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French appeals court
Investigating judges can have access to church documents without breaking confidentiality
AP (30.12.2002) / HRWF Int. (06.01.2003) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email info@hrwf.net - France's highest appeals court has ruled that investigating judges can have access to church documents dealing with internal investigations without violating church confidentiality, court officials said Monday.
The court ruled that "the obligation of secrecy imposed on clergymen does not prevent judges from accessing documents in pursuit of the truth" in a criminal investigation, officials said.
The decision, issued on Dec. 17, overturns a lower appeals court ruling that such information-sharing constitutes a violation of the confidentiality between the clergy and a congregant.
The case stems from a complaint filed by the Archdiocese of Lyon in the course of an investigation into the alleged rape of a 25-year-old woman by a parish priest. On Aug. 6, 2001, the archdiocese was searched on a warrant was issued by a judge. The following month, additional evidence in the case was seized during a search of a bishop's office.
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MILS replaced by MIVILUDES but what does it mean?
by Massimo Introvigne
Cesnur.org/ HRWF Int. (16.12.2002) Website http://www.hrwf.net - Email info@hwf.net - By decree no. 20002-1392 of November 28, 2002 the old French MILS (Mission interministrielle de lutte contre les sectes, Governmental Mission to Fight Cults) has been abolished. In its place the new French government has established MIVILUDES (Mission interministrielle de vigilance et de lutte contre les drives sectaires, Governmental Mission to Watch and Fight Cultic Deviances). The change in name, as announced before, should correspond to a more moderate attitude, and the decree specifies that the Mission should operate "within the respect of public liberties". It is also important that the Mission, according to the Decree, should no longer develop its own independent international activities but participate to activities in its field initiated and directed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (which was often critical of the old Mission).
There will no longer be "members" of the Mission, except the president and the secretary general, appointed by the Prime Minister. An "executive committee" will include representatives of the different branches of the French administration (i.e., apparently, not anti-cultists). A "consultative committee" should include experts (i.e., probably, anti-cultists in addition, hopefully, to experts from other quarters), but should offer only "evaluations" of the Mission's work and "orientation".
The general impression is that the Mission's previous bureaucracy is being reduced, if not dismantled, and its international missionary anti-cult activities placed under control, if not abolished. However, who is appointed to the various positions will clarify what the change really means.
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Jean-Louis Langlais is the new President of the French Mission
Cesnur.org/ HRWF Int. (16.12.2002) Website http://www.hrwf.net - Email info@hwf.net - The French MIVILUDES (Governmental Mission to Watch and Fight Cultic Deviances), the new incarnation of the old MILS (Governmental Mission to Fight Cults) has its president, in the person of Mr. Jean-Louis Langlais, an officer within the Ministry of Internal Affairs in charge of international relations.
Mr. Langlais was born in Argentat (Corrze) on May 24, 1939. As many French bureaucrats, he attented the famous ENA, the National School of Administration, between 1965-1967 and obtained a B.A. in law. He spent all his career in the French bureaucracy, working for the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the regions of Aude (1967-1968) and Eure (1968-70), and became the main associate of Pierre Messmer, Minister for French Overseas Department, during 1971-1972. He worked for the Ministry of Youth and Sport (1973-1976), for the Ministry of Territory (1976-1977), for Prime Minister Rayond Barre (1977-1979). He was director of youth affairs at the Ministry of Youth and Sport between 1979-1984, well before this Ministry became active in anti-cult activities. In 1984, he joined again the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where he hold several positions and distinguished himself as an expert in anti-drug activities.
Although it is too early to predict the attitude of Mr. Langlais, the fact that a bureaucrat has been selected rather than an anti-cultist is significant and may herald a return to the low profile of the pre-1998 Observatory of Cults, the more moderate predecessor of MILS. The anti-cult lobby had called for the appointment of former MP Catherine Picard, co-sponsor of the anti-cult law of 2001, but her possibilities were largely torpedoed by the publication of a conspirationist anti-American book she co-authored with social scientist Anne Fournier earlier this year (Sectes, dmocratie et mondialisation, Paris: PUF, 2002).
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Abrogation of the decree instituting the Interministerial Mission of Fight Against Sects (MILS)
HRWF (11.12.2002) - Website http://www.hrwf.net - Email info@hrwf.net -
On November 29, 2002, a decree was published in the Journal Officiel de la Rpublique Fran?aise, announcing the creation of an interministerial mission of vigilance and fight against sectarian deviances and the abrogation of Decree no. 98-890 of 7 October 1998 instituting an interministerial mission of fight against sects is abrogated. Human Rights Without Frontiers has translated the full text of the new decree.
Decree no. 2002-1392 of 28 November 2002 instituting an interministerial mission of vigilance and fight against sectarian deviances
The President of the Republic
On the Report of the Prime Minister
Having heard the Council of Ministers
Decrees :
Article 1. - It is instituted under the authority of the Prime Minister, an interministerial mission of vigilance and fight against sectarian deviances, which is mandated :
- To observe and analyse the phenomenon of sectarian movements whose activities are prejudicial to human rights and fundamental freedoms or which constitute a threat to public order or which are contrary to the rules and laws ;
- To favour, whilst respecting public freedoms, the coordination of preventative and repressive action by public authorities against such activities ;
- To develop the exchange of information among public services on the administrative practises relating to the fight against sectarian deviances ;
- To contribute to the awareness raising and training of public servants in this field ;
- To inform people about the risks and, if need be, the dangers to which the sectarian deviances expose them, and to facilitate the implementation of assistance to the victims of such deviances ;
- To participate in the works about issues falling under the mission's responsibilities which will be carried out by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the international level.
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Article 2. C The mission is made the recipient of information possessed by the various administrations involved in the issue about the sectarian movements pursuant to Article 1, except when the transmission of such information breaches a secret protected by law.
It can also submit to the central services of the ministries any request aiming to carry out study or research work concerning the fight against sectarian deviances.
It circulates regularly among those services the synthesis of the general analyses undertaken on this subject.
It notifies them about the activities brought to its attention which may require their address. If such activities may be subject to penal procedure, it denounces them to the State Prosecutor and informs the Minister of Justice.
Article 3. C The Chairman of the Mission is appointed be decree for a duration of three years.
He is assisted by a Secretary General appointed by an order of the Prime Minister.
The servants put under the authority of the Secretary General of the Mission are also appointed by order of the Prime Minister.
Article 4. C The Chairman of the Mission heads a piloting executive operational committee composed of representatives of the various relevant ministerial departments.
This executive committee is called by the Chairman of the Mission to meet at least six times per year. The agenda is set by the latter.
Article 5. C According to the agenda he sets, the Chairman of the Mission periodically convenes an orientation council consisting of personalities appointed by an order of the Prime Minister on the basis of their competencies or their experience.
Through its work, this council contributes to the reflection of the public authorities about sectarian deviances, to the elaboration of orientations and perspectives of action for the mission and to the evaluation of this action.
The orientation council hears any person it deems useful to carry out its work. The members of the executive committee can, on the decision of the Chairman of the Mission, attend the meetings of the council.
Article 6. C The Chairman of the Mission determines the programme of action of the mission every year, after consultation of the executive committee and the orientation council.
Article 7. C Decree no. 98-890 of 7 October 1998 instituting an interministerial mission of fight against sects is abrogated.
Article 8. C The Prime Minister is responsible for the implementation of this decree which will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
Made in Paris, 28 November 2002
By the President of the Republic
JACQUES CHIRAC
Prime Minister
JEAN-PIERRE RAFFARIN
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Judicial dissolution of an anti-Jehovah's Witnesses association
Willy Fautr, Human Rights Without Frontiers Int.
HRWF (11.12.2002) - Website http://www.hrwf.net - Email info@hrwf.net - Two recent court decisions have safeguarded the right of Jehovah's Witnesses to build a place of worship. In one case, an association created to prevent such a construction was dissolved and in the other, a municipal decree was annulled.
On November 6, 2002, the Auch High Court (Tribunal de Grande Instance) declared that the Association for the defence of the Hount Barado site" be dissolved on the grounds that its goal was to hinder the free exercise of a religion.
The objective of the association was to prevent the construction of a place of worship for Jehovah's Witnesses in Berdoues because "it would allegedly have changed the rural character and the quietness of its inhabitants."
The association was sentenced to the payment of 700 Euros to the local JW association.
On October 17, 2002, the Administrative Court of Orleans announced publicly that it annulled the municipal decree issued by the mayor of Sorel-Moussel which allowed him to exercise his pre-emptive right on a plot of land to be bought by the local association of Jehovah's Witnesses for the construction of a Kingdom's Hall.
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Accommodation of the Muslim religion:
France, no longer a secular state?
