A toA Special Message the Council of Europe PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY

FECRIS’s Condoning of Religious Persecution in China Mandates Denial of its INGO Application

ou are currently considering an application for INGO (interna- Y tional non-governmental organi- sation) status from an organisation called the European Federation of Research Centres against Sectarianism (FECRIS). You should reject this application. To do otherwise would be to under- mine the very principles that the Council of Europe stands for and expose the Council to severe political embarrassment. FECRIS claims to be a network made up of “anti-” organisations in various states of the Council of Europe. In fact, it is mostly a French body and receives more than 90% of its funding from the French govern- ment. The French anti-cult organisa- tions, UNADFI and CCMM are both government funded and are leading members of FECRIS. They tend to dominate FECRIS’s agenda. Because of pressure coming from certain quarters in , FECRIS’s application for INGO status is on course to be approved by the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly some time in January. This would be a severe blow to human rights, how- ever, as FECRIS and its member groups have condoned the campaign Many Falun Gong practitioners have died from police beatings, including 19-year-old of torture, death and persecution of Chu Congrui inset. Arrested in December 2000 at the Haidian District Police Substation, the Falun Gong by the Chinese gov- after travelling to Beijing to protest the persecution, she was dead four days later. The doctor who examined her body told her family that her nose was broken, her face and lips severely ernment. This is a campaign so swollen, her body bloody all over and both ears plugged with blood-soaked cotton swabs. destructive that the UN Special Her fiancé and mother are now in hiding. Continued on page 8

JANUARY 2005 1 decided to organise an “international symposium on destructive .” FECRIS: CCMM proudly announced that “the French delegation invited to the sym- Condoning Brutalities in China posium received a warm welcome and were listened to attentively” and that in China “France is often mentioned as an example because of its large and coherent moves against the danger of the cults.” CCMM gave four separate presentations at the conference. “During the time they were there, the French delegation met with many political or religious authorities con- cerned with sectarianism,” the newslet- ter stated, adding “The Chinese have told us that they want to create a non- government organisation with aims and structures similar to CCMM.” In fact, such an association, called the Chinese Anti-Cult Association, was formed just a few days after the confer- “In order to force feed me, the doctors at the Harbin City Detention Centre used a metal ence, and exists to this day, with its clamp to pry open my teeth and then pushed a thick rubber tube down to my stomach…. own website (www.anticult.org). In They would beat us to the point where we were almost unconscious before tying our arms March 2001, representatives of the and legs down and forcing the tubes through our noses and down into our stomachs. We association came to France and visited were tied up to prevent us from pulling the tubes out because of the excruciating pain”— Falun Gong member Wang Yuzhi. UNADFI and CCMM. UNADFI’s current president, former MP n November 2000, Mr. Jean-Pierre 2002, the president of MILS resigned Catherine Picard, has also admitted to Bousquet traveled to Beijing on amidst controversy and was subse- meeting with the Chinese govern- Ibehalf of both FECRIS and its lead- quently criticised for his polemics and ment’s leader of religious affairs to dis- ing French member group CCMM to counter-productive actions by the cuss their handling of “cults.” attend an “International Symposium French Minister of the Interior. The on Destructive Cults.” He was accom- French government disbanded MILS Mass Human panied by the director of CCMM, in November 2002. Rights Violations Patricia Casano, CCMM representa- CCMM afterwards published a It is inconceivable that FECRIS tive Hayat El Mountacir, and the pres- detailed and highly favorable report of and CCMM representatives could ident of the French government’s for- the conference in its newsletter. have been unaware at the time of the mer “Interministerial Mission to Fight CCMM’s report concluded that “the Against Sects (MILS).” French delegation returned with the The Chinese government’s official feeling that beyond the real differences newspaper, People’s Daily, boasted of of approach, there is a real possibility this conference in a November 9, for constructive dialogue between our 2000, article. The People’s Daily arti- worlds faced with sectarian deceit.” cle, whose rhetoric is strikingly similar CCMM also included in its newslet- to that disseminated by FECRIS itself, ter an article excerpted directly from may be found at http://english.peo- Chinese government literature and pledaily.com.cn/english/200011/09/e entitled “Why Falun Gong is a sect.” ng20001109_54760.html. Declaring that it should be of con- France, it appears, was the only cern to everyone that a country as Western European nation where a large and populous as China has A photograph from CCMM’s newsletter government official was present. The become preoccupied with the Falun describing its attendance at a symposium French government may well have Gong, CCMM’s report stated that the organised by the Chinese government to regretted MILS’ participation. In June Chinese authorities had therefore justify its persecution of the Falun Gong.

