User:Tarylem/Sandbox

Persecution of the Unification Church (preparation/source-storming)

As the article is locked I decided to describe it here. Original debate: here. Could be described:

• United States vs. Moon tax evasion (already partially in the article)
  • Sherwood, Carlton (1991). Inquisition: The Persecution and Prosecution of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon - Chapter The story unfolds: " The truth, I found, was quite simple: the Unification Church, its leaders and followers were and continue to be the victims of the worst kind of religious prejudice and racial bigotry this country has witnessed in over a century. ... the Congress, the courts, law enforcement agencies, the press, even the U.S. Constitution itself ... was prostituted in a malicious, oftentimes brutal manner, as part of a determined effort to wipe out this small but expanding religious movement " when this is not the persecution, then the next chapter has the name "Witch hunt" .. it starts to be interesting.
• Unlawful Schengen ban in Germany
  • Sources:
    • Book // describes details of initial treatment: https://www.amazon.com/Reactions-Religions-Routledge-Spiritual-Movements/dp/0367694492 ISBN: 978-0367694494 chapter Legal challenges posed to the Unification Church in Europe - USED
    • Unificationists view // contains timeline lot of other sources: https://journals.uts.edu/volume-xxii-2021/332-breaking-the-twelve-year-european-ban-against-rev-and-mrs-sun-myung-moon#end7
    • U.S. State Department 2002-2003: Germany bans: https://web.archive.org/web/20120114105225/http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2003/27185.htm
    • UNHCR 2003 // Extend ban: https://www.refworld.org/reference/annualreport/usdos/2003/en/23299
    • FOREF 2003: // misuse of Shengen: https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/9/6/42404.pdf
    • U.S. State Department 2005 // International Religious Freedom Report 2004 - USED: https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2004/35456.htm
    • German Federal Constitutional Court // ruling 2006: https://lexetius.com/2006,2690 2006-10-24 decided that:
      • The judgment of the Rhineland-Palatinate Higher Administrative Court of June 7, 2002 - 12 A 10349/99 violates the complainant's fundamental right under Article 4 paragraph 1 (Freedom of faith and conscience is inviolable) and paragraph 2 (undisturbed practice is guaranteed) of the Basic Law and is repealed must reimburse the UC for the necessary expenses (articles 2 and 3).
      • Also stated, that
        • the defendant's submissions in the main proceedings were limited to rumors and assumptions. (article 15)
        • The Higher Administrative Court based its decision on a weighting of genuinely religious matters within the complainant's area, which, as explained, is not permitted by state authorities. This constitutes a violation of Article 4 paragraphs 1 and 2 GG. (article 27)
    • UNHCR 2007 // Lifting ban: https://www.refworld.org/reference/annualreport/usdos/2007/en/48847 - USED
    • EU PACE 2012 Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights // inadmissibility of bans for different than violence reasons: https://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-XML2HTML-EN.asp?fileid=18733&lang=en
• ECHR cases connected with Unification Church
  • ECHR 1982/1987: l'ASSOCIAZIONE SPIRITUALE PER L'UNIFICAZIONE DEL MONDO CRISTIANO contre l'Italie - registration refusal https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22appno%22:%5B%2211574/85%22%5D,%22itemid%22:%5B%22001-24235%22%5D} - request procedurally dissmissed.
  • ECHR 1996/2006: Paturel c. France - anticultists sue those who describe their illegal activities: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22itemid%22:%5B%22001-71837%22%5D} Article 10, 14.720€