Willy Fautr, Human Rights Without Frontiers Int.
HRWF (11.12.2002) - Website http://www.hrwf.net - Email info@hrwf.net - On December 9, 2002, under pressure of the charismatic Minister of Interior, Nicolas Sarkozy, three Muslim federations signed an agreement about the creation of a French Council of the Muslim Religion.
Two days earlier, Nicolas Sarkozy had unexpectedly convened the representatives of the three main Muslim federations: the Mosque of Paris (Mosque de Paris), under Algerian control, the National Federation of the Muslims of France (Fdration Nationale des Musulmans de France/ FNMF), dominated by the Moroccans and the Union of the Islamic Organizations of France (Union des organisations islamiques de France/ UOIF), close to the Muslim Brothers. He had summoned them to come to an agreement during the weekend and to sign an agreement in his office on Monday 10 December.
The agreement provides that co-opted personalities, including women, would not represent more than a third of the Council and that the other members would be elected by the regions. The presidency of the Council will be a rotating one, on the model of the European Union. The first chairman will be the rector of the Mosque of Paris, Dalil Boubakeur, although he lacks some popular basis. In compensation, the FNMF will get the coordination of the various committees of the Council while the UOIF would be in charge of the regions.
The Minister's advisers have planned a seminar for the representatives of the Muslim federations, the major mosques and the relevant experts. They will fix a date for the elections to be held in the mosques. The meeting will take place on 19-20 December in the castle of Nainville-les-Roches, the private residence of the Ministers of Interior. The participants will be accommodated and will have their meals in the castle. A place of worship will be for the five daily prayers. Some wonder with this state interference in the internal matters of a religion whether France is not dangerously turning its back to its famous principle of la?cit (secularism) of separation of state and religions.
Other participants in the Consultation on Islam in France, such as Youcef Mammeri (Mosque Al-Islah in Marseille) or Abderahmane Dahmane, chairman of the Coordination of Muslims, feel they have been diddled.
An expert on Islam also said, ironically, about this procedure "Sarkozy holds his big sanhedrin" as Napoleon I did when he convened the Jewish notables to summon them to create a Jewish consistory.
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Freedom of religion and religious minorities in France
Council of Europe Resolution 1309 (2002) [1]
1. On 30 May 2000 a private member's bill to counter more effectively and tighten legislation against sect-like groups was tabled in the French parliament. Act No 2001-504 to reinforce the prevention and suppression of sects which infringe human rights and fundamental freedoms became law on 12 June 2001.
2. The Assembly recalls its Recommendation 1412 (1999) on the illegal activities of sects, in which it concluded that it was unnecessary to define what constituted a sect, but that it was essential to ensure that the activities of groups, whatever religious, esoteric or spiritual description they adopted, were in keeping with the principles of democratic societies and, in particular, the provisions of Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
3. In this text the Assembly also called on the governments of member states "to use the normal procedures of criminal and civil law against illegal practices carried out in the name of groups of a religious, esoteric or spiritual nature".
4. Although a member state is perfectly at liberty to take any measures it deems necessary to protect its public order, the authorised restrictions on the freedoms guaranteed by Articles 9 to 11 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion, freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and association) of the ECHR are subject to specific conditions.
5. The Assembly cannot but conclude that ultimately, should the case arise, it will be for the European Court of Human Rights, and it alone, to say whether or not the French law is compatible with the ECHR.
6. The Assembly invites the French government to reconsider this law and to clarify the definition of the terms "offence" and "offender".
[1] Text adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of the Assembly, on 18 November 2002. See Doc. 9612, report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights (Rapporteur: Mr Ak?ali).
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Trial of French author raises questions about freedom of expression
By Joseph Coleman
AP ( 23.10. 2002) PARIS/ HRWF Int. (24.10.2002) Website http://www.hrwf.net - Email info@hrwf.net - The comments were certainly inflammatory: A best-selling French novelist, discussing his spiritual beliefs in a magazine interview, declared Islam "the most stupid religion."
The statement got writer Michel Houellebecq more than just bad press he ended up in court.
It's a scenario being played out more often in France these days, as society struggles to balance rising worries about racism, crime and social decay with the long-standing principle of freedom of expression.
In addition to the Houellebecq case, in just the past few months several groups have sued to ban a novel "Rose Bonbon" that featured a pedophile character, and the government has outlawed an anti-Semitic extremist group.
The suit against Houellebecq was dismissed on Tuesday, and the government recently refused to limit sales of "Rose Bonbon." Still, free speech advocates say such cases are on the rise in France.
"It's an attempt by some people who have moral convictions to force all of society to follow their convictions," Agnes Tricoire, an anti-censorship lawyer with the French League of Human Rights, said of the court cases.
A mix of forces is encouraging the trend.
Many in France are worried about young people and argue that television and book content should be more tightly controlled. The government, for example, has mounted a campaign against pornography on television.
At the same time, the strength of the far-right in recent presidential elections, a string of anti-Semitic attacks earlier this year and the sensitivities of France's large Muslim community have combined to put officials and minorities on higher guard against racism.
One case in point is the outcry against Houellebecq, who shot to international fame with the 1998 shock novel published in Britain as "Atomised."
In a September 2001 interview in the literary magazine Lire, Houellebecq was quoted as saying he rejected all monotheistic religions, but he singled out Islam for special criticism.
"The most stupid religion is Islam," he was quoted as saying.
The statement prompted an uproar among Muslims and drew criticism from abroad, particularly in Morocco, which has a large immigrant population here. Four Muslim associations sued him for inciting racial hatred, a crime in France.
At the court session in mid-September, the writer, whose most recent novel is the best-selling "Platform," remained defiant.
"I have never expressed the least contempt for Muslims, but I have as much contempt as ever for Islam," Houellebecq testified, adding that the writing style of the Koran was "mediocre."
When the court dismissed the case Tuesday, it said that Houellebecq's comments against Islam could not be construed as general contempt for Muslims or a call for acts against them.
The plaintiffs were angered, saying that an affront to Islam was an affront to all Muslims. They promised to appeal.
"Muslims weren't pleased. He shouldn't have said all that he did," said Cherif Benameir, the president of the French National Federation of Muslims. "Muslims don't tell Christians they have a God who isn't good."
In the outcry against "Rose Bonbon," by Nicolas Jones-Gorlin, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy ruled on Oct. 11 that he would not try to limit sales of the book because it was unlikely to be read by minors.
Sarkozy, who is also leading a highly publicized campaign against prostitution, urged bookstores not to display the book prominently, however, saying some of the scenes could be troubling to children.
The trend has extended into politics as well.
In August, the government banned a right-wing extremist group a few weeks after one of its members, Maxime Brunerie, was accused of firing a rifle at President Jacques Chirac at a military parade. Chirac was unhurt.
The group denied any involvement in the attack, but the government argued it should be outlawed because it encouraged racism and hatred. A court also closed down the group's Web site.
The move illustrated the greater power French officials have against extremist groups compared to the government in the United States, where free speech guarantees are more broadly interpreted.
Even French anti-censorship activists say some limits on expression are healthy.
Tricoire, the human rights lawyer, said she was initially sympathetic to the case against Houellebecq, and her group joined in the complaint against him because of the racist tone of his remarks.
But Tricoire changed her mind when the plaintiffs criticized anti-Muslim comments in his fiction which she said should be fully protected.
"Nobody can feel attacked personally by a character because he's fictional, he's not real," she said. "It's very important that art be able to talk about what happens in society."
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French author cleared of race hate
BBC News (22.10.2002)/ HRWF Int. (23.10.2002) Website http://www.hrwf.net - Email info@hrwf.net -French writer Michel Houellebecq has been cleared of inciting racial hatred by saying Islam was "the stupidest religion".
A panel of three judges in Paris declared that the author was not guilty after he was sued by four Muslim groups.
He made the comments in an interview with the literary magazine Lire in 2001.
The case was seen as an important battle between free speech and religious conservatism.
Houellebecq, who won the Impac literary prize in May, could have faced up to 18 months in jail or a 70,000 euro (44,000) fine if found guilty.
The court ruled that although the author's comments were "without a doubt characterised by neither a particularly noble outlook nor by the subtlety of their phrasing," they did not constitute a punishable offence.
The court agreed with Houellebecq's defence that the "dumbest" remark "did not contain any intent to verbally abuse, show contempt for or insult the followers of the religion in question".
'Islamophobia'
It ruled that while Houellebecq had expressed hatred for Islam, he did not express hatred for Muslims, and did not encourage others to share his views or discriminate.
But the Muslim groups, including France's Human Rights League, said his comments amounted to "Islamophobia".
In the interview, Houellebecq said: "The stupidest religion, after all, is Islam.
