All of them, those in power, and those who want the power, would pamper us, if we agreed to overlook their crookedness by wilfully restricting our activities.
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Glosslip Radio (April 25, 2008): "Marc Headley" [Excerpt, starting at 1h 24m 54s] MH: There is a girl by the name of Stacy Moxon, or Stacy Meyers. That's a girl that worked at the INT base. They said she committed suicide [sic] . . . she was electrocuted to death in a high voltage transformer vault. Well, somebody told me that she left a note. So, it wasn't actually an accident. The [Church of Scientology] make it, basically saying that it was an accident, she went in to save a squirrel or something. [...] That's the way they played it off, as that she was that nature loving girl who wanted to make sure the squirrel wasn't hurt, and then she slipped on some oil... No, she went in there and she grabbed the vault, that's what happened. DO: Why did that happen? MH: She wasn't allowed to leave the property to go see her husband and her family. And she wasn't being allowed to go, she was basically being held captive there, like every other person at the INT base. But she was new to the INT base, and she has been only in there for a few months. And she was basically, "I can't take this anymore." And she even threatened and told other people that she was depressed, she was separated from her husband who worked in Los Angeles. Her own father is one of the lead litigation attorneys for the church, Ken Moxon. And he still fights for the church, even though that happened to his daughter. And he doesn't even know that there was a note. But he still fights for the church, his daughter is dead, because she wasn't allowed to go down and see them. [...] Rolling Stone (Feb. 2006): "Inside Scientology" by Janet Reitman
If she tried to leave, Sara adds,
the auditors would physically
block her path and force her back in her chair.
Officials say this forced auditing is for the subjects'
own good, as it might be harmful if they were to leave
a session before they were ready. [...]
To make sure no one would leave before their route-out was complete, Jeffrey would shadow them: "I've been assigned to go and sleep outside somebody's door -- all night, for as many nights as it takes -- on the floor, against the door, so I could feel if they opened it. If they went to the bathroom, someone would stand right outside. Someone is always there." [...] In the RPF he was given a "twin," or auditing partner, who was responsible for making sure he didn't escape. "It's a prison system," he says, explaining that all RPFers are watched twenty-four hours per day and prevented from having contact with the outside world. The Lisa McPherson Clause: Scientology Moving to Secure Its 'Right' to Kill Again
Scientology
killed Lisa McPherson in Clearwater, Florida, on
December 5, 1995. She was held
against her will for 17 days, denied medical
care, and forcibly sedated. When her guards tried to
force her to undergo the
Introspection Rundown and she refused, she was kept
in an isolation lock-down until she died from severe
dehydration. Forensic entomologists later identified
110
cockroach feeding sites on her body, and three nationally
prominent forensic pathologists opined that
the manner of death was "homicide". (The pathologists
were Calvin Bandt, M.D. (affidavit),
Werner Spitz, M.D. (affidavit),
and John Coe, M.D.)
Affidavit of Roxanne Friend (6 December 1991)
17. In December 1989 I went back to Florida for the
purpose of doing a process called the
Purification Rundown
but was again forced to do the Introspection Rundown
auditing. I left without Case Supervisor approval which
was always required prior to leaving the Flag Land Base
in Florida. I left in the middle of the night and took
a taxi to a hotel near Tampa airport because I did not
want to be on Scientology premises or continue the Introspection
Rundown. Also, I made phone calls
to the Clearwater, Florida or Tampa, Florida police
saying that I was being held against my will. The Scientologists
had the phone in my room cut off when I did this.
[...]
20. The staff members of the Florida Scientology organization subsequently drugged me (deposition pages 532-535) with the approval of Flag and senior officials of the "Church" of Scientology. Then they woke me up in the middle of the night (deposition page 511), took me in a recreational vehicle against my will (deposition pages 529 and 540) and subsequently held me in the RV and then in a room in Florida (deposition page 510) for a period totalling about four weeks, all against my will. I made at least two attempts to escape but I was bodily forced by the guards to return. Affidavit of Jesse Prince (20 August 1999)
25. I have personally reviewed a video of a television
interview of Roxanne Friend, a former Scientologist.