2 JANUARY 2005 Chinese government’s repression of on the Question of Torture, religious minorities. Not only had the the Special Rapporteur on facts been widely reported in interna- Extrajudicial, Summary and tional media, but eight months previ- Arbitrary Executions, the ously, Amnesty International had Special Rapporteur on published an extensive report titled Violence against Women, the “People’s Republic of China: The Special Rapporteur on crackdown on Falun Gong and other Freedom of Religion or Belief so-called ‘heretical organisations.’” and the Special Rapporteur on Amnesty International called on the Freedom of Expression. Chinese government to end the “mass An example of the findings arbitrary detentions, unfair trials and is the statement of the Special other human rights violations”, not- Rapporteur for Extrajudicial, Three-year old Huang Kaixin holds a picture of her ing, “thousands of other people have Summary or Arbitrary mother, Falun Gong member Luo Zhixiang (right), been detained across the country for Executions: “The Special who she will never see again. In August 2001, Luo, peacefully protesting against the Rapporteur continues to be with her husband jailed and police constantly shad- crackdown. Many have been sent to alarmed by deaths in custody owing her, had to leave Huang in the care of the child’s grandmother. Luo’s husband was later released; labor camps without charge or trial for in China. Reports describe however, both were re-arrested (Luo was pregnant periods of up to three year’s detention harrowing scenes in which with a second child) in November 2002, locked in for ‘re-education through labour.’ detainees, many of whom are two iron cages and tortured. Luo, along with her Others have been detained repeatedly followers of the Falun Gong unborn child, died in late November or early by police, and fined, threatened or movement, die as a result of December 2002. Her husband managed to flee dismissed from their jobs. Many of severe ill treatment, neglect or China and took refuge in Thailand. those detained subsequently reported medical attention. The cru- being held in poor and unsanitary elty and brutality of these alleged acts of Police reportedly botched a violent conditions, and being beaten or other- torture defy description.” attempt to force-feed her when she wise ill-treated in detention.” Of the more than 50 cases listed by went on hunger strike, seriously injur- Defenders of FECRIS have pointed the Special Rapporteur on Violence ing both her trachea and esophagus, to the participation at the conference of against Women, one concerns a leaving her unable to speak.” the Beijing representative of the United University student from Chongqing The book also documents more Nations Development Program, Ms. City: “According to information than 30 torture methods commonly Kerstin Leitner, whose presence is received, on 13 May 2003, several used on Falun Gong practitioners touted by People’s Daily. However, Ms. policemen took her to a cell in throughout China, many of which are Leitner subsequently defined the rea- Baihelin detention centre in demonstrated in photographs taken sons for her attendance as a plea for Shapingba district and forced two by victims inside China. gaining more understanding of the sit- female inmates to strip her. One of the To grant INGO status to an organ- uation of the members of the Falun uniformed policemen reportedly isation that condones such atrocities Gong and a treatment of their follow- pushed her to the ground and raped would be a travesty of the entire ers “in line with international human her as the other inmates watched. INGO mechanism. rights norms and standards and the best standards of governance.” In the last four years, more informa- tion has come to light regarding the treatment of the Falun Gong in China. The 2004 United Nations Reports on China’s Persecution of Falun Gong is a collection of reports issued by the Special Rapporteurs of the United Nations Human Rights Commission on China’s violent, and often deadly, persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Contained in Before and after photos of Xin Zhao, a 32-year-old assistant professor at the Beijing University of the book are reports issued by Business and Industry, who was arrested in June 2000 for doing Falun Gong exercises. Police officers Rapporteurs from a number of different severely beat and tortured her because she refused to renounce her beliefs. The beating fractured three areas, including the Special Rapporteur neck vertebrae, paralyzing her from the neck down. She died from her injuries in December 2000.

