CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY INTERNATIONAL OPENS EUROPEAN OFFICE IN BRUSSELS

Launches Europe-wide human rights education program; Pledges to triple the number of social betterment programs

Guests at the opening. Hundreds toured the newly renovated building, which contains the first permanent European exhibition on the Scientology religion and the many social betterment programs that utilize the discoveries of L. Ron Hubbard.

The Los Angeles-based Church of Scientology International today opened a new European Office for Public Affairs and Human Rights in Brussels near the European Parliament and European Commission in the heart of the city. Rev. Heber C. Jentzsch, President of Church of Scientology International, made the announcement in Los Angeles.

“The rapid growth of the Church’s human rights and social betterment activities across Europe made it necessary to establish a central coordinating point in Brussels. From the new Public Affairs and Human Rights Office, we will increase our actions to bring religious freedom and human rights to every country in Europe,” said Rev. Jentzsch.

Guests at the inaugural event included 450 representatives from government, religion, human rights, community organizations and the diplomatic corps, touring the building after a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony. The three-story building at 91 rue de la Loi was fully renovated by the Church to maintain its 19th-century neoclassical Regency style.

Special keynote speakers at the opening ceremony spoke of their experience with the Church’s work in the fields of human rights and religious freedom. Fabio Amacarelli, newly appointed director of the Brussels office who was formerly public affairs and human rights coordinator for the Church in Italy, introduced them. The speakers included:

The ribbon is cut at the Grand Opening of the Church of Scientology International European Office for Public Affairs and Human Rights. Left to right: Professor Gerhard Besier, University of Dresden’s Hannah Ahrendt Institute; Mr. Chris Brightmore, lecturer at Leicester University and former Scotland Yard Detective Chief Superintendent; Rev. Kurt Weiland, member of Board of Directors, Church of Scientology International; Fabio Amacerelli, Director of the new Brussels office; opera diva Julia Migenes, and Mr. Bashy Quraishy, President of the European Network against Racism.

Capping the formal ceremony, Kurt Weiland, a member of the Board of Directors of Church of Scientology International, explained that the Church’s decision to create a Brussels Human Rights office was motivated by a commitment to help create a social climate in which the rights and freedoms contained in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights can be realized. “We firmly believe that a threat to the freedom of any one individual is a threat to the freedoms of all,” he said.

Mr. Weiland released the Proclamation on Religion, Human Rights and Society, the Church’s definitive statements on the vital issue of the role of religion in society; freedom of belief; freedom of expression; democracy; justice; church-and-state relations; freedom of information; multicultural society; parents and children’s rights, and many others. The 22-point declaration articulates the Church’s commitment to human rights and declares, “neither states nor religious groups possess the right to control, either directly or indirectly, a person’s religious convictions. Nor may states impede a person’s freedom to associate with or leave religious groups.”

Visitors browse through display books presenting the Church’s community betterment activities.

Executive Director Amicarelli said the new office will operate as a focal point for the Church’s human rights activities in Europe and will serve as a resource for those looking for help in their communities to solve drug abuse, illiteracy, immorality and crime. “In Europe, our Church currently sponsors 169 social betterment programs. As part of our commitment to improving society, we pledge to triple the number in each one of the above categories within the next three years,” he said.

The building houses the first permanent European exhibition on Scientology, covering three floors and consisting of 750 displays. It presents the worldwide social betterment programs that are based on the developments of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. The exhibition also describes the Church’s human rights initiatives and explains the fundamentals of the religion. The exhibition is open to visitors daily from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with guided tours available. More information is available at www.scientology-europe.org.

“Our Church has a long history of digging out and exposing human rights abuses so they can be eradicated, and this exhibition shows the evidence of some of those investigations,” said Rev. Weiland of Church of Scientology International. “This new office, with combined staff experience of more than 50 years in human rights advocacy, is a testament to the Church’s commitment to preserving human rights for all.”

Shown in the exhibition is an action taken to protect human rights that made international headlines in the 1970s when Scientologists exposed the existence and operation of black slave-labor camps in apartheid-era South Africa. Private firms and corrupt government officials were discovered to be drugging and imprisoning blacks for multimillion-dollar profits. Refusing to be silenced and to suppress publication of photos of the camps, the Church was subjected to heavy oppression by the apartheid government. When international bodies investigated and condemned the camps, the Church was exonerated and later received official recognition as a religion in South Africa.

Guests were treated to a special performances by Julia Migenes, famous for her roles in Fiddler on the Roof, Salome, West Side Story, and, with Placido Domingo, as the flamboyant Carmen in the film of the name.

In Australia in the 1980s, psychiatric atrocities committed in the name of “deep-sleep therapy” were exposed by Scientologists who proved that criminal psychiatrists had maimed, raped or killed many patients. Due to the work of the Scientologists, the psychiatrists were brought to justice and the practice was banned.

For decades, the Church has taken a strong stand against the psychiatric labeling and drugging of children. Protecting children from such “white-coated dealers” has become as vital in the European Union as it is in the United States, where drugs prescribed for children have increased 37% since 1997, with 6 to 8 million children and adolescents now on psychotropic drugs for invented “illnesses”. Some parents have been forced by schools to place their children on prescribed psychiatric drugs as a precondition for their child’s education. The children are given dangerous psycho-stimulants, which are also known in the street drug scene and in sports.

In response to these concerns, in March of this year the United States House of Representatives passed 425 to 1 the Child Medication Safety Act. Under the Act, school officials are prohibited from requiring students to take medication as a condition of attending school.

Martin Weightman, Human Rights Director of the Church in Europe, launched a new human rights education campaign. Tens of thousands of copies of “A Guidebook to Peace Through Human Rights,” containing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights, have been printed in multiple languages and will be distributed throughout Europe to raise awareness of human rights violations and protections.

Mr. Weightman stated that “for many years the Church of Scientology has fought for religious freedom and human rights for all people of all beliefs, and we will now broaden our human rights education and social betterment campaigns throughout Europe to bring freedom to even more people.”

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