely for China & other CPCs. ex. Oct. 2000 Sinopec subdiv. Zhongyuan Pet.Corp. in Sudan with CNPC unit; last summer Sinopec gave entire Sudan interest to CNPC. No value disclosure & subdiv. still in Sudan. Jan. 2001 Sinopec $150 million Iran project launch put Sinopec in violation of Iran-Libya Sanctions Act. Neither Sinopec in Sudan nor Iran was disclosed prospectus.

Second, NYSE exec. vp stated 6+ Chinese corp. plan U.S. 2001 offerings. Sinopec & CNPC subdiv. PetroChina offerings increased share values tenfold since end of 1999. Finally, Chinese corp. China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) may invest some offering proceeds in Iran & other CPCs incl Saudi Arabia & Indonesia.
U.S. corp. need attention too. Many want China investment with U.S. capital; per U.S. Chamber of Commerce direct foreign investment in China by U.S. corp. = $7.7 billion 1999. 1997 sanctions virtually eliminated all U.S. investments in Burma; Unocal still has significant operations there.
  [ rebutts Heritage Fdtn's EAA claims.   Exec. branch is strained minding the store & Judicial can only enforce laws surviving campaign lobby sausage factory. Congress is the critical oversight of last resort which is compromised without campaign $ reform. ]

U.S. Economic Sanctions
U.S. economic sanctions only significant legal constraint, albeit porous , on flow of SEC capital into CPCs. Some U.S. economic sanctions apply to all CPC countries & govern U.S. persons' behavior. Sanctions vary substantially. One extreme: sanctions foreclose most direct economic interaction between U.S. persons & CPC. ex. Sudan   Least sanctions permit most economic interaction. ex China   None of current sanctions entirely forecloses U.S. persons from purchasing securities offered by co. with business in a CPC. In varying degrees, they allow U.S. capital into CPC economies, esp. allow shares in foreign companies with CPC business only in China. Other CPCs more restrictive. Ex share purchase permitted for co. in

•   Burma so long as co. does not derive profits predominantly from resource development in Burma
•   Sudan so long as proceeds not earmarked Sudan use, co. Sudan business not the predominant part of overall business and co. is not controlled by Sudan govt

SEC Disclosure requirements
SEC's disclosure regs generally designed to provide U.S. investors with "material" information about co. & securities offered. However, materiality turns on whether information in question likely to be significant to reasonable investor in the total mix of available information. SEC has generally viewed "significance" from an economic standpoint. Talisman in Sudan may not be predominant in its business but nevertheless large enough to affect overall co. financial health. If so, Talisman in Sudan govt murder may be significant to investor, esp. re intl divestment campaign.   Feb. 2001 Sudan Inter-Agency Reference Group coalition of Canadian NGOs called for Talisman divestment. Royal Bank of Canada, one of largest Talisman shareholders, also targeted for boycott.

Possible all information not material from purely economic standpoint where CPC business is only tiny fraction of overall co. business. In absolute terms, may still be substantial investment so important other than for share's economic value. Current SEC req. for both foreign & U.S. issuers do not necessarily call for all data in all cases.

•   Risk Factors   Foreign private issuers req. disclosure of "co. or industry specific risk factors that make offering speculative or high risk," incl "factors for countries it operates in".   Comparable provision for U.S. co. req. discussion of "most significant factors that make offering speculative or risky." Severe China religious freedom violations by themselves are not co. risk factors but are arguably create shaky political & business environment.

•   Use of Proceeds   Another foreign co, req. is statement of "est. net proceeds broken down into each principal intended use." Addtl "If co. has no specific plans for proceeds, discuss principal reasons for offering." Comparable provision identical for U.S. co. Means Talisman can sell shares without discussing how much U.S. capital Sudan govt violations by keeping Sudan net proceeds to minor level in relative terms or can postpone specific planning, leaving investors & govt policymakers uninformed. Same for U.S. co. with China business China. Another ex. Unocal's 8.99 prospectus entire "use of proceeds" sect. reads "We will use net proceeds pursuant to plan for our general corporate purposes, incl investments in, contributions to, or extensions of credit to our subsidiaries."

•   Disclosure Example   U.S. & foreign co. with significant CPC business are not disclosing these interests or risks associated CPC HRts violation.   Ex. Nike Inc. Per 5.31.00 annual report 43% of shoes & unstated percentage of apparel manufactured by independent China contractors. China-specific FY2000 revenue not reported; Asia/Pacific region FY2000 $928.2 million. Nike reported a branch office or subsidiary in China. Identity of independent China contractors or their relationship to Chinese govt is not disclosed. Nike Form 10-K does not discuss Chinese govt HRts violations, U.S. govt designation as severe violator under IRFA or potential sanctions of this designation. No HRts mention in entire filing.
4.99 Nike's $500 million prospectus, no information on Nike China business or on any associated risks. Nor on proceeds' use to support China business.