JANUARY 2005 3 in France, which prides itself on the balance consisted almost entirely of principle of secularity. ministry subventions. However, FECRIS’s report to the These extraordinary figures do not Where General Assembly records no govern- even include additional subventions ment support other than from France. granted to the local ADFI offices by The French government funds not local authorities. Thus, ironically, the only FECRIS, but UNADFI, which is only support ADFI gets from “the does by far FECRIS’s most active member people” is enforced through govern- group. Documents obtained under ment subventions the public have no the Freedom of Information Act reveal say over. that in 2003, the French government The picture is similar for CCMM: FECRIS’s provided 394,781.90 Euros in sup- financial records for the “Centre port funds to UNADFI. Roger Ikor” reveal 1,240,192 FF in Although UNADFI and its French federal subventions in 2000. This sister group CCMM portray them- compares to the 87,435 FF they money selves as private organisations devoted received in membership fees. to protecting families, the image is Without substantial French gov- ambiguous. An organisation con- ernment monetary subsidies, cerned primarily with defending the UNADFI and CCMM would wither come family would be unlikely to work away through lack of interest and hand-in-hand with the Renseignement support from the public; without Generaux (RG), a French police intel- ADFI and CCMM propping up ligence organisation certainly not FECRIS, it would collapse; and with- noted either for its rigorous defense of out French government support, from? family values or its uncompromising FECRIS would be unable to support commitment to human rights. It is itself financially. revealing that in an application for ontrary to its claim to represent public sector funding, ADFI charac- a network of European organi- terised its “close collaboration with the While more Csations, FECRIS is predomi- RG [as] essential to its functioning.” nantly a French organisation and CCMM was founded by Roger would collapse without French gov- Ikor, an intolerant demagogue who than 91% of ernment support. According to its said, “If we listened to ourselves, we report to its own general assembly on would put an end to all this balder- FECRIS’s March 29, 2004, 91.4% of FECRIS’s dash, from cults, but also from the income for 2003 came from the great religions.” funding French government, while “member- In the year 2000, UNADFI and ship and correspondent contribu- CCMM received 1.5 million Euros in comes from tions” amounted to a mere 2,936.23 public funds from the French govern- euros, representing only 7.3% of its ment, about 85% of the funding of the French annual funding. these purportedly “private” groups. The French government may be According to UNADFI’s 2000 bal- government, unique among Council of Europe ance sheet, they received a grand total member states in providing funds to of 19,884 FF* in membership fees private organisations that agitate that year – not even enough to pay its private against minority religious organisa- half the tax on the 1.24 million FF tions. In Germany, the Federal paid to their nine employees. sector Administrative Court ruled in 1992 The picture was not much different that it violates the religious freedom in 1999: ADFI’s balance sheet support is guarantees of the German revealed that membership fees only Constitution for the government to amounted to 21.168 FF out of more negligible. provide funds to such groups. If it is than 1,900,000 FF of resources. The unconstitutional in Germany, it should certainly be unconstitutional * 1 euro equals approximately 6.56 FF

