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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"No one shall be held in slavery
or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be
prohibited in all their forms." —
Article 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
"No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." — Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights |
«Rehabilitation Project Force, the cult's internal gulag
where bad people are sent for punishment or "rehabilitation"; a brain washing
and penal organization.» —
The ARS Acronym/Terminology FAQ v3.5
by Martin Hunt.
«By lowering the endurance
of a person, a group, or nation, and by constant degradation and
defamation, it is possible to induce, thus, a state of shock
which will receive adequately any command given.» —
L. Ron Hubbard, "Brainwashing
Manual", p. 34.
|
Scientology's gulag. Thanks to Wikileaks, you now have access to the document which contains the RPF rules: Scientology cult unlawful imprisonment RPF order 3434RB. For your interest, here is an informal analysis of this document on alt.religion.scientology newsgroup.
There is worst if you don't do well on the RPF itself: they call it the RPF's RPF, where you could find yourself chained to a pipe in the boiler room in the basement, or in a cage in the basement, at the bottom of an elevator shaft...
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. [...]
Channel 4 (UK, 1997): "Secret Lives - L. Ron Hubbard" @
XenuTVOne afternoon, I had just driven back the Crowborough camp; I saw an ambulance and people in a tizzy and running around. I was told by a white-faced college that Alice had ran out of the RPF indoctrination room, gone to the workshop, found a tin of paint thinner, swallowed it then climbed up on top of the gym roof, a fifteen-foot high structure surrounded by concrete. She jumped. [...] HANA ELTRINGHAM: "This was his period which I called the pouting, the crying, the mad period where he would cry and throw things against the wall, the bulkheads and pout and scream. Right towards the tail end of that he created the RPF, the 'Rehabilitation Project Force'." The RPF was yet another correctional regime. Its orders were fearsome. As ship's captain it was Hana Eltringham's job to implement them. HANA ELTRINGHAM: "I was absolutely horrified when I read them, because they talked about the creation of this - pretty much like a slave labour camp. Those weren't the words used but that was the impression given. Where the unwanteds, those found wanting, seriously wanting were sent, and they were to be kept in this with no rights, no freedoms, no privileges of any kind. Pretty much the only rights they were allowed were a little bit of sleep each day, food leftovers. The harshest treatment, they were not allowed to speak to any of the crew. It was very, very, very bad that this was going on [...] The Total Freedom Trap: Scientology, Dianetics And L. Ron Hubbard by Jon Atack Hubbard put to sea
with his closest followers in 1967. Aboard ship, anyone who
displeased him was confined to the chain locker. Here the victim
would crouch in bilge water and excrement in total darkness,
surrounded by rats, sometimes for as much as two weeks without
respite. Even children were put into the chain locker on
Hubbard's order. In 1968, the chain locker punishment was
-supplemented by "overboarding", where people, even non swimmers,
were hurled from the decks into the sea.
In 1973, Hubbard replaced these cruel and unusual practices with a new and profoundly effective form of humiliation-the Rehabilitation Project Force, or RPF. The RPF is still in use in Scientology organizations throughout the world. Those who fail to comply with orders, make mistakes or simply fall short of their production quotas are put onto the RPF. RPFers can only speak when spoken to, they are meant to eat table scraps, sleep even shorter hours than other staff, and comply immediately and unquestioningly with any order. They work a full day, doing physical labour, and are then expected to spend five hours confessing and hearing the confession of their RPF partner. Dr. Stephen A. Kent: "Brainwashing in Scientology's Rehabilitation Force (RPF)" In considerable
detail the RPF document laid out the framework of forcible
confinement, physical and social maltreatment, intensive
reindoctrination, and forced confessions that were (and are)
central to the program's operation. Certain passages, for
example, outlined the basic rules about forcible confinement.
Inmates could not leave the facility, and could travel between buildings only
when they were accompanied by security guards
(Boards of Directors of the Churches of Scientology, 1977: 10).
Physical maltreatment occurred within the confines of sometimes
demanding and dangerous work to which they were assigned.
Specifically inmates had to carry out eleven maintenance
functions--interior and exterior building cleaning; bathroom
cleaning; general painting; internal building renovations;
storage, passageway, and stairway cleaning; other "large scale"
projects outside of sleeping, kitchen, or eating areas; "garage
cleaning"; "elevator and elevator shaft cleaning"; engine room
and boiler room cleaning; furniture set-ups for events; and
"garbage disposal."
