THOUSANDS INCLUDING SCIENTOLOGISTS, CHRISTIANS, MOSLEMS, HINDUS HOLD RELIGIOUS FREEDOM PROTEST RALLY IN FRANCE

In Paris, Archer, Hayes, Alley, Fresh denounce governmental religious discrimination

Scientologists, Christians, Hindus and Moslems, including world-renowned artists and prominent human rights advocates, demonstrated in their thousands today at a rally for religious freedom in Paris. The event is coordinated by the Church of Scientology to protest governmental persecution of minority religions in France.

On Friday, the Paris Prefect, Mr. Philipe Massoni, arbitrarily denied permission for the religious freedom march from la Place de la Bastille to la Place de la Republique. The Church of Scientology denounced his refusal, which he issued a single working day before the event despite weeks of advance notice, as “premeditated repression intended to cause maximum harassment and to deny French citizens their constitutional rights of freedom of assembly and speech, solely because of their religious affiliation.”

“It’s bad enough that the French government has acted against religious minorities,” said Rev. John Carmichael of the Church’s international human rights and interfaith office. “Now they are trying to prevent us from being heard. But we will not be silenced.”

In Paris, musicians Isaac Hayes and Doug E. Fresh, and actresses Kirstie Alley and Anne Archer signed a “Declaration of Personal and Spiritual Freedom.” The Declaration condemns the “anti-religious, anti-democratic, anti-constitutional and, thus, anti-French campaigns which have caused members of persecuted religions to lose employment; have their careers ruined; have their artistic freedom destroyed; have the custody of their own children refused and/or the choice for their children’s education denied; and other, similar acts of oppression.”

“Our freedom of thought is under siege,” said Alley. “We have to ensure the legal, moral and religious rights of this great country, as they are invaluable to the artists of the world.”

Added Hayes, “If it’s religion today, what will it be tomorrow? I say to France: Practice what you preach and live up to your Constitution. You’ve been there and you know what it’s like. Be honest. Be real.”

The Declaration the artists signed targets Alain Vivien of the French government’s “interministerial Mission to Fight Against Sects” as the principal fomenter of hatred and intolerance of scores of religious movements, in collaboration with the Renseignements Generaux—French domestic intelligence police—and certain named politicians. Those targeted as the source of religious intolerance were invited to defend their actions at a Religious Hate Crimes Tribunal Tuesday, at which members of minority religions will testify about the abuses before a panel of expert scholars.

Instead of marching on Monday, delegations laid wreaths outside government offices, in symbolic memory of the French Constitution, over whose corpse fanatic government officials have erected “a tombstone of intolerance and injustice.”

The French government is now regarded by international human rights organizations as the most repressive in Western Europe towards religious freedom. Fifteen members of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly have issued a call for France to respect human rights and investigate reports of religious discrimination. A petition from 40 minority religions has also been filed with the President of the Council of Europe Assembly calling for the Council’s assistance in defeating a repressive bill currently before the French Senate. On October 3, the International Relations Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a Resolution which criticized France for intolerance towards a wide range of minority faiths.