4 JANUARY 2005 There is no judicial finding that the method of ‘’ is illegal.” European Court of Human Rights Such an interpretation is mere wordplay and completely ignores not Criticises FECRIS Member Group only how FECRIS and its member groups work, but much of what the he European Court of Human INGO status, based on concerns Court stated. Rights has criticised FECRIS raised by three members of parliament. Police and judicial authorities do not Tmember group Pro Juventud in The rapporteur’s report was issued in operate in a vacuum; they are incited to an October 14, 1999 judgment for May 2004 and recommended that act against targeted groups based on being involved in a violation of FECRIS be granted consultative status. inflammatory reports, frequently false, Article 5 (1) (right to liberty and However, this conclusion was only distributed by FECRIS member groups security) of the European Convention made possible because the rapporteur to the authorities and to the families of on Human Rights. constructed a set of arbitrary procedures members who belong to these groups. In a case that involved the illegal that enabled him to ignore the fact that It is ironic that the Spanish govern- detention and false imprisonment for FECRIS groups and their members ment, in its defense submitted to the ten days of members of a minority reli- have been convicted more than a dozen Court, placed the blame for the appli- gious movement, the European Court times in 7 countries over the last fifteen cants’ illegal detention squarely on Pro noted, “it was true that it was the years for offenses ranging from false Juventud, noting that the hotel rooms applicants families and the Pro imprisonment to defamation. Instead where they were detained had been Juventud association that had borne of conducting a thorough investigation, reserved and paid for by Pro Juventud the direct and immediate responsibil- the rapporteur merely took the very and that Pro Juventud had recruited ity for the supervision of the applicants limited and incomplete data provided and paid the individuals responsible during their ten days loss of liberty….” and then sought FECRIS’s response. for “supervising” the applicants during Summarising the background to He looked no further. their detention. “The Government these events, the Court stated, “… the The rapporteur’s report specifically did not dispute that the applicants Public Safety Department of the gov- argued that “it is untrue that the had been deprived of their liberty… ernment of Catalonia received through Strasbourg Court has criticised it [Pro In the Government’s submission, the responsibility for the alleged depriva- Pro Juventud, an association formed to Juventud] in the case cited’ because tion of liberty lay with the members of fight against sects, a request for help “the authorities (police and judicial) the applicants’ families and with the from several people who alleged that were in fact responsible for the deci- persons belonging to the Pro Juventud members of their families had been sions and actions resulting in the appli- association and not at all with the ensnared by a group known by the cant’s detention… Pro Juventud authorities and officials of the Catalan name of CEIS….” (along with the families) was merely government.” “… they [the applicants in the case responsible for their ‘supervision’ dur- Indeed, the Catalan authorities before the Court] were taken… to ing that period, and only ‘requested’ were not even present throughout the individual rooms under the supervision (rather than, for example, adminis- 10 day “deprogramming” attempt. of persons recruited for the purpose, tered) the alleged ‘deprogramming.’ The Court concluded “the fact one of whom remained permanently in that, once free, the applicants lodged a each room, and they were not allowed The European Court criminal complaint alleging false to leave their rooms for the first three imprisonment and other offenses days. The windows were firmly closed of Human Rights against officials of the Catalan govern- with wooden planks and the panes of described the active ment and all others responsible clearly glass had been taken out. While at the shows that they had been confined in hotel the applicants were allegedly sub- participation of a the hotel against their will.” jected to a process of ‘deprogramming’ FECRIS member The Court’s judgement clearly shows by a psychologist and a psychiatrist at that Pro Juventud was an active agent in the request of Pro Juventud.” group in the illegal the applicants’ deprivation of liberty This finding by Europe’s highest detention and false from start to finish. For the rapporteur judicial authority in the field of human to claim otherwise is to deny the intent rights was glossed over by a rapporteur imprisonment of of the judgment and to undermine the assigned by the Parliamentary members of a principles of tolerance, pluralism and Assembly’s Legal Affairs Committee to freedom of conscience that the Council look into FECRIS’ application for minority religion. of Europe represents.

JANUARY 2005 5 In a final judgement on 19th December 2001 by the Munich State Civil and Penal Convictions Involving Court, Ms. Heide-Marie Cammans, founder of FECRIS member group FECRIS and member groups Sect-info Essen, was ordered to cease circulating falsehoods about Takar Singh (an Eastern religious group) on AUSTRIA 2. 4th January 1994. The Paris Court pain of being fined up to 500,000 Mr Friedrich Griess is a Vice- of Appeal confirmed the judgment DM or, if not paid, jailed for up to 6 President of FECRIS, webmaster of the regarding the declaration of culpa- months. Sect-info Essen was forbid- FECRIS web site and Board Member bility of Mrs. Tavernier, UNADFI den to circulate a book it had been of the Austrian FECRIS group GSK president, and the punishment distributing about Takar Singh. imposed on her in the civil pro- (Gesellschaft Gegen Sekten Und SWITZERLAND Kultgefahren or Association against ceedings by the Paris County court Dangers of Sects and Cults) on 22nd June 1993. In 1990, two members of FECRIS member group SADK were sentenced He has been convicted for defama- 3. 15th January 1997. The Douai tion against a minority Christian reli- to prison in connection with a violent Court of Appeal condemned Mrs. deprogramming attempt on a member gious movement called the Norwegian Ovigneur-Dewynter, president of Movement on the following occasions: of the Hare Krishna movement. A Mr. ADFI Nord, to pay damages for Rossi, who at the time was the 1. Court case: 17Cg 15/96d in Vienna defamation regarding the Cultural spokesman for SADK, spoke out Commercial court in Sept. 1996. Association of the Jehovah’s loudly in favour of the deprogramming Witnesses in France. (during which the victim had been 2. Court case: 17Cg 15/96d in Vienna 4. 29th March 2002. The Marseille subdued with tear gas) saying “We sup- Commercial court in March 1997. County Court condemned Jacky port and approve of the deed.” 3. Court case: 37Cg 77/98x in Vienna Cordonnier, member of UNADFI Commercial court on Sept 1998. and FECRIS, to pay damages for SWEDEN defamation regarding the associa- A member of FECRIS group FRI 4. Court case: 17 O 85/98 in Stuttgart tion of Jehovah’s Witnesses. has been convicted in connection with County Court in Germany – June a deprogramming attempt on a mem- 5. 20th November 2001. The Paris 1998. ber of a Christian group in Gothenburg County Court condemned Janine Sweden. In this judgment of December 5. Court case: 37Cg 19/00y in Vienna Tavernier, president of UNADFI, 18, 1990, FRI member Eva Pehrsson Commercial court in March 2000. in the civil proceedings for public (later Pohl) was sentenced for the illegal defamation regarding Daniele 6. Court case: GZ 8E 3407/00w in deprivation of liberty of Sara Gounord, Church of Scientology. Klosterneuburg District Court. Gustavsson. 6. 5th February 2003. The Paris Court 7. Judgement procedure GZ 8F of Appeal confirmed the judgment UNITED KINGDOM 2687/02 s-3 in Klosterneuburg in the civil proceedings against District Court. Cyril Vosper, at the time an execu- Janine Tavernier and UNADFI. tive board member of FECRIS mem- ber group FAIR, was convicted in FRANCE GERMANY Germany for false imprisonment and UNADFI is the French-language The German Federal Supreme causing bodily harm in December FECRIS group (ADFI founded Court ruled on 27 March 1992 that it 1987. He was not expelled from FAIR. FECRIS). (UNADFI is the national was unconstitutional for the State to Ian Haworth is a FECRIS found- coalition group covering different provide funding for organisations such ing member and runs the Cult regional groups in France, each called as AGPF and Sect-Info Essen, both Information Centre (CIC). He had a “ADFI” and the region or city name.) FECRIS member groups. The Court court decision against him on 26 Oct 1. 27th May 1992. ADFI Paris was held that, “The state cannot discon- 1989, when the Supreme Court of condemned by the Paris County nect from [its] legal obligations by ask- Ontario (Canada) ordered he pay Court (Tribunal de Grande ing for the help of some private associ- $10,000 in libel damages to a philo- Instance) to pay damages for ation which makes use of freedom of sophical group. At the time Mr. defamation regarding Mrs. Josiane opinion under the constitution in a Haworth was involved in a similar Henri and Mr. Ian Combe. manner that is close to slander.” group to CIC in Canada.