    • Mr. Paturel published a book named "Sectes, Religions et Libertés Publiques" (Sects, Religions and Public Freedoms) in "La Pensee Universelle" publishing.
      • described among others cases of 3 kidnappings and forced deprogramming.
        • "Brigitte Baekeland who became a member of the Unification Church at the age of 18.  She was kidnapped near Rouen and subjected to harsh treatment for nearly four months.  The young woman filed a complaint for intentional bodily harm, death threats, and attempted rape (plural)."
        • "Claire Chateau and Christine Ion, both from Unification church, were abducted near Besançon and subjected to the same deprogramming sessions."
    • He was called directly to Paris criminal court (tribunal correctionnel de Paris) initiated by l'Union nationale des associations de défense de la famille et de l'individu (UNADFI), later found guilty of defamation.
    • ECHR found France guilty of violation of Article 10.
  • ✔ ECHR 2000/2009: Nolan and K. v. Russia - exclusion reentry: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22tabview%22:%5B%22document%22%5D,%22itemid%22:%5B%22001-91302%22%5D} Articles 38§1a, 9, 8, 5§1, 5§5, 1 of Protocol No. 7 of the Convention, sum of 7.810€
  • ✔ ECHR 2005/2022: Corley and Others v. Russia - forced expel and "comMoonism": https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/fre#{%22itemid%22:%5B%22001-213717%22%5D} Articles 1, 2, 9, 8, 3, and 5 of the Convention, sum of 30.270€
  • ECHR 2001-2008/2023: Ilyin and Others v. Ukraine - refused registration of church: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/#{%22itemid%22:%5B%22001-220890%22%5D} - request inconclusive
  • ECHR 1997/2011: Boychev and Others v. Bulgaria - unlawful police raid, retention of books and refusal of registration: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22itemid%22:%5B%22001-103076%22%5D} Articles 9 and 13 of the Convention, sum of 8500€
  • ECHR 1997/2009: Juraj LAJDA et autres contre la République tchèque - extremely long process and refusal of the registration: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22tabview%22:%5B%22document%22%5D,%22itemid%22:%5B%22001-91855%22%5D} - case dismissed as not all possible local steps are done.
• Kidnapping and forced deprogramming
  • in France
    • Brigitte Baekeland case
      • https://www.google.cz/books/edition/France_2012/zNMjpLNcHmoC?hl=cs&gbpv=1&dq=%22Brigitte+Baekeland%22&pg=PA61&printsec=frontcover
      • Possible text: Brigitte Baekeland, an 18-year-old church member, was kidnapped near Rouen and subjected to harsh treatment for almost 4 months. She filed a complaint for intentional bodily harm, death threats, and several attempts of rape.
    • Claire Chateau case:
      • A sociology study by Patricia Birman mentioned a kidnapping case: https://www.scielo.br/j/mana/a/rQ9mGxTLPbNhdhdrw6b3xjP/
        • https://www.ethnographiques.org/2008/Birman
      • Le Monde - https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1982/03/09/sept-personnes-sont-inculpees-a-besancon-pour-avoir-sequestre-une-adepte-de-moon-la-secte-a-l-intention-de-se-porter-partie-civile-un-drame-en-trois-actes_3146944_1819218.html
      • Possible text: In March 1982, a 21-year-old woman Claire Château on the central street of Dijon while distributing brochures, pulled into a moving car shouting for help. After a medical-psychological examination showed that Mrs. Château enjoyed perfect mental health with no traces of alleged "brainwashing", 7 people, family members, and ADFI "professional deprogrammers" were accused by the Dijon Regional Criminal Investigation Department (Service Régional de Police Judiciaire de Dijon) of kidnapping under §341 of the French Penal Code to the Besançon Court of Justice.