"When you read the Koran, you're shattered. The Bible at least is beautifully written because the Jews have a heck of a literary talent."
He also described Islam as "a dangerous religion right from the start".
When he appeared in court to answer the charges in September, he said he felt contempt - not hatred - for Islam.
Humiliated
"I have never displayed the least contempt for Muslims," he said.
"I have as much contempt as ever for Islam."
He added: "I am always changing my point of view."
The author said he opposed not just Islam but all faiths that believed there was just one God.
It was his right as an author to criticise religions, he said.
Dalil Boubakeur from the Paris mosque told the court: "Islam has been reviled, attacked with hateful words. My community has been humiliated."
The groups suing the author also included Saudi Arabia's World Islamic League, the National Federation of French Muslims and the Lyon mosque.
The groups are considering appealing against the court's decision.
The main character in Houellebecq's novel Platform admits to a "quiver of glee" every time a "Palestinian terrorist" is killed.
In 2001, the author said he had "a gift" for insults and provocation.
British author Salman Rushdie was one of Houellebecq's most vocal supporters, writing in the Washington Post that a guilty verdict for Houellebecq would be a blow to free speech.
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French cult predicts doomsday by Christmas
by Lisa Bryant
UTC (20.10.2002) / HRWF Int. (22.10.2002) - Website http://www.hrwf.net - Email info@hrwf.net - Mankind has been granted a reprieve, you will be relieved to hear. A tiny French cult had predicted the end of the world would occur on October 24. But now, the sect says, doomsday will fall later, sometime before Christmas
Of the dozens of officially-recognized sects in France, few have attracted more attention in recent weeks than the New Lighthouse Movement, based in the city of Nantes in the west of France.
For months, half a dozen members of the cult have remained inside their headquarters, a two-story house, reading the gospels, discussing religious matters, and predicting that the end of the world is coming soon. Very soon.
The group captured media attention recently when its 36-year-old leader, Arnaud Mussy, set next Thursday as doomsday. But in an interview with VOA, Mr. Mussy said his remarks had been misinterpreted, saying the apocalypse is arriving, sometime in the next month or two, but he could not give a precise date.
Mr. Mussy's predictions have proved wrong before. Two previous doomsday dates, scheduled for last February and last July, rolled by without major catastrophes.
But French police have other concerns. One New Lighthouse Movement member committed suicide on July 14, coinciding with one doomsday date, and two other members tried unsuccessfully to kill themselves.
Police and justice officials say they cannot ban the sect, since New Lighthouse members have not broken any law. But many people in France remember another apocalyptic sect, the Order of the Solar Temple, which staged a series of spectacular, coordinated suicides in France, Switzerland and Canada during the mid-1990s.
Mr. Mussy argues he and his followers are pacifists and have no intention of committing suicide. For now, he says, group members live normal lives; they go shopping, walk on nearby beaches, even pay their taxes.
Mr. Mussy claims to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. His brother Olivier, he says, is a pope. According to Mr. Mussy, the end of the world, when it comes, will last three difficult days. But the afterlife will be joyful.
France has plenty of offbeat sects, not all of which are apocalyptic. Philippe Sauvage, a self-styled druid from Brittany, for example, has attracted hundreds of admirers for his reported healing powers. But the French government has charged him with fraud.
As for Mr. Mussy, he says if his latest doomsday prediction is wrong, he may have to return to his old job as a sales agent for the French telecommunications company, France-Telecom.
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International Religious Freedom Report 2002
State Department (07.10.2002) - The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respects this right in practice; however, religious groups continued to be concerned about the possible impact of legislation passed in 2001. The 1905 law on the separation of church and state prohibits discrimination on the basis of faith.
There was no overall change in the status of respect for religious freedom during the period covered by this report.
The generally amicable relationship among religions in society contributed to religious freedom; however, during the period covered by this report, numerous anti-Semitic incidents occurred, mainly as a result of increased tensions in the Middle East. Government leaders and representatives from the country's four main religious groups strongly criticized the violence, and the Government continued to increase police security for Jewish institutions.
The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom issues with the Government in the context of its overall dialog and policy of promoting human rights.
Section I. Religious Demography
The country has a total area of 211,210 square miles, and its population is approximately 60 million.
The Government does not keep statistics on religious affiliation. The vast majority of the population is nominally Roman Catholic. According to one member of the Catholic hierarchy, only 8 percent of the population are practicing Catholics. Muslims constitute the second largest religious group in number; Islam has approximately 4 to 5 million adherents, or approximately 7 to 8 percent of the population. Protestants make up 2 percent of the population, and the Jewish and Buddhist faiths each represent 1 percent.
The Jewish community numbers between 600,000 and 700,000 persons and is divided among Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox groups. According to press reports, up to 60 percent of the Jewish community celebrates at most only the high holy days such as Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah. One Jewish community leader has reported that the largest number of practicing Jews in the country is Orthodox. Jehovah's Witnesses claim that 250,000 persons attend their services either regularly or periodically. Orthodox Christians number between 80,000 and 100,000; the vast majority are associated with the Greek or Russian Orthodox churches. According to various estimates, approximately 6 percent of the country's citizens are unaffiliated with any religion.
Other religions present in the country include evangelicals and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). Membership in evangelical churches is growing due to increased participation by African and Antillian immigrants. Examples of minority religious groups include the Scientologists (membership estimates range from 5,000 to 20,000), the Raelians with approximately 20,000 members, the Association of the Triumphant Vajra, and the Order of the Solar Temple.
Foreign missionaries are present in the country.
Section II. Status of Religious Freedom
Legal/Policy Framework
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion and the Government generally respects this right in practice; however, religious groups continued to be concerned about the possible impact of legislation passed in 2001. The 1905 law on the separation of church and state--the foundation of existing legislation on religious freedom--makes it illegal to discriminate on the basis of faith.
Organizations are required to register, and the Government uses many categories to describe associations. Two of these categories apply to religious groups: "Associations cultuelles" (associations of worship, which are exempt from taxes) and "associations culturelles" (cultural associations, which are not exempt from taxes). Associations in these two categories are subject to certain management and financial-disclosure requirements. An association of worship may organize only religious activities, defined as liturgical services and practices. A cultural association is a type of association whose goal is to promote the culture of a certain group, including a religious group. Although a cultural association is not exempt from taxes, it may receive government subsidies for its cultural and educational operations (such as schools). Religious groups normally use both of these categories; the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for example, runs strictly religious activities through its association of worship and operates a school under its cultural association.
Religious groups must apply with the local prefecture to be recognized as an association of worship and, therefore, receive tax-exempt status for their religious activities under the 1905 statute. The prefecture reviews the submitted documentation regarding the association's purpose for existence. To qualify the group's purpose must be solely the practice of some form of religious ritual. Printing publications, employing a board president, or running a school may disqualify a group from receiving tax-exempt status.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, 109 of 1,138 Protestant associations, 15 of 147 Jewish associations, and 2 of 1,050 Muslim associations have tax-free status. Roughly 100 Catholic associations are tax exempt; a representative of the Ministry of Interior reports that the total number of non-tax-exempt Catholic associations is too numerous to estimate accurately. More than 50 associations of the Jehovah's Witnesses have tax-free status.
According to the 1905 law, associations of worship are not taxed on the donations that they receive. However, the prefecture may decide to review a group's status if the association receives a large donation or legacy that comes to the attention of the tax authorities. If the prefecture determines that the association is not in fact in conformity with the 1905 law, its status may be changed and it may be required to pay a 60 percent tax rate on present and past donations.
For historical reasons, the Jewish, Lutheran, Reformed (Protestant), and Roman Catholic groups in three departments of Alsace Lorraine enjoy special legal status in terms of taxation of individuals donating to these religious groups. Adherents of these four religious groups may choose to have a portion of their income tax allocated to their church in a system administered by the central Government.
Central or local governments own and maintain religious buildings constructed before the 1905 law separating church and state. In Alsace and Moselle, special laws allow the local government to provide support for the building of religious edifices. The Government partially funded the establishment of the country's oldest Islamic house of worship, the Paris mosque, in 1926.
Foreign missionaries must obtain a 3-month tourist visa before leaving their own country. Upon arrival, missionaries must apply with the local prefecture for a carte de sejour (a document that allows a foreigner to remain in the country for a given period of time), and then must provide the prefecture a letter from their sponsoring religious organization.
Religion is not taught in public schools. Parents may home-school children for religious reasons, but all schooling must conform to the standards established for public schools. Public schools make an effort to supply special meals for students with religious dietary restrictions. The State subsidizes private schools, including those that are affiliated with churches.
Five of the country's 10 national holidays are Catholic holidays.
In February 2002, the Government and the Vatican initiated church-state meetings that are expected to focus on administrative and judicial matters.