She had cancer which could have been successfully treated.
She was kidnapped in California and taken across country
in a motor home to FLAG in Clearwater where
she was held against her will,
which prevented her from getting cancer treatment.
After she escaped she gave this interview that I observed
on a television talk show. She disclosed that
she was beyond treatment because of this delay and subsequently
died. Based on my experience in Scientology, her statements
ring true. [...]
28. In the four instances of Isolation I observed, the person was locked in a room with at least two other people guarding the exit door. The people that watch the person in a psychotic break are not allowed to talk to the person at all. They are only allowed to physically restrain the person. The reason there are people guarding the exit door is that the person wants to leave and attempts to leave time after time. By their own policy the person in a psychotic break is not allowed to leave until the Case Supervisor allows it. Here is a direct quote from Scientology technical "Introspection Rundown, Additional Step": "Dear Joe. What can you guarantee me if you are let out of Isolation?" If the persons's reply shows continued irresponsibility toward other dynamics or fixation on one dynamic to the exclusion of others damaged, the C/S (Case Supervisor) must inform the person of his continued Isolation and why. Example: "Dear Joe. I'm sorry but no go on coming out of isolation yet..." [...] 32. The people who are selected to watch a person in a psychotic break are trained to make a person physically comply with orders and demands. Controlling a person physically is taught in Scientology in its Training Routine Courses. As an example, in what is called "Training Routine 7, High School Indoc" the Scientology student is trained to never be stopped by a Pre-Clear. No matter what the person in "Isolation" does or says, they are not allowed to leave until the C/S says they can. Birgitta Dagnell: "My story about scientology"
Another lady I remember was from Belgium. She got about
the same treatment as described above, but she gave
them the wrong cognition. In the session she told them
that she finally understood how much she had neglected
her husband and children because of scientology.
After the above treatment she
tried to escape but failed. The following week
after this incident, she didn't speak with anybody.
She sneaked around on the yard, sometimes laughing hysterically
for herself. I was told that she went mad. Then she
suddenly was gone. I don't know what happened to her,
but have been thinking about her a lot.
Affidavit of Martin Ottmann (19 April 1996): Nervous Breakdowns, Collapses, Etc.
My roommate at the Hacienda, Len Thomas, told me in
1991, that he had to watch a public at the Sandcastle,
who had gone "PTS Type III" after auditing (PTS Type
III = someone, who has gone crazy).
He said that the woman was put
into a room, which she couldn’t leave and that he had
to watch her, without saying anything to her
until she would get better.
Few days later, when I asked him about that woman, he told me, that she was sent home, after she had calmed down.
Forcible confinement, which is one of the prerequisites
for social scientists utilizing the brainwashing term,
specifically occurred in nine RPF accounts and two RPF's
RPF accounts. Indeed, seven informants
had stories about their (sometimes successful) escape
attempts from the program and the guards assigned to
prevent them from doing so. These accounts stand
in stark contrast to Scientology's insistence that "participation"
in an RPF program is voluntary.
Declaration of Anne Rosenblum (circa 1978)
So I was "escorted" back by the
guys, and put under immediate guard. I think
by now it's about the beginning of August. The next
few weeks until I actually left are pretty hazy to me
— sort of like one mass of confusion. I know I got a
"Court of Ethics" and a "Committee of Evidence" and
a "Fitness Board." All of these were ethics actions
showing how bad I was for wanting to leave. If I began
to "doubt" Scientology the MAA would tell me that I
wasn't doing the formulas right and to go back and do
them again. I was slowly becoming crazy.
Affidavit of Andre Tabayoyon (5 March 1994)
45. I received instructions directly from Ray Mithoff
to use the Hubbard Tech of thought reform to drive Tom
Ashworth to a psychotic break. The express object of
the exercise was to drive Tom crazy and to commit suicide.
Tom went PTS Type III and attempted suicide. Later,
Tom escaped from RPF and was caught,
brought back against his will, isolated with
2 guards and more thought processes were used on him
to calm him down rather than have him kill himself.
