(Page 51)
Thus, New Acropolis was able to revive under its control an old association, the School of Anthropology of Paris, created in 1883 and put into dormancy since the Liberation. This is an association that enjoyed a certain prestige at the end of the 19th century by recruiting renowned scientists, before experiencing an extremist drift during the Second World War. Reclaimed by New Acropolis, it is currently a “subsidiary” of the cult which, by this means, offers internships to foreign students.
(Page 65)
New Acropolis requires its adherents to perform a certain number of hours of volunteer work in its “school”, devoted to reception, maintenance and secretarial tasks.
(Pages 152–153)
New Acropolis had a training organisation through the company Hermès Consultants, directed by Ms Isabelle Ludwig, president of the parent association of the cult. Registered at the SRC of Île-de-France, this company, now struck from the commercial register, notably trained employees of the FNSEA.
(Page 182)
For example, Krishna established at the Château de Bellevue in the Jura and at the Domaine d’Oublaisse in the Indre; Tradition Famille Propriété holding, through the association Avenir de la culture, the Château de Jaglu in Eure-et-Loir; New Acropolis owner of the Cour Pétral, a former monastery located in the same department; …
(Pages 199–200)
NEW ACROPOLIS — Association New Acropolis France — Theft; Handling of stolen goods; Complicity in theft; Conditional threats of an offence — TGI of Colmar, 27/03/98 … — Court of Appeal of Colmar, 18/12/98 …
(Pages 305–306)
NAME OF THE CULT : NEW ACROPOLIS A.– ORGANISATION … 1°) INTERNATIONAL HEADQUARTERS : Brussels (Belgium) … … ð 7 local branches : Boissy-lès-Perche, Bordeaux, Paris, Rennes, Rouen, Strasbourg, Villeurbanne … … evaluation elements collected : Annual receipts of the association New Acropolis France : between 4 and 4.6 MF depending on the fiscal year.
(Page 252)
Conclusion
At the end of its work, the Commission must acknowledge that the cult phenomenon is probably installed in our societies for a long time. It expresses inevitable dysfunctions and sometimes constitutes safety valves through which an irreducible marginalism finds an outlet. The right to be different must also be safeguarded. But one cannot accept that the exercise of this right should threaten certain principles, first and foremost the right to the protection of the weakest. That is why the fight against cultic excesses remains, in the Commission’s view, a requirement that calls for better adapted means, a renewed effort to raise societal awareness and a consciousness-raising at the international level. The Commission is convinced that the traditional contradiction invoked between freedom of conscience and public order, in matters of cultist actions, is entirely irrelevant. It is not a question of opposing these two principles but, on the contrary, of highlighting their complementarity. The preservation of freedom of conscience cannot, indeed, rely on a disregard for essential individual freedoms: freedom of movement, of owning and enjoying property, of caring for one’s body and health, of being protected against abuses of power, of defending oneself against attacks on one’s moral and material interests… By working to ensure that attacks on these freedoms by cultic excesses are more effectively prosecuted and punished, the Commission intends thereby to guarantee freedoms of conscience and expression, which are at the very heart of respect for Human Rights.
(Page 254)
SUMMARY OF THE COMMISSION'S PROPOSALS
(the numbers refer to the pages of the report)
1. Adjustments to the status of associations:
- strengthen democracy within associations: by requiring, beyond a certain budget which could be set at 500,000 francs, at least one annual general meeting and the preparation of a moral and financial report for the members (p. 51 and 52) ;
- subject associative structures with a certain economic weight – for example, those whose annual budget exceeds 500,000 francs – to minimum declaration obligations (profit and loss account and balance sheet) (p. 51 and 52) ;
- use the postponement of the application of the instruction of 15 September 1998 concerning the taxation of associations to take into account the risks of using the new rules in a way favourable to the development of the cult phenomenon (p. 60).