The Government has made efforts to promote interfaith understanding. Strict antidefamation laws prohibit racially or religiously motivated attacks. The Government has programs to combat racism and anti-Semitism through public awareness campaigns, and by encouraging dialog between local officials, police, and citizen groups. Following the numerous anti-Semitic incidents that occurred during the period covered by this report, government leaders, along with representatives from the Jewish community, the Paris and Marseille Grand Mosques, the Protestant Federation, and the French Conference on Bishops, came together to criticize the violence.
Restrictions on Religious Freedom
Following mass suicides in 1994 by members of the Order of the Solar Temple, successive governments have encouraged public caution towards some minority religious groups that it may consider to be "cults." In 1996 a parliamentary commission studying so-called cults issued a report that identified 173 groups as cults, including Jehovah's Witnesses, the Theological Institute of Nimes (an evangelical Christian Bible College), and the Church of Scientology. The Government has not banned any of the groups on the list; however, members of some of the groups listed have alleged instances of intolerance due to the ensuing publicity.
The Government's "Interministerial Mission in the Fight against Sects/Cults" (MILS), which was created in 1998, is responsible for coordinating periodic interministerial meetings at which government officials can exchange information on cults and coordinate their actions. Although the Government instructed the MILS to analyze the "phenomenon of cults," its decree did not define the term cult or distinguish cults from religions. On February 19, 2002, the MILS released its third annual report. The report noted a stagnation in cult activities in the country but stated that disasters may provide enhanced opportunity for cult recruitment of potentially vulnerable victims. A separate case study focused on potential cult activities in the health care field. On June 17, 2002, the President of MILS resigned; no replacement had been named as of the end of the period covered by this report.
The June 2001 About-Picard law, which tightens restrictions on organizations, does not define cults; however, its articles list criminal activities for which a religious association (or other legal entity) could be subject to dissolution. These include: endangering life or the physical or psychological well-being of a person; placing minors at mortal risk; violation of another person's freedom, dignity, or identity; the illegal practice of medicine or pharmacology; false advertising; and fraud or falsifications. Certain registered private associations, including anti-cult associations, are given standing as third parties to initiate criminal action on behalf of alleged victims against a "person or organization that has the goal or effect of creating or exploiting a psychological or physical dependence." The law also reinforces existing provisions of the Penal Code by adding language covering the exploitation of the "psychological or physical subjection" of "fraudulent abuse of a state of ignorance or weakness." Leaders of the four major religions, such as the president of the French Protestant Federation and the president of the Conference of Bishops in France, raised concerns about the legislation. By the end of the period covered by this report, no cases had been brought under the new law.
In April 2001, the Paris branch of the Church of Scientology was taken to court for attempted fraud, false advertising, and violation of the Data Privacy Act. The case was brought by three persons, including a former member of the group, who alleged that they continued to receive mass mailings despite requests to be taken off lists. According to press reports, the prosecutor requested that the court consider dissolving the church in Paris; however, there was no legal request for dissolution. On May 17, 2002, the court found the Paris branch guilty of violating the privacy of former members and fined them approximately $8,000 (8,000 Euros); however, the branch was cleared of attempted fraud and false advertising. The court fined the president of the Ile-de-France section of the organization approximately $2,000 (2,000 Euros). Church of Scientology representatives report that a case filed by a parent whose child attended an "Applied Scholastics"-based school remained ongoing.
Local authorities often determine the treatment of religious minorities. The Association of the Triumphant Vajra was involved in a dispute with local officials over a statue of the Association's guru that allegedly was erected without a permit. After a final court ruling, the statue was demolished on September 6, 2001.
Some observers are concerned about the scrutiny with which tax authorities have examined the financial records of some religious groups. The Government does not recognize all branches of Jehovah's Witnesses or the Church of Scientology as qualifying religious associations for tax purposes, and therefore subjects them to a 60 percent tax on all funds they receive. The tax authorities began an audit in 1996 of the French Association of Jehovah's Witnesses. In 1998 the tax authorities formally assessed the 60 percent tax on donations received between September 1992 and August 1996. Tax authorities then began proceedings to collect the assessed tax, including steps to place a lien on the property of the National Consistory of Jehovah's Witnesses. On February 28, 2002, the Versailles Court of Appeals upheld a Nanterre court's 2000 decision against the Jehovah's Witnesses. The Jehovah's Witnesses were appealing the decision to the Court of Cassation (the country's highest appeal body) at the end of the period covered by this report.
Debate continues over whether denying some Muslim girls the right to wear headscarves in public schools constitutes a violation of the right to religious freedom. Various courts and government bodies have considered the question on a case-by-case basis; however, there has been no definitive national decision on this issue.
There were no reports of religious prisoners or detainees.
Forced Religious Conversion
There were no reports of forced religious conversion, including of minor U.S. citizens who had been abducted or illegally removed from the United States, or of the refusal to allow such citizens to be returned to the United States.
Section III. Societal Attitudes
The generally amicable relationship among religions in society contributed to religious freedom; however, there were a number of anti-Semitic incidents during the period covered by this report.
The Conseil des Eglises Chretiens en France is composed of three Protestant, three Catholic, and three Orthodox Christian representatives. It serves as a forum for dialog among the major Christian churches. There is also an organized interfaith dialog among the Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, and Jewish communities, which discuss and issue statements on various national and international themes. The Ministry of Interior is consulting with Muslim organizations regarding the creation of a Muslim council and is working to schedule a vote on an accord.
The annual National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (NCCHR) report on racism and xenophobia, released in March 2002, noted a decrease in the number of attacks against Jews in 2001, following the sharp increase in incidents in 2000. The NCCHR reported 200 anti-Semitic incidents of violence and threats in 2001, compared with 743 in 2000. However, during the first 6 months of 2002, there was another increase in attacks, ranging from graffiti and harassment to cemetery desecration and firebombing, mainly as a result of increasing tensions in the Middle East. According to the press, the police reported close to 400 incidents during the 2-week period of March 29 through April 17, 2002. The most serious incidents occurred over the Easter-Passover weekend: On March 30, a synagogue was damaged by fire in a suburb of Strasbourg; on March 31, a synagogue and adjoining library in Marseille were burned to the ground and a second was attacked 2 days later; in March in Toulouse, there was a drive-by shooting of a Kosher butcher shop; on April 7, assailants threw gasoline bombs at a synagogue north of Paris; and in April in Lyon, 15 masked assailants smashed 2 cars into a synagogue and set it on fire. On April 10, a group of youths armed with baseball bats attacked and robbed young Jewish soccer players. It appeared that disaffected youths were responsible for many of the incidents and arrests have been made. Government leaders, members of the Jewish community, the Paris and Marseille Grand Mosques, the Protestant Federation, and the French Conference of Bishops strongly criticized the violence.
The Government increased security for Jewish institutions. More than 13 mobile units, totaling more than 1,200 officers, have been assigned to those locales having the largest Jewish communities. Fixed or mobile police are present in the schools, particularly during the hours when children are entering or leaving school buildings. All of these measures were coordinated closely with leaders of the Jewish communities in the country, notably the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions (CRIF). In April 2002, the Marseille prefecture instituted 24-hour patrols at all of the city's Jewish sites.
In addition, several incidents occurred against members of the large Arab/Muslim community, including incidents of harassment and vandalism.
In April 2001, the press reported that software produced by Panda International was created by a Scientologist. According to representatives of Panda Software, the Interior Ministry and others subsequently indicated they would not renew their contracts with the company. Panda claimed that critical statements by government officials in press articles linking the product to Scientology have caused a significant loss of business.
Section IV. U.S. Government Policy
The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom issues with the Government in the context of its overall dialog and policy of promoting human rights.
Representatives from the Embassy have met several times with government officials and members of Parliament. Embassy officers also meet regularly with a variety of private citizens, religious organizations, and nongovernmental organizations involved in the issue. U.S. Members of Congress and Congressional Commissions also have discussed religious freedom issues with senior government officials. In April 2002, the National Trade Estimate on Foreign Trade Barriers cited France on the grounds that "a U.S. software company alleges that French government agencies have refused to renew contracts with the firm because of the management's relationship to Scientology."
Released on October 7, 2002
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French anti-cult policy under revision
Official statement of the French delegation at the OSCE Human Rights Implementation Meeting in Warsaw
HRWF International Secretariat (20.09.2002) - Wesite http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - In answer to interrogations expressed by the American delegation as well as several NGOs, the French delegation would like to make the following points.