Commission recommendations
Significant & material information withheld from investing public. Foreign co. raise U.S. capital without disclosing CPC business, associated risks and whether share sales support CPC business. Problem esp. acute with foreign co. which, unlike U.S. co., generally permitted CPC business by U.S. law.& raise U.S. capital without sanctions violation. Disclosure particularly important. Recommendations:

1   U.S. req. any U.S. or foreign issuer of securities with CPC business disclose that for ea. CPC in any SEC reg.

1.2   nature & extent of co. & affiliates' CPC business
i   incl any expansion or diversification plans & any CPC govt business relationships and
ii   specify identity of CPC govt branch

1.2 whether SEC proceeds planned for CPC business; if so, how;

1.3   all significant risk factors assoc. with CPC business incl
i   political, economic and social conditions in the CPC incl CPC govt religious freedom policies & practices
ii   extent of co. &affiliates SEC proceeds directly or indirectly supports CPC govt R.F. P/P
iii   potential for & impact of U.S. HRts campaign to prevent share purchase or retention incl divestment campaign or shareholder lawsuit

2   U.S. require any issuer doing CPC business disclose 1.1 & 1.3 in SEC filings, annual report
Disclosures' benefits substantial. Strong corporate manager incentives to ensure nonparticipation in CPC religious persecution. Better, informed decisions for investors, shareholders, OFAC and govt policymakers. Disclosure preparation costs modest.   Remaining concern is complication & increase of issuers' legal liabilities. Commission believes that does not outweigh disclosure benefits, esp. since economic relevance expected to continue as core determination of share value.
  [ This could go either way, making disclosure toothless policy or driving stock market nosedive. ]

3   U.S. govt incl Congress examine securities transactions' structure or corp. relationships' manipulation by non-U.S. issuers to circumvent sanctions.
  [ How will compensatory greenwash mutate ? ]
Commission recommends admin. & Congress examine carefully nature & extent of this potential problem and legal tools necessary or available to address it to ensure U.S. economic sanctions keeping U.S. investment out of CPCs is not circumvented.

13   U.S. Foreign Assistance ¹

14   Intl Religious Freedom Act & State Dept annual Report on Intl Religious Freedom 2000 ¹

member bios   ¹

Rabbi David Saperstein, first Commission chair 6.99 to 6.00   atty
dir., Religious Action Ctr of Reform Judaism, rep. Reform judaism to Congress & admin
headed several religious coalitions, served on numerous national org. boards incl Common Cause, NAACP
teaches First Amendment church-state law & Jewish law Georgetown U. Law School
co-chair Coalition to Preserve Religious Liberty, 60+ Catholic, Protestant, Jewish & ed. groups opposing school-prayer amendments & legislation

Firuz Kazemzadeh, vice-chair   Ph.D.   Alta Loma CA
sr advisor, National Spiritual Assembly of Baha'is of U.S.;   prof emeritus History, Yale
author, several books re Russia & Central Asia.

Laila Al-Marayati   M.D. practicing ob-gynecologist, Los Angeles
founder, Muslim Women's League, L.A. based npo
member, State Dept Advisory Committee on Religious Freedom Abroad

John R. Bolton   GWBush appt underSec. State for arms control & intl security ¹ ²
sr VP, American Enterprise Inst. for Public Policy Research since Jan. 1997
asst atty general for Contra cocaine, nukes enthusiast; multiple revolving door jobs

Theodore Cardinal McCarrick   Ph.D., D.D, Archbishop of Washington
College of Cardinals 2.21.01,   Archbishop of Washington 11.00   orig. NJ
Sec.State's Advisory Committee on Religious Freedom since 11.96

Robt A. Seiple (ex-officio) 5.99 first U.S. Amb. at-Large for Intl Religious Freedom, resigned 9.00
State Dept 8.98, principal adv. to President & special rep. to Sec.State for Intl Religious Freedom
11yrs pres., World Vision, Inc. largest privately funded relief & development agency in world
founder, World Vision Inst. for Global Engagement strategic thinktank for global advocacy
pres. Eastern College & Eastern Baptist Theo. Seminary 1983-87

