Religious Apartheid 1997 – Continuing Official Repression of Minority Religious Rights in Germany
ot surprisingly, the hysteria against Scientologists has been fueled to a fever pitch by government propaganda over the last few years in violation of Article 20 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which prohibits advocating religious hatred “that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence.” Political hate propaganda continues to engender bomb threats, death threats, and other acts of hate directed at German Scientologists simply because of their personal religious beliefs.
There can be no question that Government-sponsored “enlightenment” campaigns, pronouncements by government officials denigrating Scientologists as “criminals,”73 and resultant media campaigns depicting Scientologists as insects to be killed by the CDU Young Union, or as spiders, vampires, devils, drooling monsters, poisonous skeletons, brainwashed zombies, sect addicts, robots, fascists and members of the mafia constitute incitement of violence and inspire hatred of Scientologists as inhuman and evil creatures.
Carefully crafted messages demonizing Scientologists and urging that Scientology be destroyed are routinely repeated by government officials to the media. A few examples of recent serious threats and incidents follow.
In April, May, and June 1996, Scientology organizations in Hamburg received five bomb threats.74 In addition, anonymous threats of violence were received by Scientology organizations in Hamburg and Berlin by what appears to be neo-Nazi groups. One such letter, replete with swastikas and a reference to the SS, threatened eradication, arson, death and torture.75 Another letter from the “Citizens Initiative Against Sects” contains a “warning” repeatedly stating that Scientologists should be beaten.76 A third letter threatened Scientologists with a “gruesome death.”77
Two letters received by officers of the Hamburg Church in June 1996 threatened arson and torture; a letter received by a Scientology organization in March 1996 warned that the organization “will burn” and that all should “clear out;” the mailbox of a Scientology organization in Eppendorf was vandalized numerous times and set on fire in June 1996.78 A female Scientologist was threatened by a group of men in April 1996 who trespassed on her property and distributed information attacking Scientology; one of the men stated to her that Scientologists should be “eradicated” and “blown up.”79
Violence and Threats Against Scientologists Continued...
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