There is indeed such a law in France which ? aims at reinforcing prevention and repression of sectarian movements which harm human rights and fundamental freedoms ?. It is not the beliefs which are stigmatised C these are all free ꨨC but potential actions contrary to fundamental freedoms or to general penal provisions, which apply to all citizens. I will remind you that, in France, there is no procedure of registration of religious movements. The law I referred to indeed authorises the dissolution of associations. But, of course, under very restrictive conditions, and as a very last resort. It cannot be mistaken for something arbitrary. Moreover the Council of Europe, in November 2001, had requested an expertise on the law : it concluded that it was not incompatible with the values defended by the Council of Europe. The report from the Council of Europe requested to put on hold any application, by a tribunal, of the law. We are all vigilant. To this date, the law has not been applied.
The list of sectarian movements included in a 1995 French parliamentary report has also been raised. This list is a parliamentary working document. In other words, it has no legal value, which has been the consistent position of the French government. Certain local authorities have however referred to this list in order to take administrative measures C all cancelled by tribunals. The French government is taking steps to heighten the awareness of the administrative structures so that the list of sectarian movements can be recognised for what it is : a parliamentary working document which cannot serve as the basis for any measure to be taken.
Finally, the Inter-ministerial Mission for the Fight Against Sects (MILS). We are aware that the aforementioned mission has generated a lack of understanding and forwarded an image which does not correspond to French reality. The government has undertaken a fundamental review of the objectives, role, and structure of the inter-ministerial Mission, of which the President, since the month of June, has not been replaced. The French delegation places itself at the disposal of any organisation that wishes to dialog with it, in a spirit of total openness.
To conclude, I stress that the French delegation fully supports the suggestion, made amongst others, by the European Union and the United States, to organise a seminar, in the frame of the BIDDH, on religious freedom. Moreover we wish to actively participate to the Baku seminar next October.
Thank you. Mister President.
Working session n7 (12 September 2002).
FRENCH DELEGATION : Right of reply.
(In attachment the original text in French)
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Judge urged to drop case against under fire French writer
AFP (17.09.2002)/ HRWF International Secretariat (19.09.2002) - Wesite http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - Prosecutors Tuesday urged a judge to throw out a case against Michel Houellebecq, the French bad boy of literature, who is being sued by Muslim groups for allegedly inciting religious hatred.
"We cannot say that when we express an opinion on Islam it implies that we are attacking the Muslim community," prosecutor Beatrice Angelleli told the court.
The outspoken author, who has provoked readers with his books on sex tourism and moral decay in society, is defending himself against four French Muslim organisations who sued him over an interview last year with the literary magazine Lire.
Houellebecq told the magazine: "The dumbest religion, after all, is Islam. When you read the Koran, you're shattered. The bible at least is beautifully written because the Jews have a heck of a literary talent."
The case and its implications for freedom of speech has evoked memories of the Salman Rushdie case, where the late religious leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, pronounced a death sentence on the British author for defaming Islam in his novel "The Satanic Verses."
Prosecutor Angelleli told the judge late Tuesday: "We cannot say that (Houellebecq's remarks) are biting opinions. Perhaps he is a troublemaker. But we are not here to be moral but to punish crimes."
She then called on the judge to throw out the case. The judge is to make ruling on October 22.
Jean-Marc Varaut, a lawyer for one of the plaintiffs, the Paris mosque, expressed atonishment at the prosecutors' request.
"I do not understand the position of the prosecutors, which is less than the protection that other communities have received," he said. "To call Islam 'the dumbest religion' as (Houellebecq) has done, is a provocation."
Houellebecg told the Paris court earlier Tuesday that he despised Islam -- though not its practitioners.
"I have never displayed the least contempt for Muslims, but I have as much contempt as ever for Islam," the 43-year-old writer of the international bestseller "Atomised" told the courtroom.
"There is a conventional wisdom that says that the founding texts (of the monotheistic religions) preach only peace. But in reality the monotheistic texts preach neither peace nor love, nor tolerance. These are texts of hate," he said.
Houellebecq's comments to Lire were made in a promotion for his latest novel "Platform," and came just before the September 11 attacks, in which relations between Islam and the West came under some strain.
He told the court that he had never hated Islam -- "The whole tone of the interview was one of contempt, not hate" -- and he said that anyone who knew him "knows that to get a general opinion out of me is almost absurd. I am always changing my point of view."
His lawyer Emmanuel Perrat said Houellebecq's comments should enjoy the privilege of artistic licence, and that it was a valued part of France's secular tradition that there is no recognised crime of blasphemy.
However Chemseddine Hafiz and Gilles Devers, lawyers for the Paris and Lyon mosques, said in a written submission: "The fact that a famous author can be allowed to proclaim clearly his hatred for Islam in a magazine like Lire constitutes incitement to religious hatred."
Houellebecq's critics say his feelings are borne out in the novel "Platform, " whose main character has an ingrained hatred of Arabs and Muslims after his girlfriend is killed by terrorists.
During the controversy that followed the interview's publication last year, the author responded unapologetically to his accusers.
"It has brought me little but problems, but it just is this way: I attack, I insult," he said.
Several French writers have signed a petition in defence of Houellebecq, who travelled from his home in Ireland to attend Tuesday's hearing.
Next month, a similar case is being brought by French Muslim groups against prize-winning Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci for outspoken attacks on Islam contained in her post-September 11 book "Anger and Pride."
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French writer denies he is anti - Islam
Reuters (17.09.2002)/ HRWF International Secretariat (18.09.2002) - Wesite http://www.hrwf.net - Email info@hrwf.net - A provocative French writer on trial for calling Islam ``the stupidest religion'' denied charges of inciting racism on Tuesday but argued the Koran was inferior to the Bible as a literary work.
Michel Houellebecq, who was sued by four Muslim groups after his comments appeared in a magazine interview, told a packed Paris court he had the right as a writer to criticize religions.
He rejected the label ``anti-Muslim racist,'' saying the term did not make sense, and accused the editor of the literary monthly Lire of twisting his words in the interview last year which was shortened from a six-hour conversation.
``He got it into his head that I was obsessed with Islam,'' said Houellebecq, 45, who looked shy and unsure in the dock. ``The way it (the interview) came out was crooked.''
The Muslim groups, which include the Mecca-based World Islamic League and the Paris Mosque, accused the writer of insulting Islam in an interview with Lire during last year's launch of his novel ``Plateforme.''
The case has become a cause celebre reminiscent of the Salman Rushdie affair, pitting free speech against religious sensitivities at a time when public concern about Islam has grown due to the September 11 attacks in the United States.
Shortly after the trial started, 11 people in the courtroom stood up in T-shirts saying ``No to the censure of the imams'' and ``Marianne veiled, Marianne raped'' -- a reference to the female symbol of the French republic. They were led out of the room.
Lire is also on trial over the remarks, which the Muslim groups say insults the Muslim community as a whole.
SEES ALL SCRIPTURES AS HATE TEXTS
Houellebecq, who lives outside Cork in Ireland, said he had read three translations of the Koran and several books about it.
``In literary terms, the Bible has several authors, some good and some as bad as crap,'' he said. ``The Koran has only one author and its overall style is mediocre.''
He rejected statements by the Muslim groups that theirs was a religion of peace, saying the holy scriptures of all three great monotheistic religions -- Christianity, Judaism and Islam -- were all ``texts of hate.''
But he added that criticizing a religion did not amount to slandering its adherents: ``I do not see how criticizing a religion in an acerbic manner involves them as people.''
Houellebecq, 45, the bete noire of contemporary French literature, is no stranger to controversy. He offended conservatives and the politically correct left with his 1998 novel ``Les Particules Elementaires'' (''Atomised'' in English).
Paris Mosque rector Dalil Boubakeur says Muslims have been insulted once before by Houellebecq, who had the main character in Plateforme admit he felt ``a quiver of glee'' every time a ``Palestinian terrorist'' was killed.
Women's groups were also outraged by the main character in Plateforme because he supported sex tourism in Southeast Asia.
The World Islamic League, the Lyon Mosque and the National Federation of Muslims in France have joined the Paris Mosque in bringing Houellebecq to trial.
ISLAMOPHOBIA
France's Human Rights League joined them as a civil party, saying Houellebecq's comments amounted to ``Islamophobia'' and deserved to be sanctioned as part of the league's struggle against discrimination and racism.
Houellebecq's publisher Flammarion has distanced itself from the author, whose comments some say may have cost him France's prestigious Goncourt prize -- for which he had been a contender.
The novelist writes in a detached style about a bleak world in which people have forgotten how to love.
Translated into 25 languages, ``Atomised'' incensed France's 1968 generation with its scathing descriptions of the hippie era but won him France's November prize in 1998 and the Impac award, one of the world's biggest fiction prizes.
Losing his case may mean a year in jail or a $51,000 fine.
The hearing was due to wind up late on Tuesday and the judge would take about a month before announcing the verdict.