    • Christine Ion case - no info
  • in the United States
    • 1977, March 16 https://newsroom.ap.org/editorial-photos-videos/detail?itemid=a02e10f4bcfa403fb4b9fc9dde35f5ca&mediatype=photo - this is interesting: Parents ask the court to grant them 30-day "conservatorships" over their adult children for deprogramming. OMG nonsense. But in that time... Will have to search for court decision.
    • 1979 Thomas Ward case
      • https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1981/08/14/court-rules-rights-laws-protect-against-religious-discrimination/caba88e2-4477-464a-9147-b7276acbc774/
      • Court case: Ward v Connor, April 18, 1980: https://casetext.com/case/ward-v-connor
        • possible text: On Thanksgiving 1979, the parents of Thomas Ward, a 28-year-old man conspired with other 31 people to kidnap him and hold him captive for 35 days. He suffered verbal and physical abuse in attempts to "de-program" him of his religious beliefs. This failed and 33 people heard the verdict on the crimes of conspiracy, battery, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and grand larceny. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that federal civil rights laws protect against religious discrimination. The judgment contradicted the (then common) "parental immunity" principle in such cases.
        • A perl: Thomas J. Ward graduated in 1981 from Unification Theological Seminary and in 2019 became its president.
        • from "Deprogramming" article: Held captive for 35 days and subjected to physical and psychological abuse by deprogrammers and family members. In Ward's civil action, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that federal civil rights laws protect against religious discrimination. The judgment contradicted the (then common) "parental immunity" principle in such cases.
  • Abductions, confinement, and forced deprogramming in Japan
    • 2010 UN Human Rights Council, Fourteenth session (A/HRC/14/NGO/49), Appeal/Joint written statement of Women's Federation for World Peace International and Universal Peace Federation - Abduction and Secret Detention for Forced Conversion in Japan
      • describes shortly Toru Goto case, Hiroko Tomizawa case, Takako Fujita case, Hirohisa Koide case
      • defines violations of human rights
      • appeal
    • 2011 HRWF Japan: Abduction and Deprivation of Freedom for the Purpose of Religious De-conversion
    • 2012-04-05 OHCHR - HRWF: Japan - UN Session 14 of the UPR: https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/lib-docs/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session14/JP/HRWF_UPR_JPN_S14_2012_HumanRightsWithoutFrontiers_E.pdf
    • 2012-04-20 UPR info - Japan Victims’ Association Against Religious Kidnapping and Forced Conversion: Japan - UN Session 14 of the UPR: https://www.upr-info.org/sites/default/files/documents/2013-09/vaarkfcuprjpns142012japanvictimsassociationagainstreligiouskidnappingandforcedconversione.pdf
    • 2014 FOREF Europe: How Toru Goto Fasted His Way to Freedom: Final Days of Incarceration
    • 2015 Parliament Magazine, Willy Fautré, HRWF: THE TORU GOTO CASE IN JAPAN ABDUCTED AND CONFINED FOR OVER 12 YEARS page 8
    • 2020 USCIRF (United States Commission on International Religious Freedom) - Did you know...Japan https://www.uscirf.gov/publications/did-you-knowjapan
    • https://www.huffpost.com/entry/japans-policy-of-denial-o_b_5622934
    • 2021 Willy Fautré, JAPAN: ‘Deprogramming’ of Believers – Damages Awarded in Unification Church Case