[...]
52. Over the years I was at Gold base, a significant number of people at the base announced, or by their conduct indicated, to me that they wanted to leave. Julie Fisher stated repeatedly that she wanted to leave. She said that she did not want to remain at Gold base. My instructions were to keep her on the base. Mark Fisher, who was severely beaten by Miscavige, repeatedly told Miscavige and others that he did not want to be at the Hemet base. As Miscavige and others beat Mark in my presence, Mark kept saying that his attackers could beat him all they wanted but he still wanted to leave. Finally, Miscavige expressed his contempt and disgust at Mark and left the guard house where Mark was being held. 53. I also saw armed guards at the "berthing" (staff) quarters at Gilman Hot Springs. The armed guards were stationed to prevent staffers from leaving or "blowing" their posts during the night. [...] 55. I also have personal knowledge about the guarding of other people being involuntarily detained by Gold Security, a division of CSI, at the heavily fortified and armed Gilman Hot Springs base (Gold) and at Happy Valley which is another Scientology base 11 miles away. George Malko (1970): "Scientology: the Now Religion - Epilogue"
It is impossible to know from the letter whether one
specific incident finally prompted the man [John McMaster]
to take a more careful look at what he had been living
for so many years. He cites but two;
the alleged kidnapping and dungeoning
of an extremely successful Scientologist named Alan
Walter, [...]
What McMaster treats with such delicate circumspection is the wild rumor extant in Scientology circles at Walter had been called to a meeting with Hubbard when one of the ships was anchored off Cadiz. He had flown over, had been piped aboard with pomp and ceremony, and had then been seized, shackled, and thrown below decks where, the tale continues, he lingers even yet. Janice D. Hayward v. Church of Scientology, case no. CV96-10503
On or about 21 Dec., 1992 I was assaulted by Wendy Keene,
Ethics Officer. Mary Sugher, Secretary,
tried to physically force me to stay at the Church of
Scientology against my will. She called for Wendy
Keen and Kathy Bennett, a Division 6 Supervisor, to
attack me. Kathy ran off, but Wendy slammed me repeatedly
into the wall in the back of the church for over half
an hour. Finally, John DiNero, a staff member, came
in and made her stop.
I confronted Mary Sugher about the assault. She told me that L. Ron Hubbard's policy states that it is alright to physically assault people. Het Parool: "Mutiny at Dutch Scientology organization" by Sladjana Labovic and Bart Middelburg
According to the "ethics" of Scientology, such a refusal
is considered a capital crime: the adherents are not
expected to think for themselves or to have an opinion
of their own. Because of that, in line with the jurisprudence
of the Sea Org, De Rijk was transferred to the RPF,
the
Rehabilitation Project Force, for internment in
a kind of re-education camp. "And I refused that too."
says De Rijk. "Then they panicked a bit, because that
apparently never happened before.
Then they locked me up in a room
with a few bodyguards for an afternoon. They
considered me a danger of course at that moment, because
I also had a high OT level.
At first, Tanya announced officially that she wished
to leave. As a result of that, she says, she was locked
in a room by the security officials. [...]
Tanya's narrative sounds like a nightmare, and it is continuing. She reported that, directly after her escape, she was approached by two unknown men in an automobile while she was on her way to Caberta's office, "Tanya, what are you doing here?" Tanya thought one of them wished to shake her hand, because he held his hand out. "But then, when I did not reach out to shake his hand, he grabbed me and pulled me into the car." The men drove her around for hours, apparently without going anywhere. Tanya lost her sense of direction. "They said I knew what was going to happen, and I had earned it." Tanya supposed that she would be brought back to England. "I committed a crime, just taking off like that." As they drove through a city, she was able to break loose at a stop light. She called for the police. The search for the kidnappers turned up nothing. The investigation had to be called off without being closed. However, the speaker for the Hamburg District Attorney's Office, Ruediger Bagger, confirmed that the case was being taken seriously, but he did not wish to go into details. "I don't want to claim that it was Scientologists," said Tanya, "but they used Scientology words. Nobody else speaks like that." Cherokee County Herald: "'Management Seminar' Harrowing Experience" by Terry Dean
Dr. and Mrs. Rowe were then separated, she said, and
she was taken into a room where her back was placed
against a wall.