Monica Pignotti: My Nine Lives in Scientology: The RPF In November, 1973,
Hubbard came up with an idea to handle troublemakers,
backsliders or anyone else aboard who happened to displease him.
He created the Rehabilitation Project Force (the "RPF"), the Sea
Org's version of a prison camp. RPFers were to do hard physical
labor all day and in the evenings were to audit one another to
get off their overts and withholds and deal with their evil
intentions. RPFers were not allowed to speak to a crew member in
good standing, unless spoken to and had to wear black boiler
suits. They were allowed to eat only after everyone else on the
ship had finished and were not allowed to leave the ship.
Hubbard considered RPFers to be psychotic criminals that should
be grateful that he was giving them a chance to be
rehabilitated.
"The Church of Scientology" or the Guru's Gulags: Story of an escape The first part of the book is the
true story of an escape from one the gulags of the
most dangerous cults and certainly the most
pettifogging cult in the world.
This is of course the so-called "Church of Scientology". There is in Florida (USA) a little town called Clearwater which has almost entirely been squatted by the cult. Located at 210 S Fort Harrison Av, "Flag", a big building from the thirties has become the Mecca of the cult and tenderly shelters in its garage one the severest existing gulags. The author prefers to remain anonymous for reasons that might appear obvious even for one who had never been in contact with any cult and much less with the conditions of internment characteristic to those charming forced labor camps. Moreover, the author chose to tell her experience from the moment she became aware that her life was in danger and decided to flee. [...] There is a Flag Order (policy) 3434RB, 7/1/1974, called "The Rehabilitation Project Force" about 10 pages long, which is confidential and is not to be found outside the RPF. It consists mainly of the RPF rules of which nobody can have a free access to that delicious reading — here are the broad lines: [...] Jyllands-Posten (Jan. 2001): "Inside RPF Denmark" by Pierre Collignon Shortly thereafter Susanne was sent to the RPF's RPF - the
program for the most sinful among sinners. From then on Susanne
was a complete outcast. She was to sleep alone in a small room on the floor, eat alone on the
backstairs, and work alone all day. At meals she waited on the other RPF'ers, served them their
food and cleaned up after them.
On November 18th Susanne asked for permission to call her parents so they could come and get her. She wanted out. It was denied with the following reasons from the Ethics Officer: "This application is not filled out correctly. You do not state the reason for wanting to go to your parents." Declaration of Jonathan Caven-Atack (9 April 1995) 45. The RPF is virtually a labour and thought
reform camp. Members are forbidden communication with any but
their "bosun" (the head of the RPF); they have to comply
immediately with any order; they sleep even shorter hours than
other staff; they eat even poorer food than other staff (often
rice, beans and porridge for weeks. For some time in Florida, "RPFers"
were fed left-over food)
[JCA-98]; they sleep in "pig's berthing", i.e. without beds
[JCA-99],
[JCA-100]; they do hard labour and menial tasks, including
toilet and sewer cleaning; they are rarely permitted time off;
they receive one quarter of the already derisory pay of other
staff
[JCA-101]; and they have to write down detailed
"confessions", which may be published by the organization
[JCA-102],
[JCA-103]. Finally, an RPF sentence is open-ended and may
last for as much as four years. Failure to comply leads to posting to the "RPFers RPF", which according to
witnesses has consisted of false imprisonment. False imprisonment or
"isolation" is a part of the "technology" of Scientology
[JCA-104],
[JCA-105]. There are hundreds of former members who suffered
the RPF.
Hamburg Morgen Post: "Caught in Scientology's concentration camp" Does Scientology maintain penitential camps in
which apostates are forcibly held and are subjected to
brainwashing? A new booklet from the Work Group on
Scientology in the Interior Agency has come to that
conclusion.
Its author is Professor Stephen Kent from Alberta, Canada. For the initial presentation of the booklet he brought Stacy Brooks with him from the USA. She reported that she was dragged off to such an training camp herself. "Even residents of Hamburg who are members of Scientology run the risk of ending up in one of the organization's penitential camps in Denmark or the USA," said Ursula Caberta, Hamburg's Scientology Commissioner. A handful of sect adherents were demonstrating in front of the Interior Agency as she was saying that. They distributed their printed party line, in which Caberta was described as having accepted bribes and in which Interior Senator Wrocklage was threatened with charges. According to Stephen Kent, the penitential camps are the "Rehabilitation Project Force" (RPF) of Scientology. He said the camps were set up to break down the will of members critical of the organization. "Witnesses have told me that they were held there an entire year," said Kent. He said such training camps existed not only in Los Angeles, but also in England and Denmark - and they have been for years. At this point, the government authorities have done nothing. Kent: "They always say there is not enough proof to get involved." Affidavit of Tonja Burden (25 January 1980) In the RPF you were labeled
'treasonous' and force to work 18 hours a day, 7 days a week,
and oftentimes received only 'rice and beans' and water. 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.