Hon. Chas. Z. Smith Wash. State Supreme Court Justice 1965-95 American Baptist Churches USA Gen.Bd   pres. 1975-77 several local, national and intl org. re religious freedom & HRts incl national Interreligious Task Force on Soviet Jewry, monitoring Helsinki Accords compliance 1977-85 Dean Michael K. Young   vice chair 6.99 to 6.00 GWU Law School Dean 1998;   prof., Japanese Law Columbia U. Law School Bush pere Amb. Trade & Envir. Affairs, State Dept Dep. underSec. Econ. & Ag., Dep. Legal Adv. Religious deterioration is reason to reject China's Olympic bid   1.29.01   Freedom House Wash.D.C.   Freedom House's Ctr for Religious Freedom today launched a campaign to petition the Intl Olympic Committee to reject Beijing's bid to host the 2008 Games on the basis that China is a severe religious persecutor. Next month, the Olympic Committee will meet in Beijing to view the facilities there. Beijing is considered the favorite over 4 other contending cities (Toronto, Paris, Osaka and Istanbul). The decision will be made next July. … In its 5.1.00 Annual Report, the U.S. Commission on Intl Religious Freedom recommended that the U.S. govt use its influence with other governments to ensure that Beijing is not selected as the Olympic host. In addition, holding the Olympic events in China runs the risk that athletes & spectators would also be subject to the govt's religious controls & repression. Christians may be told to leave their Bibles home, as they were during the UN Women's Conference that was held in Beijing in 1995. … Mormons, Jews, Bahais, Hindus and many other faiths would be unable to worship at all since theirs are not among the 5 religions recognized by Chinese authorities. "Memories of the Olympics in Nazi Berlin … The Olympics would again be dishonored by the scandal of holding the prestigious events in a country where "unapproved" houses of worship are routinely bulldozed, grandmothers & priests are bludgeoned to death for religious practices, and religious people are sent to labor camp by the tens of thousands," said Center director Nina Shea, referring to the destruction of thousands of churches, temples and shrines in Wenzhou in the weeks before Christmas Campaign for Tibet & the American Uighur Fdtn Each recipient of Freedom House Ctr for Religious Freedom award had shown "extraordinary dedication to the advancement of fundamental principles of religious freedom," the rights group said. Ctr for Religious Freedom dir. Nina Shea said that despite China's claims to support religious pluralism and acceptance of several international agreements on the issue, it had failed to observe human rights norms. "How can we not single out China," she said. "We will not be fooled when the facts on the ground point in the opposite direction," she said at a reception held in the rooms of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Committee [ ex ] chairman Jesse Helms R-NC & noted China hawk, called on the world to target China's human rights record at the upcoming session of the UN Commission on HRts. Confronting anti-American grievances 9.1.02   Zbigniew Brzezinski NY Times Wash.DC   ; Nearly a year after the start of America's war on terrorism, that war faces the real risk of being hijacked by foreign govts with repressive agendas. Instead of leading a democratic coalition, the U.S. faces the risk of dangerous isolation. Bush administration definition of the challenge that America confronts has been cast largely in semi-religious terms. The public has been told repeatedly that terrorism is "evil," which it undoubtedly is, and that "evildoers" are responsible for it, which doubtless they are. But beyond these justifiable condemnations, there is a historical void. It is as if terrorism is suspended in outer space as an abstract phenomenon, with ruthless terrorists acting under some Satanic inspiration unrelated to any specific motivation. … China recently succeeded in persuading the Bush administration to list an obscure Uighur Muslim separatist group fighting in Xinjiang province as a terrorist organization with ties to Al Qaeda. … Cuba's next revolution Christians reshaping Castro's communist stronghold. 1.12.98   John W. Kennedy Christianity Today Some hope that this month's visit of Pope John Paul II will be the catalyst to bring a swift conclusion to the Castro era. The pope's presence spurred on the collapse of communism in heavily Catholic Poland in the 1980s. "This could be a watershed event that galvanizes change, either peaceful or revolutionary," says Nina Shea, director of Freedom House's Washington, D.C.-based Puebla Program on Religious Freedom. … Before Castro came to power, Cuba was the most secularized Latin American country, with only 6% of the population regularly attending church. Unlike most other Spanish-speaking Latin American countries, Cuba does not have a history of Catholic dominance, …	Nina Shea,   appt public delegate U.S. delegation, UN HRts Commission 2001 dir., Ctr for Religious Freedom, Freedom House Wash. D.C.; intl HRts lawyer 22yrs, 15yrs focus religious persecution adv. comm. on Religious Freedom to Sec.State;   author, In the Lion's Den re global anti-Christian persecution organized/sponsored numerous fact-finding missions to Sudan, China, Egypt, elsewhere; testified Cong. regularly 1999 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 3.8.00 Advances in Chinese penetration of the U.S. ¹ 5.19.00   Col. Stanislav Lunev NewsMax Another, more recent, method of crippling U.S. are China's efforts to penetrate the U.S. capital markets. Significant progress has been made in this area since Chinese corporations are already represented in some cases. U.S. investors are now buying Chinese stocks and bonds. Without their knowledge ordinary Americans are having money from their public and other retirement plans invested in Communist Chinese corporations. Not only have they become unwitting participants in strengthening Red Chinese tyranny, but also their future pension checks will depend on Red Chinese profits. Currently U.S. pension funds, mutual funds, life insurance, and corporate and private portfolios are all viewed by Communist China as sources of cash with which it can put Americans interests at risk. If this is allowed to continue, it will give China enormous leverage in the future to intimidate and exert its influence over the individual American citizen. Until recently it looked like little could be done to stop the Red Chinese infiltration of American society. On 4.6.00 Chinese corp. PetroChina was listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). It was priced at the low end of its predicted range and finished on April 10 at $15.19, lower still. This near meltdown of the PetroChina Initial Public Offering (IPO) , which shrunk by over 70% of its original goal of $10 billion, was in large part achieved by the opposition of a broad-based coalition of right-thinking people. The coalition is made up of patriotic Americans with a clear understanding of the grave dangers of these Red Chinese intrusions into American affairs. Among coalition members are AFL-CIO corporate affairs dir. Ron Blackwell; American Anti-Slavery Group pres. Dr.Charles Jecobs; Ctr for Intl Environmental Law Braden Penhoet, Esq.; Wm J. Casey Inst. of Ctr for Security Policy Roger W. Robinson Jr esq., Freedom House's Ctr for Religious Freedom dir. Nina Shea; Intl Campaign for Tibet pres. John Ackerly and others. Rebiya Kadeer, successful & charismatic businesswoman from NW China, had an Aug. 1999 appt to discuss human rights issues with U.S. Congressional Research Service delegates. The meeting never took place. While she was en route to the appt, Chinese authorities arrested her and took her to a local prison notorious for torture. Rebiya Kadeer is among the most prominent members of China's Uighur ethnic group in the largely Muslim Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. She has made significant contributions to securing women's rights in China and founded the "Thousand Mothers Movement" to promote employment for Uighur women. Chinese govt itself recognized her contributions by appointing her to its delegation for the 1995 UN World Conf. on Women in Beijing. 2 years after the Beijing Conference, however, officials confiscated her passport. Police harassment followed, placing further restrictions on her movements. Chinese govt apparently was attempting to silence her husband, an outspoken critic of the govt who was living abroad, by intimidating her. Sept. 1999, the govt charged Rebiya Kadeer with "providing secret information to foreigners," although the "secrets" turned out to be publicly available local newspapers in her possession. Following a trial held in secret, a Chinese court sentenced her to 8 years' imprisonment. Her secretary, arrested shortly after she was taken into custody, received a 3 year term of "re-education through labor" for his association with her. He was reportedly beaten in custody and is now in poor health. Amnesty Intl considers Rebiya Kadeer to be a prisoner of conscience and has appealed for her immediate & unconditional release. Amnesty Intl has documented a pattern of gross human rights violations in China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. Chinese authorities have targeted primarily Uighurs, members of the majority ethnic group there. Prominent individuals in the Muslim community have been subjected to oppression and often brutal treatment. Thousands of Uighurs remain in prison; Xinjiang is the only region of China where political prisoners are known to have been executed in recent years. Chinese authorities hold many thousands of people in detention throughout the country for peacefully exercising their rights to free expression, association, or religion. Some prisoners are serving long terms after unfair trials initiated under national security legislation. Others are detained without trial and assigned years of "re-education through labor." Torture & other mistreatment of prisoners remain widespread in China.
Saudi & MidEast Wahhabi purdah UK 10.28.99 French Algerians Saudi upholds ban on churches 3.13.03   AP Riyadh   Saudi, As birthplace of Islam, will not allow churches to be built on its land, according to Defense Minister Prince Sultan. Islam is the only accepted religion in Saudi Arabia, home to the faith's holiest shrines in Mecca & Medina. Sultan said that foreigners have been allowed to worship freely in their homes since they began arriving in Saudi in 1951 but permitting a church in the country "would affect Islam and all Muslims". Sudan's genocide & U.S. indifference Feb. 2000 Nina Shea … Triggered by the govt's attempt to forcibly convert & impose Islamic law on the Christian & animist south, a civil war has been raging in Sudan for 16 years. Last June, Congress officially recognized that conflict as genocide. In south & central Sudan homeland of Christians & African traditional believers, 2 million people had been killed, and 5 million displaced. More than 100,000 died from the deliberate starvation policies of the regime in 1998 alone. Sudan should have been an easy human rights case for the Administration. It is already on the U.S. list of terrorist nations and thus subject to comprehensive economic and trade sanctions, and severed diplomatic relations. The White House had launched a cruise missile attack on its capital in 1998. Inexplicably though, the Clinton Administration had been silent about the genocide in Sudan. Its Sudan policy was based on concerns about terrorism, not genocide. press releases & official statements re Sudan per N. Shea, U.S. delegation to UN Comm. on HRts 57th session	The Price of Faith 1997   review   Wm Norman Grigg In the Lion's Den auth. Nina Shea Broadman & Holman (Nashville) 1997 Puebla Project dir. Nina Shea at Freedom House, soberly informs us that the travails of Egypt's Christians typify the reality in much of the contemporary world. "Millions of American Christians pray in their churches each week, oblivious to the fact that Christians in many parts of the world suffer brutal torture, arrest, imprisonment, and even death, their homes & communities laid waste, for no other reason than that they are Christians," Shea writes in the introduction of In the Lion's Den. "The shocking, untold story of our time is that more Christians have died in this century simply for being Christians than in the first nineteen centuries after the birth of Christ." Shea's study examines the persecution of the Church in 11 countries -- China, Sudan, Pakistan, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Egypt, Nigeria, Cuba, Laos, and Uzbekistan. All of these regimes "evidence a worldwide trend of anti-Christian persecution based on two political ideologies -- communism and militant Islam." The sad truth is that the govts of the secular West are often complicit in that persecution, either through acquiescence or through active support for anti-Christian regimes. "In the fundamental matter of religious freedom, U.S. is forfeiting its leadership," Shea declares. This is