"FOR SEVEN hours, a man drilled me, tried to brainwash me," said Mrs. Rowe. "l begged him to let me go, he kept saying, 'but you see Dee, you can't.' [...] June 1984: "Church of Scientology of California vs. Gerald Armstrong, Volume 25"
Q BY MR. FLYNN: During the period of time -- after the
security check were you locked up?
A [by Homer Schomer:] Yes. I was locked up under guard for the next two days. Sea Org physical restraints, threats, violence, recent examples?
Jim Mortland said I was right, that
he'd send 10 guys to jump me and
prevent me from walking out. He said this in
shocked anger, ensuring that I got the point.
He for sure wanted me to know he was NOT going to let
me walk out of there.
Los Angeles Times (Jan. 1990): "Captivity Case May Be Tied to Faith" by John H. Lee and John Johnson
Police and Los Angeles County mental health workers
discovered Marianne Coenan, 31, locked in a sparsely
furnished room with a boarded-up window after they entered
the residence on Jan. 5.
The woman was incoherent and had bruises and scratches on her legs, wrists and neck, police said. She was kept behind a door into which a small, square opening was cut and steel bars had been inserted, police said. The Independent (Jan. 1994): "The Prisoners of Saint Hill" by Tim Kelsey and Mike Ricks
According to eyewitnesses, the man, whose name is known
to the "Independent", was taken to an isolated room
in a communal building not far from Saint Hill, a 17th-century
manor house in East Grinstead, West Sussex, and the
UK headquarters of the cult.
For two weeks, the room was locked. The German had been placed on an "isolation watch" - or what Scientologists more informally refer to as a "baby watch". It is a treatment that was prescribed by the founder of the cult, L. Ron Hubbard, a science fiction writer, for members showing signs of psychosis or mental ill- health -- people who are, literally, plagued by evil spirits. It is the last resort for dealing with difficult Scientologists. It is a treatment that the organisation has so far kept secret. Jesse Prince (2000): "The Ever Changing Tech of Scientology"
[...] Within minutes of my announcement, I was hauled away by no less than five Sea Org guys, all RPFers, who
locked
me in a room. They told me the only way I would be allowed to
leave Scientology or the Sea Org was via the Rehabilitation
Project Force — the RPF. I thought this was a joke. There
was no way I could be held prisoner by these people
I hardly knew. My first thought was to escape and
run to the police. But I couldn't get away. I was physically hauled off to the RPF and there was nothing I could do. I was a little skinny kid back
then. These were big, strong, crazy guys who took me away and I
was scared of them. [...]
ABC News (1998): "20/20 - Scientology" @ XenuTV
HANA WHITFIELD: I was locked in this room in the dark
for however long it was. [...]
HANA WHITFIELD: I had two big men on either side of me who pretty much manhandled me into this room with no windows. And there was just a mattress on the floor. And I was locked in this room in the dark for however long it was. alt.atheism (Nov. 1990): "Re: Scientology Discredited"
My brother's friend (half clad in hang gliding gear)
apologized and told the guards he would immediately
leave the area. Rather than escorting him off the property,
they told him he would be coming with them and that
he would ride in the 3x3 foot tin `box' mounted
in the back of their truck. To say the least my brothers
friend refused and started to walk away from the compound...leaving
his glider and everything. They
fired in the air once and told him not to move or they
would shoot him. He got in the truck. They kept him
over night in the box.
Clearwater Times (January 1984): "Scientologists try to prevent man’s leaving" by David Dahl
[...] Officers arrived at the church's garage to
find the path of a Clearwater Yellow taxi blocked by
a car, which was driven by Henry C. Billings.
Billings, 64, who is staying at the church, told
officers he blocked the cab at the instruction of a "Mr. Alexander."