      • The decision from 27th Nov 2020 of the Hiroshima court in Japan, in the case when pastor Mamoru Takazawa with assistant Atsuyoshi Ojima in 2014 organized the kidnapping of married couple Koji Seo and Yuko Seo by their family members to forcibly de-conversion them. The confinement period was less than a week. The sum of 1.720.000 yen should be paid in damages.
      • The decision from 13th Nov 2014 of the Tokyo High Court in Japan, when issued a ruling ordering five people to pay damages to Toru Goto in a total amount of 22 million yen and professional deprogrammer Mr. Takashi Miyamura to pay 11 million yen in damages.
  • Discrimination of the church after Shinzo Abe's assassination
    • Tokyo Shimbun, "Believers are treated like second-class citizens'' - former Unification Church Chairman Tanaka ... described 18 "damages". https://web.archive.org/web/20231119023050/https://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/288605?s=06
• Behind the Iron Curtain persecution
  • Mission to the countries behind the Iron Curtain.
    • Czechoslovakia
      • http://www.david-zbiral.cz/NNHuvod.htm#_Toc151661451
        • Autotranslated: ... Church has been active in the Czech Republic (Czechoslovakia) since 1969. During the time of totalitarianism, was severely persecuted and supporters were sentenced to prison terms of roughly one to five years. Even in the post-recession era, they apparently fell victim to discrimination by state institutions, which refused to register it as a church despite fulfilling the conditions of the relevant law.
        • https://info.dingir.cz/2024/04/pred-50-lety-zemrela-marie-zivna-slovenska-mucednice-hnuti-sjednoceni/
      • Possible text:
        • In 1969 church missionaries were sent to communist Czechoslovakia and the movement started to grow. Until 1973 dozens of people participated in the meetings in more than 20 places and even sent their missionaries to other communist countries. During the communist rule, believers were severely persecuted and around 30 of them were imprisoned with charges of up to five years.
        • In 1973 State security reacted with an action called Familia and a group of 19 young believers was arrested in Bratislava and 18 of them were sentenced to up to 5 years of imprisonment for "subverting the republic". One of the arrested, Marie Živná, died in prison under unclear circumstances on 11th April 1974 at the age of 24 years. Witnesses agree, that the official version of suicide was not technically possible and contradicted her mood. Archives opened after 1989 did not reveal, what happened. In 1994, Marie Živná was officially recognized as a martyr of the church. The town of Svojanov mentions her as a victim of the communist regime.
  • The case of Marie Zivna - martyred by secret police in Czechoslovakia, will need some translation help
    • https://www.tparents.org/Library/Unification/Talks3/Zivna/Zivna-1112200.htm
    • https://mestyssvojanov.cz/w/marie-zivna/
    • https://mestyssvojanov.cz/w/alois-zivny/
    • https://info.dingir.cz/2024/04/pred-50-lety-zemrela-marie-zivna-slovenska-mucednice-hnuti-sjednoceni/
    • https://upf.cz/index.php/aktivity/setkani/vzpominkove-setkani-marie-zivna
    • https://www.novinky.cz/clanek/historie-ani-padesat-let-po-smrti-marie-zivne-neni-jasne-co-se-v-komunistickem-zalari-odehralo-40467834
    • https://svitavsky.denik.cz/volny-cas/deska-marie-zivne-na-hrade-zatim-nebude-20141106.html
    • https://unificationnews.eu/first-martyr-in-communist-world-commemorated/
  • The case of 18 imprisoned in communist Czechoslovakia, will need some translation help
    • https://web.archive.org/web/20070820154651/http://www.oleweb.net/nnh/moon
    • https://web.archive.org/web/20141205123240/http://studie.soc.cas.cz/upl/texty/files/207_1nespor60%20pro%20tisk.pdf

