5 August 1998

Director General Federico Mayor

UNESCO

7 Place de Fontenoy

75352 Paris 07-SP

FRANCE

RE: ARTISTIC and CULTURAL DISCRIMINATION: GERMANY

 

Dear Director General Mayor:

Scientologists in Germany continue to be excluded from sports organizations, denied the right to perform or exhibit their art, denied the right to be employed as professional sports trainers, and denied the right to play professional sports in Germany. German citizens identified as Scientologists as well as their children are blacklisted, boycotted, vilified, ostracized and threatened simply due to their personal beliefs and their association with the religion of Scientology.

The following cases are very recent examples of the censorship and ostracization of Scientologists who are artists or athletes in Germany, but they are by no means exhaustive of such discrimination. They simply illustrate the continuing pattern and practice of human rights violations which occur with frightening regularity to all who are identified as Scientologists in Germany today.

Although the first two cases concern discrimination of an accomplished athlete and acclaimed musician in the private sector, it is important to note that the German government has fostered and fueled such discrimination. Indeed, the government has urged all strata of society to isolate and ostracize Scientologists by economically blacklisting and boycotting anyone associated with Scientology.

This is illustrated by so-called „sect filter" clauses in contracts recommended by the government to exclude Scientologists from employment and from joining associations. Such clauses have been adopted and promoted by the Permanent Conference of Ministers and Senators of Interior of the States (See, e.g., Decision Minutes of the Permanent Conference of Ministers and Senators of Interior of the States on 15th December 1995), by state governments in Bavaria, Hamburg, Berlin and Baden-Wurttemburg, by the major political parties, and by federal ministers such as Federal Minister of Family Affairs Claudia Nolte and Federal Minister of Labor Norbert Bluem, who have called for a ban of all Scientologists from occupations which "intersect with society", including schools, the government and business companies.

This government policy mandates that any private sector organization doing business with the government institute its own blacklisting policy if it wants to continue to contract with the government. For example, the Bavarian government requires businesses contracting with the government to swear that no employees of the company „use the technology of L. Ron Hubbard." They also must swear that they will exclude persons from working on the fulfillment of any contract with Bavaria if they „apply, teach or otherwise distribute the technology of L. Ron Hubbard" during the contracting period. (Annex 1). This forces corporations to adopt the government’s exclusionary policy towards Scientologists or to suffer serious economic consequences. As a result, the use of „sect filter" clauses in the private sector has become systematic throughout Germany. This policy is manifestly illegal and contrary to universal human rights instruments.

Arnaud Boetsch

Arnaud Boetsch is a highly acclaimed French professional tennis player. In 1995, he finished as the highest rated French singles tennis player. In 1996, he helped France win the Davis Cup Title. Mr. Boetsch also happens to be a Scientologist.

In November 1997, Rueppurr Tennis Club in Southern Germany signed a contract with Mr. Boetsch for him to represent the club in the German Championships League (Bundesliga) in July 1998. In June 1998, a German newspaper identified Mr. Boetsch’s association with Scientology in an article about him. A few days later, the President of Ruppuer Tennis Club held a press conference and announced that he had canceled Mr. Boetsch’s contract solely because of his association with the Church of Scientology. In the press conference, the Club President stated that the managing director of an important sponsor of the club, the South German Bank LBS (Landesbausparkasse Baden, hereinafter „LBS"), threatened to cancel LBS’s sponsorship of the Club unless Mr. Boetsch was dismissed immediately. The managing director confirmed this to the press and stated that LBS’s policy is to require all employees to sign a „sect filter" swearing that they are not a Scientologist. Newspaper articles regarding the press conference, the LBS managing director’s statement, and the Club’s dismissal of Mr. Boetsch due to his association and beliefs are attached. (Annex 2).

Mr. Boetsch was not informed of his cancellation by the Club until after the press conference. In response, Mr. Boetsch wrote to the President of the International Tennis Federation („Federation") on 16 June 1998, noting that „sport is sport and religion is religion, but what occurs in Germany today is a clear cut discrimination based on my personal beliefs and a violation of my human rights." Mr. Boetsch requested that the Federation intervene to make it clear that religion should not be a „topic in sports at all" (Annex 3). The President of the Federation responded that he was „sorry to hear of the attitudes which apparently have been expressed in connection with your membership of the Church of Scientology." He noted that, although it is a „clear policy" of the Federation that such discrimination „is not tolerated," the Federation has no influence over German Bundesliga policies. (Annex 4).

Unfortunately, religious discrimination occurs on a regular basis in sports in Germany. The National German Sports Association, the Deutscher Sportbund, recently published a brochure mailed to all their member associations urging the use of a „sect filter" clause requiring individuals to swear that they have no connection to Scientology or Mr. Hubbard. The President of the Sports Association noted that the use of such a sect filter is in conformance with the policies of the federal government and other social organizations. (Annex 5).

Mr. Boetsch’s religious beliefs are private. As he notes in his letter to the Federation, he has never promoted his religion at tennis events. Yet, these discriminatory actions are designed to blacklist and to stigmatize Mr. Boetsch and to impair and impede his right to perform his profession in Germany simply due to his religious association and beliefs in contravention of his rights to freedom of expression and the right to hold opinions without interference guaranteed by Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. These discriminatory actions also contravene the ideals espoused by UNESCO and articulated in the UNESCO International Charter of Physical Education and Sport, which calls for nondiscrimination and integration of minorities in sport „in order to encourage access to sport without discrimination and with complete equality."