A church spokesman later identified Rick Alexander
as the church supervisor who was involved in the
incident.
Police said a small pickup truck also was used to block the cab. However, the pickup truck left before police could question the occupants. [...] |
The Tocqueville Connection (March 2008):
"Ex-scientologist to return home to France after
kidnapping ordeal" A French former Scientologist who was rescued in January after several weeks of
captivity in Sardinia will return home next week, a police spokesman said
Saturday.
Martine Boublil, who was found half naked on a mattress infested with insects and worms in a room full of rubbish on January 21, is still recovering in hospital from the ordeal but will return to France "sometime next week," the spokesman told AFP from the northern Sardinian town of Nuoro. A French diplomat in Rome confirmed that the 48-year-old, whose brother Claude Boublil is a leading Scientologist in France, would go home "soon." "The French consulate has followed this matter closely since the beginning in close collaboration with the Italian authorities, and Martine Boublil will soon be repatriated to France," the diplomat said. Nuoro police were alerted to the kidnapping by a caller who reported hearing cries for help from a farmhouse outside Nuoro where Boublil was held. Four French citizens, a woman and three men, who were arrested in connection with the alleged kidnapping and identified as Scientologists were released 10 days ago and have since returned to France, the Nuoro police spokesman said. More information on this case here: Martine Boublil. Orato (January 2008): "Scientology's Fanatical Military" by John Duignan[...] Alice was
assigned to the demeaning status of RPF-er. Her
fiancé was sent to the RPF in another continent.
Alice had some trouble with this and she decided to
leave. Unfortunately, one is not allowed to simply
leave Scientology. One must ‘route out’ a process of
extensive and intrusive vetting, "confessions" –
read interrogation – and sign of a number of
non-disclosure bonds, all while under house arrest
or other kinds of physical restraint. [...]
John Peeler (February 2001): "Members being held prisoner"
One thing that I would like to make known here is
that when I made it known that I wanted to leave the
Sea Org, I was
put in a prison camp along with several other
members who wanted to leave too. I call it a prison
camp due to the following factors:
we were under watch by a security guard at all
times, we were in a restricted area enclosed by
barbed wire fences which also had motion detectors
(both inside and outside the fences), we were
confined to an area of about 100 square yards and
couldn't leave that area for the duration of our
time there, we were forced to do heavy labor
for the entire day — every day (even under the most
gruelling weather conditions), we had no contact
with the outside world, and daily we had to confess
to our "crimes" against Scientology which were then
used to humiliate us in to wanting to stay.
There are still members to this day being held prisoner in this location (located in Gilman Hot Springs, near Hemet, California). One girl who had been in this prison for over a year is possibly still there. One of the security guards told me that she would never be able to leave due to the fact that she had worked directly with David Miscavige in his office and "knows too much confidential information". She is a very small girl, not very strong, so for her to leave on her own would be nearly impossible. Akron Beacon Journal (Jan. 1990): "A tale of capture and brainwashing" by Richard Weizel
The Gearys say the result of her captivity was
devastating. Mrs. Geary said she was a victim of sleep and food deprivation and was pushed
against walls and onto a bed when she protested and demanded to be set free.
"I tried to escape from the cabin several times, but they wouldn't let me leave," she said. "They just kept saying they wanted us to give them more money and that I needed to be alone." [...] Good Times (Oct. 2006): "Scientology" by Christa Martin
The pair had left, basically, without permission. According
to Janet, if they had been caught, they would have been
physically restrained. Her sister Lisa admits to being
involved in capturing some people who tried to “blow”
from an RPF.
Gerry Armstrong (Feb. 2004): "Complaint Report"
32. Within a few days of Hubbard’s arrival, I got
into an argument with Mrs. Hubbard’s “Communicator,”
or secretary. Hubbard deemed me a security risk, and
ordered the head of the U.S. GO Intelligence Bureau
to come to the apartment and drive me to the Los
Angeles Intelligence Bureau offices then located in
a building called the Fifield Manor. For the next
approximately three weeks I was locked up in a small room with Intelligence Bureau staff members posted to
guard me at all times, and I was kept under guard whenever I was allowed out of
the room to go to the bathroom or for other needs. While locked up, I was
required to write up “confessions” of my overts, or
crimes, and critical thoughts about Hubbard and the
organization. Toward the end of that period, my wife
Terri arrived from Florida and was also locked up
and guarded with me.