Persecution (of the Unification Church - part to be added to the article)

Europe

In November 1995, German authorities blacklisted the founders of the Unification Church (Reverend Sun Myung Moon, and his wife, Hak Ja Han Moon) through the Schengen Information System and thus forbid entry to 12 European countries. The period of exclusion was extended several times. After 12 years on October 24th, 2006 German Federal Constitutional Court ruled, that previous court rulings and authorities' treatment of the Unification Church in the period from November 1995 violated Article 4 paragraph 1 (Freedom of faith and conscience is inviolable) and paragraph 2 (undisturbed practice is guaranteed) of the German Constitution and is repealed must reimburse the UC for the necessary expenses (articles 2 and 3 of the ruling). Also stated, that the authorities' defense was based on rumors and assumptions (article 15 of the ruling) and the previous ruling of the Higher Administrative Court was based on weighting religious matters, which is not permitted by state authorities (article 27 of the ruling). Court by this decision rejects with immediate effect the rationale of the German Federal Ministry of the Interior for the 1995 immigration exclusion and not granting an entry visa.

France

In March 1982, a 21-year-old woman Claire Château on the central street of Dijon while distributing brochures, pulled into a moving car shouting for help. After a medical-psychological examination showed that Mrs. Château enjoyed perfect mental health with no traces of alleged "brainwashing", 7 people, family members, and ADFI "professional deprogrammers" were accused by the Dijon Regional Criminal Investigation Department (Service Régional de Police Judiciaire de Dijon) of kidnapping under §341 of the French Penal Code to the Besançon Court of Justice. The case contributed to the gradual abandonment of abductions and deprogramming attempts.

Russia

In 2000 Russia excluded Patrick Francis Nolan from reentry to Russia, holding him captive at the airport overnight based on FSB material on countering non-traditional religions. The visa was repeatedly canceled on reentry without an explanation, which separated him from his son, who stayed in Russia, for almost one year. European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in 2009 in the case Nolan and K. v. Russia stated, that Russia failed to comply or violated Articles 38§1a, 9, 8, 5§1, 5§5 and Article 1 of Protocol No. 7 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Convention) and decided that Russia should pay a sum of 7.810 € for damages.

In 2005-2006 Russia forcibly expelled John Alphonsus Corley and Shuji Igarashi and separated them from their families staying in Russia. Mr. Igarashi was held in detention for 3 days in inhuman conditions. Newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta published an article "ComMoonism has come to the Urals" explaining the reason as "State campaign against the Unification Church". ECHR in 2022in the case Corley and Others v. Russia stated, that Russia violated Articles 1, 2, 9, 8, 3, and 5 of the Convention and decided that Russia should pay a sum of 30.270 € for damages.

United States

On Thanksgiving 1979, the parents of Thomas Ward, a 28-year-old man conspired with other 31 people to kidnap him (for the second time) and hold him captive for 35 days. He suffered verbal and physical abuse in attempts to "de-program" him of his religious beliefs. Attempts failed and 33 people heard the verdict on the crimes of conspiracy, battery, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and grand larceny. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on April 18, 1980, that federal civil rights laws protect against religious discrimination. The judgment contradicted the (then common) "parental immunity" principle in such cases. Thomas J. Ward graduated in 1981 from the Unification Theological Seminary and in 2019 became its president.

In 1991 Carlton Sherwood in his book Inquisition: The Persecution and Prosecution of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon accused Congress, courts, state agencies, and the press of "worst kind of religious prejudice and racial bigotry" against the church, its leaders, and followers as determined attempt to erase the church from the United States.

Behind the Iron Curtain

In 1969 church missionaries were sent to communist Czechoslovakia and the movement started to grow. Until 1973 dozens of people participated in the meetings in more than 20 places and even sent their missionaries to other communist countries. During the communist rule, believers were severely persecuted and around 30 of them were imprisoned with charges of up to five years. Normal church life was restored after the fall of the communist regime in 1989.

In 1973 State security reacted with an action called Familia and a group of 19 young believers was arrested in Bratislava and 18 of them were sentenced to up to 5 years of imprisonment for "subverting the republic". One of the arrested, Marie Živná, died in prison under unclear circumstances on 11th April 1974 at the age of 24 years. Witnesses agree, that the official version of suicide was not technically possible and contradicted her mood. Archives opened after 1989 did not reveal, what happened. Her parents witnessed, her hair turn grey during imprisonment. In 1994, Marie Živná was officially recognized as a martyr of the church. The town of Svojanov mentions her as a martyred victim of the communist regime.

Persecution of Jehova's Witness (Preparation)

sources:

• In Germany: https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2004/35456.htm

Persecution of Hare Krishna (Preparation)

sources:

• ECHR 2008/2022: Centre of Societies for Krishna Consciousness in Russia and Frolov v. Russia - refusal of approvement of planned public religious events and anticult campaign: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/#{%22tabview%22:%5B%22document%22%5D,%22itemid%22:%5B%22001-213367%22%5D} Articles 9 and 11, sum of 9500€
• and others: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/#{%22fulltext%22:%5B%22krishna%22%5D}