particularly true in the case of Christians suffering under communist regimes, particularly that of Red China. "Freedom House has a list of names of about 200 Christian clergy & church leaders who were imprisoned or under some form of detention or restriction in mid-1996 because of religious activities," Shea reports. "There are thought to be thousands of Christians now imprisoned for their faith in China's religious gulag. … Some are serving sentences of up to a dozen years or more on 'counterrevolutionary' charges, but the fact is they were incarcerated for practicing their faith." Shea points out that in China today, "there are more Christians in prison because of religious activities than in any other nation in the world. … Shea asserts, "The rights of Christians & other groups to practice their religion freely, irrespective of the culture & customs of an area, or a Christian community's minority status, is universally recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and numerous other intl treaties & instruments." Such "recognition" is a slender reed upon which to repose the hopes of Christians who suffer in such nations as Egypt, whose govt has ratified the relevant UN "human rights" agreements. This is because the so-called "United Nations" is actually the United Govts; its constituent members are the very govts carrying out the abuses described by Shea. Furthermore, UN's "human rights" documents all contain self-nullifying provisions which permit govts to withhold the rights supposedly granted by them. Thus the "Call to Action" contained in the final chapter of Shea's book is undermined by the recommendation that Christians should work through multilateral agencies, "esp.the UN", in order to alleviate the suffering of their brethren. Shea's book does mention numerous private Christian organizations, such as Voice of the Martyrs, Compass Direct, and the Cardinal Kung Fdtn, groups which keep in contact with, and sometimes provide relief to, besieged Christians in communist and Islamic nations. The author also suggests that the worst offender, Communist China, is vulnerable to economic pressure; concerned Christians should agitate tirelessly to reverse America's drift into economic, political, and military "interdependence" with China, as well as with Vietnam. … the most important tasks for Christians are prayer & remembrance. Shea reminds us that when Peter & Paul were imprisoned by the Roman govt, the entire Christian Church prayed on their behalf. We must remember the suffering of the redeemed in our prayers, and we must remember as well that our own govt, which is complicit in much of that suffering, can come to resemble the anti-Christian regimes whose offenses are so capably cataloged in Shea's book. Saving a drowning man 4.11.98 Mindy Belz "Human rights are the island off the mainland of U.S. foreign policy," Stephen Prichard of Amnesty International lamented before a House subcommittee in hearings in March. Sailing along with that maritime metaphor, Nina Shea of Freedom House added, "Those of us interested in religious human rights have been the drowning man in the life raft just off the island." Can that man be pulled ashore? Can at least a causeway unite the island and the mainland? Those are questions in Congress these next several months-and in the meantime, persecution overseas is rising. The Freedom From Religious Persecution Act on March 25 passed the House Committee on International Relations 31-5, despite "unbelievably intense" Clinton administration opposition and veto threats, according to the Hudson Institute's Michael Horowitz. Supporters hope the full House will vote on the measure in May. It establishes an executive branch office to monitor religious persecution, cuts off "non-humanitarian aid" when necessary, and imposes other restrictions on countries that persecute. While isolating govts that mistreat religious believers, the bill avoids trade restrictions-with the exception of sanctions on Sudan-that have stalled other congressional efforts. "This is by and large not a trade bill," says Ann Huiskes, legislative aide to Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), the legislation's sponsor in the House. Concerned lawmakers in March also formed the Religious Prisoners Congressional Task Force. The advocacy group, founded by Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-Pa.), has bipartisan support in both houses of Congress. It plans to organize members of Congress to adopt a "prisoner of faith" and to lobby heads of state on behalf of the persecuted. Mr. Brownback said the effort will be modeled on earlier campaigns for religious captives, such as Soviet Jews a decade ago. "About one-third of all minority-faith communities are forced to meet clandestinely in underground or secret group meetings," he noted. "Most are nameless and lack advocates, yet they are the Sakharovs & Solzhenitsyns of their generation." Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) added at a press conference last month, "Religious freedom is at the heart of the American experience, but it has too often been far from the heart of America's foreign policy. … Intl Religious Freedom Act ¹ "selected provisions" U.S. religious intolerance Disney Gay Days infiltrated 2001 AP Lake Buena Vista, FL   Martin Mawyer & Phillip Vaught tried to blend in with the gay men as they leaned against a railing above the dance floor at a Downtown Disney nightclub. They weren't here to celebrate the opening of Gay Days and neither is gay. The self-described "Christian guerillas'' instead aimed hidden video cameras at the sea of shirtless men dancing on the packed, revolving floor as colored lights twirled above. Their mission was to record any homoerotic displays to show atDisney's next shareholders' meeting. They believe Disney shouldn't be condoning such behavior. … PA "hate speech" code struck down by Federal court   3.26.01   World News Philadelphia   In a unanimous decision in mid-February, a federal appeals court panel ruled that a Pennsylvania school district's anti-harassment policy was overly broad and violated the right of Christians to voice their religious beliefs about homosexuality. The ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit noted that there is no "harassment exemption" to the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of speech. The decision is binding on federal judges in DE, NJ, PA & Virgin Islands. Religious tolerance "is really just a front used to disguise hatred towards Christians, a front for hate." Project Megiddo NGOs   Intl Religious Liberty Assoc. Fdtn for Religious Tolerance WEFRLC   Euro HRts marathon Freedom magazine 3.99 FM: Germany "HateWatch"