Affidavit of Stacy Brooks Young (9 March 1994)
181. Although Miscavige allowed me to remain in Los
Angeles, I was imprisoned, under
guard, on the seventh floor of the building, so that
I could not escape and reach my husband. We were
not allowed to see each other at all for three months,
and even our letters to each other were intercepted.
Neither of us knew what had happened to the other and
it was agonizing for both of us. I was under threat
of expulsion and I believed that if I were expelled
I would never see my husband again. I was deathly afraid
that Miscavige would lie to my husband about me and
turn him against me. I finally convinced Miscavige that
I was not a threat to him, and my husband and I were
allowed to see each other again.
Time (May 1991): "Scientology: The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power" by Richard Behar
Over five months, the Gearys say, they spent $130,000
for services, plus $50,000 for "gold-embossed, investment-grade"
books signed by Hubbard. Geary contends that Scientologists
not only called his bank to increase his credit card
limit but also forged his signature on a $20,000 loan
application. "It was insane," he recalls. "I couldn't
even get an accounting from them of what I was paying
for." At one point, the Gearys
claim, Scientologists held Dorothy hostage for two weeks
in a mountain cabin, after which she was hospitalized
for a nervous breakdown.
In the late '70s, about the time the Church of Scientology
was fighting and trying to frame the Clearwater mayor, city
commissioners and members of the press, some less-visible
turmoil was bubbling beneath the surface at the Fort
Harrison Hotel.
Guards stationed at the doors of Scientology's spiritual headquarters forcefully dissuaded malcontents from leaving, according to a book by a former Scientologist. In the hotel's basement, "suppressive" individuals - anyone who tried to escape was suppressive - were reportedly kept in conditions that visitors seldom if ever saw. That was eight years ago. But Bent Corydon, a church member for almost 20 years and the author of L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman?, says little about Scientology has changed. [...] Affidavit of William Franks (3 April 1985)
15. In November 1981, I came into increasing conflict
with David Miscavige, the man who relayed Hubbard's
orders to me and everyone else in Scientology. The reason
for this conflict was because I attempted to block many
of the criminal and illegal operations implemented by
Miscavige and the Guardian's Office on behalf of Hubbard.
In December 1981, I was removed from my position, and
then held against my will and
locked up in Gilman Hotsprings, California for a period
of weeks.
Clearwater Sun (May 1982): "Witnesses Tell of Break-ins, Conspiracy" by Steven Girardi
He was assigned to sect founder L. Ron Hubbard's ship
"Apollo," and said he saw severe punishments meted out.
One woman, he said, was confined in a compartment where
the anchor chain is housed, "notoriously the filthiest
place on the ship." She was fed only bread and water,
he said.
He said he was once locked in a room "with bilge water up to my waist" because he reported late for duty. Toronto Globe and Mail (Jan. 1980): "Cult harassment, spying in Canada documented" by John Marshall
a.. Mrs. Surgeoner objected that the 1974 articles "give
you this picture of the church putting people in chains,
and through interrogations."
Her leaders' files document more than one interrogation and many investigations of members thought to be "security risks" to the cult, which is administered on military-style command lines. There are details of one member, Michael Meisner, being kept under guard and once being handcuffed and gagged. He turned state's evidence in the U.S. conspiracy trial. Affidavit of David Mayo (1 May 1987)
14. On August 29, 1982, David
Miscavige, and others, acting on the orders of L. Ron
Hubbard, kidnapped me and subsequently kept me captive
and physically and mentally abused me for six months.
During this period, David Miscavige, an officer and
director of RTC, told me in the presence of
Vicki Aznaran,
President of RTC, Mark Yaeger, Commanding Officer, CMO
INT of CSI that if I ever escaped, he would personally
see to it that the resources of the Church of Scientology
would destroy my character and reputation internationally.