2. Application of the law of 9 December 1905 concerning the separation of churches and the State:
- remind, by circular addressed to the prefects and all concerned services, the principles of the separation between churches and the State, and the criteria of a cult association defined by the Council of State, as well as the application it made in the case of the Jehovah’s Witnesses (p. 71) ;
- draw the attention of public authorities to the necessity of now setting some general rules for affiliation to the social protection scheme for cults (p. 75).
3. Adjustments to the legislation concerning the financing of political life:
- make the benefit of the first fraction of the annual budgetary aid conditional on obtaining a threshold of votes at the last legislative elections (p. 84) ;
- reserve access to the radio-television campaign to political formations that have designated a national representative sponsored by a minimum number of local elected officials (p. 84).
4. Organisation of the social affairs and health sector:
- distribute to all public services and health professionals a practical guide identifying points of vulnerability to cults in the medico-social world (p. 128) ;
- centralise information on sanctions taken by the professional bodies of health professions and on ongoing judicial proceedings (p. 128) ;
- have the Order of Physicians designate a representative to the Interministerial Mission for the Fight Against Cults (p. 128) ;
- study a possible approval procedure for the denominations of paramedical professions and medical auxiliaries, by a commission of experts that authorises the use of therapy titles and can propose the ban on the practice of those not approved (p. 128) ;
- strengthen, in medical and paramedical studies, teaching on :
- methods of psychological support for patients (p. 129) ;
- the place, role and limits of medical and paramedical professions in society (p. 129) ;
- develop, from primary or secondary education, courses in health education, healthy living and the understanding of body schema (p. 129) ;
- set up an approval or labelling procedure for associations involved in accompaniment and assistance to hospitalized persons (p. 129) ;
- provide modes of therapeutic follow-up to offer to former adherents and integrate them into the continuing education of physicians (p. 129) ;
- amplify, notably within the framework of national education, awareness campaigns on vaccines (p. 129).
5. Regulation of vocational training:
- entrust the approval and control of vocational training organisations to an administrative public establishment to which a portion of employers’ contributions would be allocated to finance its operation (p. 158 and 159) ;
- end the automatic exemption from VAT by reserving it to duly approved organisations (p. 159) ;
- explicitly give the administration the power to withdraw the registration of an organisation when it appears that it does not fall within the framework of vocational training or that it has engaged in fraudulent manoeuvres (p. 159) ;
- launch an awareness campaign aimed at companies, organised by the State and professional organisations (p. 160) ;
- develop a labelling programme for training organisations (p. 161).
6. Measures aimed at improving the fight against fraud:
a) adjustment of criminal procedures
- initiate a consultation on the advisability of creating an offence of mental manipulation (p. 216) ;
- study, in strict respect of the presumption of innocence, the possibility of reversing the burden of proof for the largest transfers of funds when they are linked to cults (p. 218).
b) mobilisation of the administration
- define, by an interministerial committee under the authority of the Prime Minister and with the technical assistance of the Interministerial Mission for the Fight Against Cults, the general framework of State action specified by circular from each ministry (p. 249) ;
- provide for the representation of financial institutions at the Interministerial Mission for the Fight Against Cults (p. 182) ;
- study the creation of departmental structures attached to the Interministerial Mission for the Fight Against Cults with the tasks (p. 249) :
- to constitute a public information centre for companies and financial institutions in each prefecture ;
- to guide and advise victims, former adherents and their families ;
- to provide administrations concerned with the information necessary for their action ;
- to collect, in return, all information coming from administrations on cult activity in the department ;
- consider creating, within the jurisdiction of each Court of Appeal, a magistrate’s post specially trained to deal with cult-related issues. This function would constitute a useful complement to the role currently exercised by the cult correspondent at the Public Prosecutor’s Office (p. 250 and 251) ;
- initiate a consultation within the European Union to lead to a specific convention on the fight against cults (p. 251) ;
- undertake diplomatic action at the Council of Europe on the dangers of sectarianism, on the presence of cults within non-governmental organisations claiming a humanitarian vocation and on the risks created by the 1986 convention (p. 92).
7. Follow-up of the proposals:
request that the Government charge the Interministerial Mission for the Fight Against Cults with preparing the measures for the implementation of the above proposals.