AP Worldstream

March 03, 1998

U.N. investigator rejects as 'puerile' Scientology's Nazi claim

By Alexander G. Higgins

GENEVA — The U.N. investigator on religious freedom Tuesday rejected as "puerile" the Church of Scientology's comparison of modern Germany to the Nazis' Third Reich.

But a 28-page report by Abdelfattah Amor said Germany could do more to assure the protection of religious rights.

The German government "beyond day-to-day management, must implement a strategy to prevent intolerance in the field of religion and belief," Amor said in the report to the U.N. Human Rights Commission.

Amor, a Tunisian lawyer, has been assigned by the 53-nation commission to investigate claims of religious persecution in countries ranging from China to Sudan.

He praised modern Germany's treatment of Jews, but said Muslims had expressed concerns and that smaller religious groups also had complaints.

Amor suggested the German government "introduce the teaching of Islam into state schools in order to provide genuine religious instruction free from indoctrination."

This would give Muslims "greater independence from foreign influence" and would better convey values of tolerance of other religions, he said.

Amor's report stemmed from complaints to the commission from the Los Angeles-based Church of Scientology, founded in 1954 by the late science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard.

The church, which claims 8 million members worldwide, has mounted an advertising campaign that says German treatment of its 30,000 adherents, such as banning them from public jobs, is reminiscent of Nazi persecution of the Jews.

"Any comparison between modern Germany and Nazi Germany is so shocking as to be meaningless and puerile," said Amor.

This view is "unanimously expressed" by representatives of other religious minorities, Amor said. He also talked to Orthodox Christians, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Baha'is, Bhagwans, Hare Krishnas and members of the Unification Church.

The German government contends Scientology is a moneymaking organization out to bilk its members.

The U.S. government, which has extended Scientology tax-free status as a religion since 1993, has criticized the German treatment of the body.

Amor noted that the Protestant church, with 28.5 million members, and the Roman Catholic, with 27.5, remain dominant in Germany, but that they have reportedly suffered sharp declines in membership in recent years.

The Jewish community, which has about 50,000 members "enjoys a privileged situation in the area of religious freedom," he said, noting the instruction of Judaism is guaranteed and that the religion has broadcasting rights.

Although there is some vandalism aimed at Jews, "it would appear that the situation of the Jewish community in the area of religious freedom is very satisfactory," Amor said.

Muslims, who maintain they, too, enjoy religious freedom, told him they also want the tax-exempt status of "legal person" in public law which Jews and the major Christian churches enjoy.

But German authorities said Muslims first must have a single spokesman for the whole community.

Muslims, mainly of Turkish origin, number an estimated 2.5 million to 3 million, he said.

Amor based his report on an 11-day visit to Germany last September during which he met with government officials and a broad range of people from different religions.