During that six-month period of captivity, I was forced
to run around a tree in the desert in temperatures of
up to 110 degrees for 12 hours a day, 7 days a week
for 3 months I was under tremendous coercion and duress
I was refused medical and dental treatment (after escaping
captivity I lost six teeth and required thousands of
dollars of dental work to save the rest of my teeth)
I was not permitted to make or receive phone calls and
all letters I wrote were read by Scientology security
guards. I was often awakened during the night and interrogated
(mainly by Jesse Prince). In early February 1983, I
was told by Rick Aznaran, Director of Security, RTC,
(husband of Vicki Aznaran, President of RTC), to get
the idea of leaving out of my head because I would never
leave the property alive.
Affidavit of Hana Eltringham Whitfield (8 March 1994)
219. David Voorhees lives in Washington State. In 1982
or 1983, he had a similar experience in Los Angeles.
He was auditing on the OT levels and experiencing great
difficulty. He could not apply the materials to himself
yet knew that he had to. He went crazy trying to audit
the BTs and clusters. He was held
captive in a room somewhere in Los Angeles for weeks
and injected with Thorazine injections by his captors
to calm him. In his more lucid moments, David
was told by his captors that he was getting Vitamin
B injections. [...]
220. Even today, Scientologists are still going crazy while applying Hubbard's auditing techniques. A recent expose from an English newspaper reveals shocking instances of Scientologists going crazy and being imprisoned at or near the Saint Hill Manor CSI headquarters in East Sussex, attached hereto as Exhibit 85. [...] 254. In May 1978, I was assigned to the Rehabilitation Project Force ("RPF") in Clearwater, Florida, attached hereto as Exhibit 89. This is a Sea Org detention camp, a 'gulag,' to which are assigned Sea Org members who have (according to Hubbard's doctrine and policies) seriously erred or produced badly. My assignment was for being a failed executive and for not doing well on my job. In addition, a recent auditor of mine reportedly saw a specific E-meter needle reaction occur during my session. It was called an R/S. The R/S reportedly occurred while I was talking about Hubbard, his techniques or organizations, and that meant, again according to Hubbard, that I harbored bad intentions toward Hubbard, his techniques or organizations, and therefore, I was a bad person and required immediate isolation and "rehabilitation." I was commandeered off between two big Sea Org men, both already in the gulag, to the second floor garage of the Fort Harrison Hotel and locked up in solitary confinement for two or three days, in a small room, without windows and a mattress on the floor. I was devastated, in shock and numb ... (Needless to say, 18 months later, I was exonerated of the charges, as per Exhibit 90.) [...] Because of the continued refusal to cooperate, Lyn was rapidly assigned to the RPF's RPF. This was several steps down from the RPF, in the boiler room under the Ft. Harrison hotel building. It was a dark, filthy, smelly place where the huge boilers roared and clanked day and night and where the rats lived. Lyn was chained to a pipe down there for weeks, under guard. She was taken meals and allowed toilet breaks, but no other hygiene. Sunday Times (Oct. 1984): "Sinking the Master Mariner"
Hurwitz said that for the first
five days be and others were kept locked up under guard.
"We were brought our food and we slept on the floor.
We had to use the same toilet facilities in the presence
of one another."
Affidavit of Tonja Burden (25 January 1980)
I saw people placed in the 'chain lockers' of the boat
on direct orders of Hubbard. These lockers were small,
smelly holes, covered by grates where the chain for
the anchor was stored. I saw one boy held in there for
30 nights, crying and begging to be released. He was
only allowed out to clean the bilges where the sewer
and refuse of the ship collected. I believe his 'crimes'
were taking or using a musical instrument, I believe
a flute, of someone else without permission. [...]
[...] During this time I personally observed a person chained to pipes in the boiler room in the Fort Harrison building for a period of weeks. Declaration of Tonja Burden (7 November 1983)
10. I escaped from Scientology in November, 1977,
but was later kidnapped in Las
Vegas, Nevada by two of Hubbard's agents and taken to
Los Angeles where I was locked in a room and
"security checked" on an E-Meter.