Europe EU   OSCE 12.5.97 9.18.97   Religious intolerance in Europe today Council on Europe 10.6.00 McNair report 10.96 alternative religions Freedom Magazine "HateWatch" Germany re USCIRF excerpt   c. Freedom of Religion The Basic Law (Constitution) provides for religious freedom, and the Govt respects this right in practice. Most religious organizations are treated as nonprofit associations and therefore enjoy tax-exempt status. In order to obtain this status, state-level authorities must find that the organization operates on a nonprofit basis and contributes socially, spiritually, or materially to society. Church & state are separate, although historically a special partnership exists between the state and those religious communities that have the status of a "corporation under public law." If they fulfill certain requirements, incl assurance of permanency and an indispensable loyalty to the state, organizations may request that they be granted "public law corporation" status, which, among other things, entitles them to levy taxes on their members that are collected by the state for the church. The decision to grant "public law corporation" status is made at the state level. State govts also subsidize various institutions affiliated with such public law corporations, such as schools & hospitals. Most visible among the denominations & religions granted this status are Lutheran & Catholic churches and Judaism. Many others also have been granted such status, incl Mormons, Seventh Day Adventists, Mennonites, Baptists, Methodist, Christian Scientists, and the Salvation Army. The right to provide religious chaplaincies in the military, in hospitals, and in prisons is not dependent on the public law corporation status of a religious community. The Ministry of defense is currently looking into the possibilities for Islamic clergymen to provide religious services in the military, although none of the many Islamic communities has the status of a corporation under public law. The right to provide religious instruction at public schools also is no longer confined to religious communities with public law corporation status. In November the Berlin Higher Regional Court ruled that the Islamic Federation had to be given the opportunity to provide religious instruction in the Berlin public schools even though it was not a corporation under public law. The decision drew criticism from the many Islamic organizations that the Islamic Federation does not represent. Jehovah's Witnesses are appealing to the Constitutional Court a July 1997 decision of the Berlin state govt that had denied the church public law corporation status. Later in 1997 the Federal Administrative Court in Berlin upheld the Berlin state govt's decision. The Court concluded that the church did not offer the "indispensable loyalty" towards the democratic state "essential for lasting cooperation" because, for example, it forbade its members from participating in public elections. The church does enjoy the basic tax-exempt status afforded to most religious organizations. According to the Christian Community in Cologne (CCK), no incidents of harassment, discrimination, or death threats have been directed at CCK members since 1992, with the exception of occasional letters from a particular individual, whom they describe as harmless. CCK representatives claimed that the church's current tax difficulties were due to harassment by local tax authorities. However, they admitted that the church's tax problems were based on errors made by the church, although they questioned the motivation of the authorities for scrutinizing the church's application for extension of tax-exempt status (which must be renewed every few years, depending on state law). The fact that the church apparently violated tax law, and the authorities' voluntary reduction of the church's tax liability, raise questions about the merit of the CCK's allegations of harassment. In July the Baden-Wuerttemberg minister of education supported the decision of the Stuttgart school district not to hire a Muslim woman for a teaching position in a public school because she wore a traditional headscarf. The minister took the position that the scarf was a political symbol of female submission rather than a religious practice prescribed by Islam. The Minster permitted the woman to conduct the practice teaching required for her degree, but argued that allowing a state employee to wear a headscarf on the job would violate the religious & political neutrality legally required of all civil servants. The woman concerned announced her intention to appeal the decision in the court system. While the minister held that the political act of donning a headscarf was unacceptable for a teacher as a role model, thousands of Muslim students are free to wear the headscarf in school. In April in the Frankfurt suburb of Oberursel 100 Turkish families from a moderate Islamic group made inquiries about converting a building into a mosque. Local officials rebuffed the suggestion, and the mayor commented to the press that no mosque would be built in Oberursel until a Christian church is permitted in Mecca. The refusal polarized the local Islamic community, and the Hesse Protestant Church's Ombudsman for foreigners is mediating the dispute. Turkish groups in Stuttgart also failed to get permission to build a mosque or to convert an existing building into one. The Church of Scientology remained under scrutiny by both federal and state officials who contend that it is not a religion but an economic enterprise. Authorities sometimes sought to deregister Scientology organizations previously registered as nonprofit associations and require them to register as commercial enterprises. In 1997 the Federal Administrative Court in Berlin, in sending an appeal concerning the deregistration of a Scientology organization in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg back to a lower level for further review, declared that a registered nonprofit association, religious or otherwise, could engage in entrepreneurial activities as long as these were only supplementary and collateral to its nonprofit goals. The case continued in the lower court at year's end. Some govt officials allege that Scientology's goals and methods are antidemocratic and call for further restrictions on Scientology-affiliated organizations and individuals.