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French guru awaits Venus trip
Reuters (04.09.2002)/HRWF International Secretariat (05.09.2002) - Website http://www.hrwf.net - E-mail info@hrwf.net - The guru of a tiny French doomsday sect under police suicide watch says his group looks forward to voyagers from Venus collecting them before the world ends on October 24.
Arnaud Mussy, 36, on Wednesday denied any plans for a mass suicide, dismissing parallels that police and the press have made between his New Lighthouse sect and the Order of the Solar Temple cult.
That group was active in France, Canada and Switzerland and saw 64 members die in two collective suicides in 1994 and 1995.
Police in the Atlantic port city of Nantes have kept the six-member New Lighthouse sect under surveillance since one member committed suicide and two others attempted to after an earlier deadline for the world's end passed on July 11.
"We're not suicidal at all," Mussy, standing at the door of the sect's tightly shuttered house, told Europe 1 radio in his first interview after days of rising media interest.
Asked if they were really waiting for extraterrestrials to sweep them off to Venus next month, he replied: "Sure.
"It will be just like going to Angers or Lyon," he said, referring to two French cities. "It's an exchange. They come to us, so we should go to them. That's all."
Mussy, a public relations specialist who says he will be Christ and his twin brother the pope in the new life they expect to lead on Venus, denied pressuring the man who killed himself in July and blamed the other death bids on a "chain reaction".
Europe 1 described Mussy as casual, suntanned and charming.
Police and justice authorities in Nantes say they cannot ban the sect or break it up because it has done nothing wrong.
At least 30 tiny apocalyptic sects are active in France. Anti-sect groups have kept up calls for official action before any further New Lighthouse members attempt suicide.
"I'm afraid that these people are so weak that they could be pushed to the same extremes as in July, especially when the non-event of October 24 passes," said Dominique Hubert of the anti-sect group ADFI.
"I think we should act now before there are other catastrophes. This is a case of failing to help people who are in danger."
Mussy's mother made a desperate appeal to her son on French television on Monday. "I ask them to stop all this," the mother, who was not identified, said. "These things have gone too far. They could endanger other people's lives."
Police said they were alerted to the sect this year when neighbours noted strange behaviour on a farm commune of 21 people. "At their meetings, they wore capes and held spiritual seances," one officer said.
The sect lost many members when the world did not end in July as Mussy had predicted. The remaining faithful later moved into their current two-storey residence near Nantes university.
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Author sued over Islam 'insult
Houellebecq has won the Impac prize and Prix Novembre
BBC News (23.08.2002) HRWF International Secretariat (05.09.2002) - Website http://www.hrwf.net - E-mail info@hrwf.net - Prize-winning French novelist Michel Houellebecq is being sued by four Islamic organisations in Paris after making "insulting" remarks about the religion in an interview about his latest book.
The action against Mr Houellebecq, 44, is being launched on 17 September by plaintiffs including Saudi Arabia's World Islamic League and the Mosque of Paris.
Dalil Boubakeur, rector of the Paris mosque, said Muslims felt insulted by comments in the novel Plateforme, in which a character admits to a "quiver of glee" every time a "Palestinian terrorist" is killed.
The author's lawyer, Emmanuel Pierrat, said the case is "very similar" to that of British novelist Salman Rushdie - and has said that Mr Houellebecq could be assassinated.
Mr Houellebecq recently won the world's richest literary prize, the Impac award, worth 100,000 euros ( 62,500), for his book Atomised.
His latest novel, Plateforme, is said to praise prostitution and has a denouement based on an attack on a tourist resort by suspected Muslim terrorists.
But it is an interview with the literary magazine Lire during last year's launch of the book that prompted the legal action.
'Obscene words'
Mr Houellebecq reportedly said in Lire that reading the Koran is "so depressing" and that Islam is "the stupidest religion".
Lire is to go on trial beside him.
"He is deliberately insulting, he uses obscene words which are intolerable. Let him take full responsibility for them." said Mr Boubakeur.
Mr Boubakeur said such comments flouted laws on religious tolerance and provoked racial hatred.
"If I were Jewish I would bring a case for 10 times less than this," he added.
But Mr Houellebecq's lawyer says the prosecution's arguments were all based on the novel and the discussions around it.
He said that though there were parallels with the plight of Salsman Rushdie, condemned to death in 1989 for allegedly blaspheming against Islam in his book The Satanic Verses, there were also differences.
'Great writers'
"Here we only run the risk of an assassination, not a fatwa," Pierrat said.
"But the two cases are very similar - because those who feel offended are Muslims, and because it's a question of literature.
"Both Salman Rushdie and Michel Houellebecq are great writers - we are not dealing with small-time provocateurs," he added.
Mr Houellebecq's publisher Flammarion has distanced itself from the author and wrote to the Paris mosque apologising for the novelist's words.
The writer, who lives in Ireland, has said he will not be speaking to reporters ahead of the trial - but has not gone into hiding.
He plans to explain his thought processes to the court, and a number of French literary figures will speak in his defence.
Mr Houellebecq, who is regarded as one of France's brightest literary talents, faces a year in jail or a 52,000 euros (33,000) fine if he loses the case.
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Paris judge rules case against Church of Scientology cannot go to trial
by Pierre-Antoine Souchard
AP (30.07.2002)/HRWF International Secretariat (31.07.2002) - Website http://www.hrwf.net - E-mail info@hrwf.net - A Paris judge has ruled that a case against the Church of Scientology alleging fraud and illegal practice of medicine cannot go to trial due to lack of progress in the 13-year investigation, judicial officials said Tuesday.
Judge Colette Bismuth-Sauron ruled Friday that a statute of limitations had expired in the case, the officials said, speaking on condition their names not be used.
An investigation against 16 leaders of the church was opened in 1989 stemming from a complaint filed by a former Scientologist, Juan Esteban Cordero.
He accused the group of "progressive mental conditioning" that led him to spend more than 1.12 million francs (170,000 euros, dlrs 167,000) on Scientology-related courses.
However, in 1998, hundreds of documents that were to be used as evidence in the case went missing from the Justice Ministry, sending shock waves through French legal circles.
The judge handling the case at that time, Marie-Paule Moracchini, was taken off the inquiry after the documents were never found. An investigation into her role failed to shed any light on what happened to the files, but further stalled the case.
Government prosecutors had argued in favor of the case going to trial.
A lawyer for the civil parties to the case, Olivier Morice, said he would appeal Friday's decision.
A spokeswoman for the Church of Scientology, Agnes Bron, said the church was "overjoyed by this victory after so many years."
The church "believes it is now time to end this witch hunt," she said.
France has long had a contentious relationship with the Church of Scientology, which is seeking recognition as a legitimate religion in Europe. In France, it figures on a list of nearly 200 groups to be tracked to prevent cult activities.
In May, a French court fined the church for a data protection violation. The court ruled that it was not guilty of allegations of attempted fraud and false advertising in connection with its efforts to recruit and keep members.
Scientologists likened the trial to a witch hunt and say their faith is a religion like any other.
The Los Angeles-based Church of Scientology, which counts actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta among its members, was founded in 1954 by L. Ron Hubbard. It teaches that technology can expand the mind and help solve problems. It claims to have 40,000 members in France.
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Administrative courts declare the Parliamentary Report on Cults as devoid of legal value
Willy Fautr? Human Rights Without Frontiers
HRWF International Secretariat (31.07.2002) - Website http://www.hrwf.net - E-mail info@hrwf.net - Two administrative courts declared this year that the Parliamentary Report on Cults lacked any legal value and could not justify the religious discrimination practiced by certain city halls.
On May 30, 2002, the Administrative Court of Poitiers canceled the decision on October 18, 2001 by the city La Rochelle to refuse the location of a communal hall for local meetings of the Jehovah's Witnesses and requested that the city pay a sum of 765 Euros. This decision was based on the ? cult ? designation attributed to the Jehovah's Witnesses by the Parliamentary Report on Cults of 1995. ? This report, which lacks legal value, cannot serve as the legal foundation for the attacked decision, ? declared the Administrative Court.
On February 21, 2002, the Administrative Court of Rennes constrained the city of Lorient to rent a public hall to the local Jehovah's Witnesses after it had refused to put one at their disposal. The city justified its decision by appealing to the Parliamentary Report that had categorized the Jehovah's Witnesses as a cult. ? The decision of the city of Lorient, which could not be founded on a parliamentary report lacking normative value, is manifestly illegal, ? concluded the Administrative Court.
? I wanted thus to mark symbolically my commitment to the fight against the cults, ? declared the mayor of Lorient, Norbert Mtairie. The Administrative Court did not take this local official's lead in this field. It reproached, first of all, the city hall for having delayed its decision. In fact, the refusal to rent a room was declared more than eight months after the request was submitted by the association. Next, the court considered that, since Lorient had rented a hall to the Jehovah's Witnesses since 1991, the turnaround of the city hall constituted ? a grave restriction to the freedoms of assembly and association. ? The city was also condemned to pay 800 Euros to the association for legal expenses.