The "Church of Scientology" or the Guru's Gulags — Story of an Escape
A door opened on a dark and stinking space. Something
was moving in the back, I thought there were rats and
it almost made my stomach heave. My eyes getting accustomed
to the dark, I saw an unbearable sight. In the back,
a form, then a woman, in her thirties, feverish, the
entire body poured with sweat was wearing chains.
She had a chain about twenty inches
long linking her two ankles so she had to do small hasty
steps. She was performing an imprecise and nasty
job which I still fail to grasp the sense but it seemed
that among other tasks she was pouring water in and
out. We found ourselves in a place that might have been
a sort of laundry place with machines and pipes everywhere.
I guess the kind of place situated on the basements
of hotels.
WMNF - Radio Activity - 7 March 1996
Rob Lorei: You were locked up by the church?
Dennis Erlich: Yeah, in the sub-basement of the Fort Harrison Hotel. I was placed in a cage, under guard, for about ten days. I wasn't allowed to talk to anyone; I wasn't allowed to phone anyone; I was a prisoner there. Affidavit of Margery Wakefield (13 April 1990)
In 1980 I was kept prisoner in the Fort Harrison in
Clearwater, Florida. I was kept
under guard night and day for about three weeks.
Even when I slept there were guards stationed outside
my room so that I could not escape.
Anonymous offering, 80's Flag, extreme predicaments of Sea Org life
While out front, 2 other guards came out of our room
holding my husband by both arms. I could see he was
very upset and I tried to get out of the car to go to
him, but was physically restrained,
and one guard held his hand over my mouth to keep me
quiet because I was yelling, while the other held me
down because I was kicking the door trying to get out.
We did not talk about this for a long time, but it turns
out they had told him that I didn't want to see him!!!
This broke my heart and his for a long time, even though
later we got back together.
Zane Thomas: "GULAGS of Scientology"
I saw a young woman confined in
a small, damp, dark room at the bottom of an elevator
shaft (used to be the end of a hall going underground
to the building to the north) in clam publications in
Scotland, eh?
She was fed bread and water, wore some dirty grey overalls (just recalled this detail), and of course there was some sort of a rag on the arm. Declaration of [name witheld] (19 December 1994)
While I was at the phone booth my captor arrived to
take me back. Within five minutes two more people, one
of whom was the very same man that threatened to kill
me, arrived on the scene in a four-wheel-drive vehicle
to take me back to the property.
I was being manhandled out of
the area and into the vehicle while my captor
was talking to my mother on the phone. He hung up on
my mother and we drove away.
Half an hour later the [city name withheld] police arrived on the scene. The constable took me aside and said that he had been informed by my mother that I was being held on the property against my will. He then asked me if I wanted to leave. I said yes. City of Clearwater Commission Hearing, 1982: The Church of Scientology - Day 4, Brown McKee
The reason why I say this is because I believe it's
dangerous. My late wife, Julie, and I were in Washington
in 1977 taking training. And I had recent1y had one
of — at that time had another one of my run-ins with
a Guardian; they know my people to be vocal. And so,
I was ordered to sec checks,
security checking, and
a guard posted on me and my wife,
who was guilty because she was my wife.
The Free Spirit (Jan. 1986): "A Picketing We Go" by Frank Notaro
Sunday, 6 Oct.: at 1 P.M. I picketed by myself
in front of ASHO, LA Org, and AOLA with three signs
which had "confidential" OT 3
materials on them. A [Church of Scientology] security
guard came from the front and grabbed my signs, while
three or four others jumped me from behind and threw
me to the pavement in the middle of the street, where
they pinned me down and handcuffed me from behind. They
then took me inside the building across from AOLA. On
the way, I managed to shout to a friend to call the
police, as I was afraid. I was
held captive for an hour or so until the police came
and released me. The Police Officers told the
church officials that I had every right to picket and
escorted me to safety out of the area.
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