In 1997 authorities of the federal & state OPC's placed Scientology under observation for a year because of concerns raised by some offices that there were indications that Scientology may pose a threat to democracy. Under the observation decision, OPC officials seek to collect information mostly from written materials and firsthand accounts to assess whether a "threat" exists.
More intrusive methods would be subject to legal checks and would require evidence of involvement in treasonous or terrorist activity. Federal OPC authorities stated that no requests had been made to employ more intrusive methods, nor were any such requests envisioned. In November federal and state OPC's agreed to continue the observation of Scientology, subject to another review in 1999.

The decision was based on an OPC report that concluded that although there was no imminent danger for the political system or the economy of being infiltrated by Scientology, there were nevertheless indications of tendencies within Scientology, supported by its ideology & programmatic goals, which could be seen as directed against Germany's free and democratic order.
One state, Schleswig-Holstein, did not agree to implement such observation, on the grounds that the situation did not appear to justify such measures. Scientology filed a suit in Berlin to enjoin the Berlin Interior Ministry from the alleged practice of bribing members of Scientology to "spy" on other members. The case continued at year's end.

In April officials in Baden-Wuerttemberg posted bail and apologized to Swiss authorities when one of their police investigators gathering information on Scientology's activities in Baden-Wuerttemberg was arrested by Swiss police after interviewing a contact in Basel. The investigator was charged with espionage and violating Swiss neutrality.
Most major political parties continued to exclude Scientologists from membership, arguing that Scientology is not a religion but a for-profit organization whose goals and principles are antidemocratic and thus incompatible with those of the political parties. However, there has been only one known instance of enforcement of this ban. In a 1997 ruling a Bonn state court upheld the expulsion of three Scientologists from a state-level organization of the Christian Democratic Union party, ruling that a political party had the right to exclude from its organization those persons who do not identify themselves with the party's basic goals.