The city halls of Paris and Sorel-Moussel also both have been nonsuited from their pre-emptive right to buildings already occupied by two associations of Jehovah's Witnesses. This manoeuvre had been aimed at getting rid of Jehovah's Witnesses who were tenants in these buildings. In the case of sale, the tenants always would have priority as buyers and in the two mentioned cases, they accepted the financial conditions of sale.
On May 15, 2002, the Council of State rejected the petition of the city of Paris and requested it to pay the sum of 3887 Euros. On June 27, 2002, the Administrative Court of Orlans suspended the pre-emptive right of the commune of Sorel-Moussel and condemned it to pay 500 Euros to the local Association of Jehovah's Witnesses of Anet.
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France says integrating Muslims is high priority
Reuters (10.07.2002)/ HRWF International Secretariat (15.07.2002) - Website http://www.hrwf.net - E-mail info@hrwf.net - Integrating France's Muslims, the largest Islamic community in Europe, into secular French society is a top priority for the new center-right government, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said in an interview Wednesday.
Sarkozy told the newspaper Le Figaro he wanted to bring Islam into the mainstream of French society by fostering a "French Islam" combining Islam's moral values with respect for France's civic traditions.
"The question of integrating a French Islam into our republic is crucial," the minister, who took office last month, said in a review of his policy priorities. "But we will never invite (Islamic) fundamentalism to be a part of our republic."
France, a strictly secular state, is home to about five million Muslims, mostly of North African origin. Many live in poorer suburbs and complain they suffer discrimination, even if they are French-born with full citizenship rights.
Ethnic and religious splits among them have deadlocked attempts to organize all Muslims into a national organization to negotiate with the state on issues like Islamic schooling, charity organizations or permits for building mosques.
France's Catholics, Protestants and Jews all have such groups but the Muslim community has no comparable hierarchy that would fit into this pattern.
Elections for an umbrella body for French Muslims have been postponed several times amid fears that extremist minorities planned to grab power and threaten the state. The vote is now due to take place in September or October.
"Orthodox religious practice is not necessarily against our civic values," said Sarkozy, who has made the fight against crime and delinquency his highest priority.
"This religion can help us because it has its own values. It could especially help us to provide a response to the total loss of orientation seen among some delinquent youths.?
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Montreal man sues Air France saying it didn't allow him to pray on flight
AP (17.06.2002)/ HRWF International Secretariat (19.06.2002) - Website http://www.hrwf.net - E-mail info@hrwf.net - A judge is to hear arguments Tuesday in a lawsuit against Air France in which a Montreal businessman claims the carrier and one of its employees denied his religious rights on a flight to Paris in April 1999.
Michael Chernack filed the lawsuit in September 1999, alleging he was ordered to stop praying at the back of the plane about two hours before the scheduled 7:30 a.m. arrival in Paris.
Describing himself as an observant Jew, Chernack said he was praying "in a barely audible and unobtrusive fashion" when he was approached by the chief flight attendant.
The flight attendant, identified in court papers as Joel Corneloup, is said to have told Chernack in French: "This is an airplane and not a place for occult practices; return to your seat immediately."
Chernack's suit states that what occurred "was intolerable and a gross violation of his fundamental right to practice his religion without fear of physical or verbal threats and abuse."
It states that Corneloup "acted in an extremely malicious, rude, aggressive and threatening manner."
The defendants acknowledged in a December 1999 statement that Chernack was asked to return to his seat because of company safety policy about keeping passageways clear.
They also argued that Quebec courts don't have jurisdiction in the case since the incident occurred outside Canadian territory on an aircraft registered in France with an employee who is a French citizen.
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Election inside the Muslim community on 23 June?
HRWF International Secretariat (03.06.2002) - Website http://www.hrwf.net - E-mail info@hrwf.net - Nicolas Sarkozy, minister of the Interior in France, has begun consultations with the divided Muslim community to determine how involved a government professing church-state separation should be in regulating the community's internal political processes. His cabinet has stated that he wishes to meet with all the groups before making any decisions.
The previous government's Minister of the Interior, Jean-Pierre Chevnement, attempted to bring together under one umbrella the six largest Islamic federations in Francethe Paris Mosque, the UOIF (Union of Islamic Organizations of France), the National Federation of French Muslims of Moroccan descent, representatives of Turkish Islam and African Islam, the largest regional mosques (Evry, Mantes-la-Jolie, Marseille, Lyon, and independent Muslim groups (theologians, converts, etc.) These groups, forming the CFCM (Council of Islamic Organizations in France), signed an agreement in July 2001 which created the framework for elections for Council members, who are to serve as the future official speakers and representatives of French Muslims. The purpose of the CFCM is to deal with cultural questions and to defend Islam's image.
The CFCM suffers no lack of internal divisiveness, and it may be necessary to split this Muslim attempt at a unified representation. The date for elections to the CFCM within the Muslim community has been set for June 23, but the Paris Mosque announced that it will not participate. "To keep this date will be mission impossible," asserted Youssef Mammeri, representative of the mosque of Marseille and member of the Council.
In theory, the decision to postpone the election date belongs to the Comor (Commission of Organizations), which is called together by order of the Ministry of the Interior. However, the law of 1905 prevents the state from legally interfering in internal matters of religion. Without such political interference, though, the election process may fall apart, and Chevnement used these internal rivalries among Muslim groups to impose some political controls upon their internal processes with the CFCM.
Out of 1300 listed mosques in France, over 1000 agreed to participate in the elections. They designated the 4000-delegate constituency, whose members are roughly proportionate to the mosques they represent. However, because of regional alliances, the UOIF has an arguably stronger presence represented in this constituency than the Paris Mosque, to which the latter has objections. The UOIF wants the elections to take place with or without the Paris Mosque, but the Paris Mosque demands outright cancellation of said elections.
Although there are no indications as of yet what Sarkozy will do, it is certain that he will maintain relations with the CFCM, despite the church-state separation rule. President Jacques Chirac has expressed support for the interactions begun between the preceding government and the Muslim community, which did much to quiet criticisms of this community that emerged after September 11.
With regard to the elections, Sarkozy has two options. He can postpone but keep the elections, in the hope that the Paris Mosque will participate or else face the possibility of losing all its power. Secondly, he can throw the doors open in consultations on the form representation will take for Islam. Sarkozy will be meeting with many who are not affiliated with one of the large national federations, and these new participants could change the balance of forces.
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French court to decide whether to disband Church of Scientology in Paris
by Verena Von Derschau
AP (17.05.2002)/ HRWF International Secretariat (21.05.2002) - Website http://www.hrwf.net - E-mail info@hrwf.net - A French court on Friday fined the Paris branch of the Church of Scientology for a data protection violation but acquitted the church of attempted fraud and false advertising in connection with its efforts to recruit and keep members.
The court fined the church 8,000 euros (about dlrs 7,300), while imposing a 2,000-euro fine (dlrs 1,824) on Marc Walter, the president of the Ile de France section that includes Paris.
The court also declined to impose the harshest penalty sought by prosecutors an order to disband the church's Paris branch.
The church said it would appeal the ruling, saying that it violated the European Convention on Human Rights.
"The decision is an attempt to apply commercial law to prohibit religious expression. It is an intolerable interference by the state with the religious freedom won from 2000 years of history in Europe," said Leisa Goodman, human rights director for the Los Angeles-based church.
The conviction stemmed from a complaint by a former member who said he was bombarded with publicity materials even though he wished to end his membership.
France has long had a contentious relationship with the church, and the trial marked the first time the organization itself was being taken to court. Several of the group's leaders in France have faced separate legal battles.
Scientologists have likened the trial, which began in February, to a witch hunt and say their faith is a religion like any other. The church has 40,000 members in France, including 20,000 in Paris.
The Church of Scientology has sought recognition as a religion in Europe, but many Europeans are skeptical. In France, it figures on a list of nearly 200 groups to be tracked to prevent cult activities.
France has been increasingly inhospitable to groups that it calls sects. Last year it adopted a law that increases the country's judicial arsenal against sects as part of a larger crackdown.
The Church of Scientology, which counts actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta among its members, was founded in 1954 by L. Ron Hubbard. It teaches that technology can expand the mind and help solve problems.
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Freedom of expression and religious hatred
Some court decisions
Willy Fautr, Human Rights Without Frontiers
HRWF (07.05.2002)/ Email info@hrwf.net - Website http://www.hrwf.net - On 14 March 2002, the Court of Cassation ruled that putting the association of Jehovah's Witnesses in the category of criminal conspiracies was not an offence.