Enrique Ugarte

Mr. Ugarte is an accomplished Spanish musician, composer and conductor. Mr. Ugarte is the European champion and Vice-World champion for accordion playing. He has composed an opera for 200 performers successfully staged in Munich and Kassel. He has conducted some of the best orchestras in Europe, including the Basque National Orchestra and the English Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Ugarte currently resides in Germany and has performed in some of its finest concert halls, such as the Munich Philharmony and Hamburg Music Hall.

As articulated in Mr. Ugarte’s letter and accompanying declaration (Annex 6), in June 1998, Mr. Ugarte was offered the position of musical director for an international „Opera Circus" by a Stuttgart company, C&P Gruppe. Mr. Ugarte’s agent, at the company’s request, submitted a contract for Mr. Ugarte’s services for the two year tour of the „Opera Circus." During a meeting to finalize the contract, Mr. Ugarte mentioned to Mr. Conzelmann, the chief executive officer of C&P, that he was a parishioner of the Church of Scientology. Like Mr. Boetsch, Mr. Ugarte’s religious beliefs are private. As he notes in his letter, he does not mix his profession and his religion.

In a subsequent meeting in July 1998, Mr. Conzelmann informed Mr. Ugarte and his agent that he could no longer contract for Mr. Ugarte’s services due to his association with Scientology. Mr. Conzelmann stated that C&P was required, as an organizer of artistic events, to sign several contracts with sponsoring companies prohibiting C&P from employing members of the Church of Scientology. Mr. Conzelmann showed Mr. Ugarte a document from South German Bank (LBS), the same sponsor involved in blacklisting Mr.

Boetsch, containing a „sect filter" clause requiring C&P not to employ Scientologists. Mr. Conzelmann also stated to Mr. Ugarte and his agent that Daimler Benz AG also requested C&P to agree to a contract with a „sect filter" clause. Mr. Conzelmann noted that he risked losing the support of „hundreds of sponsors" if he employed the services of an artist who is a Scientologist. In a subsequent phone call, Mr. Conzelmann informed Mr. Ugarte’s agent that C&P had signed sixteen contracts with different German sponsoring companies forbidding C&P from employing the services of Scientologists. (Annex 9).

Other German and foreign artists who also happen to be Scientologists continue to be subject to similar blacklisting and boycotting actions in Germany. The German government has made it clear to concert and exhibit organizers and sponsors that Scientologists are not welcome at such events. As noted in Suddeutsche Zeitung on 4 July 1998, the Bavarian Ministry of Interior has recommended to all municipalities that it „refuse and withdraw any state support" if Scientologists are participating. Bavarian Minister of Interior Beckstein has written to the organizer of Jazz Days Burghausen demanding that he not let Scientologists perform there in 1998. Also in July 1998, Bavarian Prime Minister Stoiber announced that he would not have assumed the role of patron of the Elmau Jazz Festival if he had known that Jazz pianist Chick Corea would be performing there. (Annex 10).

UNESCO's Recommendation Regarding The Status of the Artist recognizes that the arts are an integral part of life and that it is necessary for governments to help create and sustain a climate encouraging freedom of artistic expression. Guiding Principle Six notes that "freedom of expression and communication is the essential prerequisite for all artistic activities. Member States should see that artists are unequivocally accorded the protection provided for in this respect by international and national legislation concerning human rights." Guiding Principle Eight notes that Member States "should ensure that all individuals, irrespective of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, economic status or birth, have the same opportunities to ... obtain employment, and to exercise their profession without discrimination."

Despite these principles, the rights of artists or athletes , indeed the rights of Scientologists in any profession , are routinely violated through systematic use of „sect filters" in both the public and private sector to ostracize and disenfranchise Scientologists due to their personal opinions and beliefs.

Conclusion

The stark truth is that matters are getting worse, not better, for artists and athletes who are Scientologists and who live or perform in Germany. The German government continues to implement discriminatory actions and statements against Scientologists despite the fact that they have adduced not one iota of evidence to support their ludicrous charges.

As recognized by UNESCO in its Guiding Principles on the Status of the Artist, as art "reflects, preserves, and enriches the cultural identity and spiritual heritage of the various societies, constitutes a universal form of expression and communication, and as a common denominator in ethnic, cultural or religious differences, brings home to everyone the sense of belonging to the human community", member states such as Germany should "accordingly and for these purposes ensure that the population as a whole has access to art." Likewise, the UNESCO International Charter of Physical Education and Sport calls upon member states such as Germany to practice nondiscrimination and integration of minorities in sport „in order to encourage access to sport without discrimination and with complete equality."

The German government has violated these guiding principles by denying the German public unfettered access to the concerts and exhibits of Scientology artists, by attempting to boycott films starring artists who happen to be Scientologists, by canceling the contracts of Scientologists who are professional athletes and athletic trainers, and by otherwise interfering with artistic freedom and expression of Scientology artists through derogatory public statements and pronouncements designed to censor their artistic expression solely due to their religious association with the Church of Scientology.

Most importantly, these discriminatory actions do not simply injure these artists and athletes. They represent an assault by the German government on the rights of all artists to create and perform their art free from state censorship and state interference, the right of athletes to engage in their sport free from religious discrimination, and the right of the public to have access to art and athletics free from government censorship and interference.

If this encroachment is allowed to go unchallenged, what steps will be taken next? What other artists and athletes will be denied access to the public because of their religious affiliation or ideological association? Will others who happen to be associated with other minority religions not in favor with the state also be singled out for discriminatory treatment?

Under these circumstances, UNESCO should investigate the blacklisting and boycotting of Scientology artists and athletes and take appropriate action so that others do not suffer similar suppression due to their religious or ideological affiliation.

Thank you for your consideration of this matter.

Respectfully submitted,