In June the commission established in 1996 to investigate "so-called sects and psycho-groups," including Scientology, presented its final report to Parliament. The report concluded that these groups did not pose a threat to society and state and underlined the constitutional principle of religious freedom and the state's obligation to observe strict neutrality in these matters.
However, it called upon the Govt to introduce legislation for consumer protection in the "psycho-market" and highlighted the need for the Govt to inform the public about dangers to health and property posed by psycho-cults and groups. Particular emphasis was placed on Scientology because it allegedly pursued policies of "misinformation and intimidation" of its critics, according to the report. The report did not classify Scientology as a religion, but as a profit-oriented psycho-group with totalitarian internal structures and undemocratic goals.

The commission contended that there were concrete indications that Scientology was a political extremist organization, in German, a "combine with totalitarian tendencies." The commission also recommended to Parliament that observation of Scientology continue. The report also recommended that because of its derogatory connotation the term "sect" should be avoided, and that instead the designation "new religious and ideological communities and psycho-groups" be used. The report referred to psycho-groups as "commercial cults" that offered their services in a fast-growing psycho-market.
The interministerial group of mid-level federal & state officials that exchanges information on Scientology- related issues continued its periodic meetings. The group published no report or policy compendium during the year and remains purely consultative in purpose.

On June 4, Bavarian interior minister Geunther Beckstein released two new brochures warning against the Church of Scientology. "The Scientology System" and "Scientology: An Anti-Constitutional Movement" warned about alleged hard-sell methods by the church and asserted that Scientology was striving for world power. Beckstein asserted that the Church was even ordering the commission of criminal acts and compared its psychological methods to those of the former East German secret police. He added that due to govt measures, membership in Germany had dropped to an estimated 10,000 persons.

Scientologists continued to report discrimination, alleging both govt-condoned and societal harassment because of their church affiliation. "Sect-filters," statements by individuals that they are not affiliated with Scientology, are used by some businesses and other organizations to discriminate against Scientologists in business and social dealings. Scientologists assert that business firms whose owners or executives are Scientologists, as well as artists who are church members, faced boycotts and discrimination, sometimes with state & local govt approval.
Other church members reported employment difficulties, and, in the state of Bavaria, applicants for state civil service positions are screened for Scientology membership. However, according to Bavarian and federal officials, no one in Bavaria lost a job, was denied employment, or suffered any infringement of rights by public officials or entities solely because of association with Scientology.

Bavarian officials also contended that a Scientologist was teaching in a Munich public school and that another Scientologist was a member of the Bavarian Ministry of Culture. Several states have published pamphlets warning of alleged dangers posed by Scientology. In June foreign professional tennis player Arnaud Boetsch's contract with the Ruppuer Tennis Club, to represent the club in the German Championships League, was canceled when the club learned that he was a Scientologist.
A United Nations report in April agreed that individuals were discriminated against because of their affiliation with Scientology. However, it rejected Scientology's comparison of the treatment of its members with that of Jews during the Nazi era.

In August officials in Frankfurt defended their decision to allow about 6,000 Scientology members and supporters to hold a demonstration in the city's Opera Square. Responding to criticism for issuing the demonstration permit, the officials defended Scientology's freedom of assembly.
Scientologists continued to take grievances to the courts. Legal rulings have been mixed. Some individuals who had been fired because they are Scientologists took their employers to court for "unfair dismissal." Several have reached out of court settlements with employers.

Scientology

Gun for Hire
5.17.01   Spotlight ¹ ²

The entire entertaining and revealing story is covered in Michael Collins Piper's book, Best Witness.¹ Here is the legal notice and Heller & Co. requires be printed in every publication issued by Scientology: It is reprinted from International Scientology News magazine issue No. 16, released in May, 2001 by Church of Scientology International, 6331 Hollywood Blvd., Suite 801, Los Angeles, CA 90028-6300. It is printed on page 47 at the bottom in extremely light 4-point type. This message appears on all official "Scientology" publications. It proves that Scientology is owned by Religious Technology Center, Inc.

All Rights Reserved. Grateful acknowledgment is made to Ron Hubbard Library for permission to reproduce selections from the copyrighted works of L. Ron Hubbard. SCIENTOLOGY, the new FLAG logo, Flag Service Organization, corporate symbol, SCIENTOLOGY symbol, GOLDEN AGE OF TECH symbol, OT, FLAG, FREEWINDS, HUBBARD, LRH, LRH DEVICE, SMI corporate symbol, I HELP logo, CLEARSOUND logo, CLEARSOUND, E-METER, STANDARD TECH, STUDENT HAT, MARK SUPER VI/VII E-METER configuration, MARK SUPER VII QUANTIUM, NED, SAINT HILL, SHSBC, FREEWINDS logo, MARK SUPER VII QUANTIUM logo, Religious Technology Center symbol, DIANETICS, THE BRIDGE, Lion symbol, SUPER POWER, FSSO symbol, "RON" signature, CSI corporate symbol, OT symbol, Solo Auditor symbol, FSO corporate symbol, Sea Organization symbol and Sea Organization coat of arms are trademarks and service marks owned by Religious Technology Center and are used with its permission. SCIENTOLOGIST is a collective membership mark designating members of the affiliated churches and missions of Scientology. Services relating to Scientology religious philosophy are delivered throughout the world exclusively by licensees of the Church of Scientology International with the permission of Religious Technology Center, holder of the SCIENTOLOGY and DIANETICS trademarks.

Is this how Raven is paid by Heller or one of his associates? Does the ADL send "fees" to Heller from which Heller pays Raven? And what connection exists between Heller and fellow Los Angeles lawyer Bruce Hochman? In any event, it is unmistakable that Heller and crew control Scientology through their RTC. The evidence indicates that they also control and manipulate Greg Raven and the IHR.
  Best Witness is available at $10 from Liberty Library, 300 Independence Ave., SE, Washington, DC 20003.
  The bizarre story of Roy Bullock, the ADL's longtime top undercover informant, is told in The Garbage Man, available at $10 from Liberty Library, 300 Independence Ave., SE, Washington, DC 20003.

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