6 JANUARY 2005 What FECRIS Condones

nyone who really wants to know why the Council of Europe Ashould resoundingly reject FECRIS’ application for INGO status is invited to logon to www.falunhr.org, where they can view terrible and dis- turbing images that document the appalling brutality and cruelty of the Chinese government’s treatment of Falun Gong practitioners – treatment that FECRIS and CCMM have con- Before and after pic- tures of Ms. Gao doned and never condemned. Rongrong, who was One particularly harrowing story is arrested in July 2003 that of an attractive 36-year-old and sent to a labour woman, Ms. Gao Rongrong, an camp where she was systematically tortured because of her refusal to denounce Falun Gong employee of the finance office of (shorn of all her hair at one point, it had grown back when this picture was taken). Shenyang City’s Luxun Fine Arts Institute in Liaoning Province. Fired hour. Later the director of the labor to the hospital, she was diagnosed from her job soon after the persecution camp said to her, “This is a despotic with two fractures of her pelvis, her began in 1999, she was arrested in July place; otherwise what’s the use of left leg was severely fractured and the 2003 as a Falun Gong practitioner and handcuffs and electric batons here? I bone in her right heel was split. Due sent to the Longshan Labor Camp. don’t believe we cannot handle you, to her weak physical condition, the On March 22, 2004, because she Gao Rongrong.” hospital could not even perform sur- refused to denounce Falun Gong, the That, unfortunately, was not the gery on her. deputy chief of the second brigade in worst of it. Now suffering from liver Her physical situation has contin- the labor camp dragged her from her pain, stomach pain, vomiting, loss of ued to worsen and appeals have been bed, took her by the throat and hauled appetite and intermittent fever, Ms. made to the United Nations to safe- her outside. Guards then cuffed her to Gao became deaf in one ear. The chief guard her life. a heating pipe, punched and kicked of the first brigade in the camp then Ms. Gao’s story, horrifying as it is, her and continuously shocked her ordered prisoners to humiliate her by is but one of thousands that tell of the with electric batons on her head, face, cutting the hair from the top of her barbarities practiced against Falun neck, hands and feet for over half an head down to the scalp. Gong practitioners by Chinese gov- On May 7, 2004, the deputy chief ernment authorities. It is in the light of the second brigade in the camp of these facts that the Council of 1,170 Falun Gong took Ms. Gao to an office and cuffed Europe should consider FECRIS’s members confirmed dead her to the heating pipe again. He and application, along with French mem- the “group chief” continuously ber group CCMM’s chilling boast that More than 100,000 shocked her with electric batons for 6- in China “France is often mentioned 7 hours. Her face was left swollen, as an example because of its large and illegally sent to blistered, charred and deformed coherent moves against the danger of labor camps beyond recognition. Her hair was the cults,” that “the Chinese have told stuck to the bloody pus on her us that they want to create a non-gov- More than 6,000 scorched skin. Her swollen face ernment organisation with aims and sentenced to prison reduced her eyes to mere slits, and her structures similar to CCMM”, and terms of up to 18 years mouth was also distorted due to the that FECRIS and CCMM returned swelling. Even the inmates could not from China “with the feeling that Hundreds of thousands recognize her. beyond the real differences of That same day, Ms. Gao was forced approach, there is a real possibility for illegally arrested and out of the window of the labor camp constructive dialogue between our detained on the second floor. After she was sent worlds faced with sectarian deceit.”