On 16 January 1996, Mrs Delporte, the vice-president of the ADFI (Association of Defence of Families and the Individual), was interviewed by a journalist of the French TV network France 2 about her book "Gurus, give her back her freedom". The book is about her daughter who has become a Jehovah's Witness. During the interview, the journalist asked her "What is most attractive in the message of Jehovah's Witnesses when you compare it to the Catholic Church?". And Mrs Delporte answered "I do not want to talk about established religions and sects. I do not mix them up. My opinion is that a sect is a criminal conspiracy and a religion is a worldview". The court ruled that "The statement that this association is a sect is not defamatory in itself even if this name has a pejorative character in public opinion; moreover, this association is listed as a sect by the parliamentary report publicized on 20 December 1995 at the request of the Ministry of Interior which wanted to assess the risks posed by sects".
In another case opposing three anthroposophic associations to Jacques Guyard (Socialist Party), chairman of the parliamentary enquiry commission on sects, the Court of Appeal of Paris annulled the decision previously taken by the Criminal Court (Tribunal correctionnel) which had sentenced Mr Guyard on 21 March 2001 to a fine of 20,000 FF (about USD 3,000) and 90,000 FF (about USD 13,500) for damages to the said associations: the Federation of the Steiner schools, the NEF bank and the association of anthroposophic medical doctors. Mr Guyard was declared non guilty of public defamation because he had allegedly just repeated what was written in the report about the Anthroposophic associations. The court noted that "the anthroposophy is considered a sect not only by the French parliamentary commission but also by the Belgian parliamentary commission, by the intelligence services in a 1997 report and by specialists of sectarian movements; these documents put forward endoctrination, forced dispossession and dangerous medical practices mentioned by Jacques Guyard".
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Mayors try to restrict the freedom of assembly of Jehovah's Witnesses
Some court cases
Willy Fautr, Human Rights Without Frontiers
HRWF (07.05.2002)/ Email info@hrwf.net - Website http://www.hrwf.net - Mayors of Lorient and Lyon have denied Jehovah's Witnesses the right to use municipal halls for religious meetings on the ground that they are on the list of sects drafted by the parliamentary commission on sects but their decisions have been sanctioned by courts.
On 17 May 2001, the Local Association of Jehovah's Witnesses of Lorient asked the mayor to be able to use a municipal hall for a religious meeting on 28 March 2002 from 3 pm to 11 pm. From 1991 on, the municipal hall had been put at the disposal of the said religious association but the mayor waited for nine months before giving his answer, which was negative. His denial to rent them a public hall was based on the fact that they had sectarian activities. On 21 February 2002, the Administrative Court of Rennes ordered the municipality to rent the said hall or another one to the local Jehovah's Witnesses and to pay them 800 Euros as compensation.
In Lyon, the mayor denied two local religious associations of Jehovah's Witnesses and the Society of Former Deported and Imprisoned Jehovah's Witnesses the right to use a municipal hall on the grounds that the report of the parliamentary commission on sects says they are a sect which may disturb public order. More than four years later, the Administrative Court of Lyon ruled that the decisions taken by the mayor on 10 June, 15 September and 17 November 1997 had to be annulled on the basis that the parliamentary report had no legal value.
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Record retroactive taxation of offerings made to the Association of Jehovah's Witnesses: 45 million Euros
HRWF (05.03.2002) / HRWF International Secretariat C Website http://www.hrwf.net C Email info@hrwf.net - On 28 February 2002, the Versailles court of appeal confirmed the measure taken by the Internal Revenue to impose a retroactive 60% tax on offerings received by the Association of Jehovah's Witnesses during several years.
This colossal tax creates an inextricable indebtedness for a hundred-year-old religious movement and confiscates the financial support of its 250,000 members.
The Internal Revenue however recognized the non-profit making nature of the association and its disinterested management. The only financial resources of the association are the offerings of the faithful. The offerings to be made to reimburse the fiscal debt might be taxed at 60% (*) again and create a vicious circle that would kill the religious freedom of Jehovah's Witnesses in France.
(*) If the Internal Revenue applies the same rules, it means that the French Jehovah's Witnesses would have to collect offerings for an amount of 112.5 Euros (again taxed at 60%!).
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Court asked to ban Scientology Church
Reuters (22.02.2002) - A French prosecutor has asked a court to consider shutting down the Church of Scientology in the greater Paris area, saying it engages in "mental manipulation". "This is about protecting potential victims," prosecutor Christine Forey told the court in Paris. "I ask you to think about the penalty of dissolution due to the methods used by Scientology," she said. Forey charged the church, whose U.S. branch counts Hollywood stars including Tom Cruise among its members, with attempted fraud, untruthful advertising, and violation of people's rights by holding computerized files on them. The case is the first time the church has been taken to court in France.
The French National Assembly, or lower house of parliament, considers it a sect as distinct from a religion. The case was initiated by former members of the church, who complain they were harassed after leaving in 1999. The church argues that it is a spiritual movement and on Friday called three members -- teachers at the universities of Helsinki, California and Madrid - as witnesses to testify that Scientology is, for them, a religion.
The church in the United States, where it is recognized as a religion, said on Thursday it would submit a complaint to the United Nations against France for "violation of human rights".
Seeking to control the activities of sects, French legislators passed a law last year making it an offence to abuse a vulnerable person through "the exertion of heavy or repeated pressure or techniques" liable to alter his or her judgment. The law also allows courts to ban groups if individual members are convicted of such existing offences as fraud or wrongful advertising.
Forey asked that the church be fined at least 300,000 euros if it were not ordered to close. She also requested that the group's leader in Paris, Marc Walter, 60, be given a one-year suspended prison sentence. "The methods of Scientology, its deceitful promises of results which call for large donations of money, amount to a form of mental manipulation," Forey told the court. "The aim of this organisation is purely commercial." Walter's lawyers argued on Thursday that there was nothing stopping any member from leaving the group. "If someone doesn't want to belong to the church anymore, we are not going to hold them back, there's no sense in that," said defence counsel Bernard Michel.
The court is due to give its verdict on May 17
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Church-State Relations Warming
Meeting of Episcopal and Governmental Officials
Zenit.org (12.02.2002) / HRWF International Secretariat (18.02.2002) C Website http://www.hrwf.net C Email info@hrwf.net- Top government and Catholic ecclesial officials have agreed to yearly meetings, a promising sign of a thaw in church-state relations.
That was the outcome of a meeting that concluded today between Church officials and Prime Minister Lionel Jospin and his aides.
Members of the episcopate were accompanied by the apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Fortunato Baldelli, when they met government officials including Interior Minister Daniel Vaillant.
At the meeting, officials decided to create working groups to analyze "problems of an administrative and juridical order that arise in the relations between the Catholic Church and the state in France," a statement said.
Among other problems, both sides mentioned Catholic education, chaplaincies, the use of churches and cathedrals for cultural and other ends, the application of the labor law to lay collaborators of the Church, and certain fiscal issues.
Church leaders also mentioned respect for bishops' and priests' professional secrecy, challenged by some laws and a recent judicial sentence.
The new series of meetings between bishops and the government will be held within the framework of the 1905 law of church-state separation, and the agreements in force since 1923 on church-state relations.
Present at today's meeting were Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, archbishop of Paris; and Archbishop Jean-Pierre Ricard and Bishop Georges Pontier, the president and vice president, respectively, of the French episcopal conference.
The government and the bishops clarified that the upcoming presidential electoral campaign has nothing to do with the improvement in church-state relations.
In fact, the meetings are encouraged both by Jospin (possible center-left candidate), as well as President Jacques Chirac (official center-right candidate). The first round of voting is April 21, the second May 5.
The government has held meetings with Muslim leaders to help organize their structure in the country. It also has had an annual dinner with the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France.
"Paradoxically, there was no coordination structure with the Catholic Church, the oldest and most numerous," sources close to Jospin told Agence France-Presse. In recent years, "there was an impression that the Catholic Church was not being heard," the same sources said.
Friction between the Church and the center-left government had risen over issues such as legal recognition of de facto unions, the extension of the legal period for abortions, and proposals to allow experimentation with human embryos.
The Jospin government played a key role in having an allusion to the "religious legacy" of Europe taken out of the first draft of the European Union's Charter of Fundamental Rights.
But today the Prime Minister's aides sounded a different note. "The whole world agrees in recognizing that the Church cannot be relegated to the private sphere, as it also intervenes in the social realm," they emphasized.
Following the stormy start of the 20th century, and misunderstandings in the postwar era, today the atmosphere between the Church and state is one of restoration of "confidence," Cardinal Lustiger said in statements to Agence France-Presse.
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