JANUARY 2005 7 Council of Europe Should ganda about Falun Gong on its website Deny INGO Status and publicly announced that the At the time Chinese wished to emulate the Continued from page 1 approach taken by CCMM against they attended “sects” in France to crack down on Rapporteurs on Torture, Summary Falun Gong. No group that has partic- the Beijing Executions, Violence Against Women, ipated in such a symposium or implic- Religious Freedom and Freedom of itly supported and condoned the bru- symposium, it is Expression have published detailed tal and violent suppression of millions reports in 2004 documenting the of members of Falun Gong – one of inconceivable campaign of persecution. the great human rights tragedies of the The current president of French last few years – should be approved by that CCMM and member group UNADFI, former MP the Council of Europe. Catherine Picard, has admitted to FECRIS represen- meeting with the Chinese “leader of Engaged in Deprogramming religious affairs” regarding their treat- Individuals associated with FECRIS tatives could have ment of “cults”. Neither FECRIS, and its member groups have also UNADFI or CCMM have ever criti- engaged in extremist activities such as been unaware cised the persecution; on the contrary, deprogramming – the odious and ille- CCMM attended a Chinese govern- gal process of kidnapping and false of the Chinese ment symposium intended to justify imprisonment of individuals in an its persecution of Falun Gong, repro- attempt to forcibly change their per- government’s duced Chinese government propa- sonal religious associations and beliefs. For FECRIS to achieve consulta- persecution of tive status would represent a major “Reports describe step back for religious freedom, toler- the Falun Gong. ance and pluralism in Europe. harrowing Resolution (2003) 8 of the Council scenes in which details the conditions for obtaining – allegedly a member group of International Non-Government FECRIS – which according to the detainees, many Organisation (INGO) status. The European Court of Human Rights is a of whom are Resolution requires that INGOs violation of Article 5 of the European undertake “to promote the respect of Convention on Human Rights followers of the Council of Europe’s standards, (ECHR) in as far as the government is the Falun Gong conventions and legal instruments in involved (14 October 1999, Ribera the member states, and assist in the Blume v. Spain), is a strong argument movement, die as implementation of these standards”. against allowing INGO status to such Yet, the actions of individuals asso- an organisation. Such an organisation a result of severe ciated with FECRIS member groups, acts against the spirit of the ECHR, ill treatment, condemned in judicial decisions, and thus does not live up to the afore- completely contravene Council of mentioned standards.” neglect or medical Europe standards of religious free- We therefore call on you, mem- attention. The dom, tolerance, dialogue and respect bers of the Parliamentary Assembly, for the rule of law. to unequivocally reject FECRIS’ cruelty and According to Professor Ben application. brutality of these Vermeulen of the University of Amsterdam, “It is evident, that an acts of torture organisation which through its aims Contact Information and purposes, or the means that it European Law Centre defy description.” employs, acts in a way which is incon- Atanas Krussteff sistent with these standards should not Vranya str. 46 – UN Special Rapporteur for be given INGO status. For instance, Extrajudicial, Summary or 1233 Sofia the fact that an organisation uses Arbitrary Executions Bulgaria ‘deprogramming’, a technique that email: [email protected] seems to be used by AIS/Pro Juventud

8 JANUARY 2005