In the RPF I saw people screaming and crying during the constant
'auditing' on the E-meter. The E-meter is a lie detector used
during auditing. RPF prisoners were forced to undergo
'auditing' in order to 'audit out' their evil purposes against
Hubbard and Scientology. I cried virtually the whole time I was
in the RPF.
Jon Atack: "A Piece of Blue Sky: The Clearwater Hearings" Ray inevitably
ended up on the Rehabilitation Project Force. His
account of it is horrifying. The RPF lived on a diet of
Leftovers including wilted lettuce which was beginning
to rot, and cheese with mold all over it. One day, they were given french fries, and
while eating them Ray discovered that one of the potatoes was in fact a fried
palmetto bug. From that point on, he used his weekly pay of $9.60 to buy
cookies from a health food store. It was all he could
afford.
Conditions on board the ship were extremely harsh; sleeping quarters
were dark, damp, and crowded. Only thirty-second showers were allowed. Worst
of all, any person who disobeyed any of Hubbard's orders was placed in the RPF, Rehabilitation Project Force. The Rehabilitation Project Force was Hubbard's internal prison for those
Scientologists who disobeyed his orders.
All mail to and from the ship was censored for I was
told ship's security. During this time, I received
only a couple of letters my wife sent to me; she
received only one of about six I sent her. Hubbard
ordered the censoring to prevent Scientologists from
writing and exposing facts about L. Ron Hubbard's
broken arm, colds, sicknesses, et cetera.
|
German Documentary (1999): "Missing in Happy Valley" (dubbed in English,
transcript at Rick A. Ross Institute) A documentary about Scientology's Rehabilitation Project Force (the RPF) from producers Peter Reichelt and Ina Brockmann. The RPF is a prison and labor camp of Scientology. Good Times (2006): "Scientology" by Christa Martin “One
day he came to me and said that he had an order
in his pocket to send [a woman] to the RPF’s RPF
(similar to solitary confinement,” Janet says.
“[She] was the highest person in the Commodore’s
Messenger Org. When that kind of shit happened
[someone like her being sent to the RPF], you
know the shit was going to explode. Joe told me
that … it was time for us to go.” Before then,
the two had had quiet conversations about
leaving, but nothing had materialized.
Janet says she was sent there for four months before she escaped—from the RPF and from Scientology. Her sister, Lisa, who was also at the same location, was later sent to the RPF. Once, reportedly, for two-and-a-half years. Gerry Armstrong (Feb. 2004): "Complaint Report"
24. The RPF and the RPF’s RPF operated as a forced labor and reindoctrination camp
and as a system and procedure to break the will of anyone thought to be “out
ethics” or “counter intention” to Hubbard or his organization and activities. It was a
shocking, degrading experience to be ordered to the
RPF, and the threat of RPF assignment was used to
keep non-RPF crew in line and producing. I was
threatened several times with RPF assignment during
my SO years, and assigned twice for a total of
twenty-five months. [...]
35. As the Bosun, I acquired knowledge of RPF policies, punishments and other practices. I was required to detain people against their will, prevent them from leaving, keep them under guard, force them to perform hard labor as punishment without pay, subject them to invasive and coercive interrogations, and force them to sign lists of their “crimes” extracted from their auditing files. I was required to forcibly separate RPF members from spouses and children, cut them off from information in the outside world, and enforce the idea that they were “criminals.” The RPF was a degrading experience that violated people’s civil rights and human dignity. [...] Gary Weber: More details about my time in the RPF This was a great lesson for me that your only as good as you produce, and that at
anytime the group could take away anything they wanted. The
power I once felt I had was only an illusion that I was made to
believe in order to be a willing slave.
The RPF and Scientology's Hollywood Stars Moreover, the RPFers
were supposed to meet Travolta himself:
And he came to us, being all wonder and great and grandiose.... I will never forget the look on his face when he saw us. We must've looked like something from one of those prison camps, one of the German prison camps, because he looked at us and ... he was utterly unable to speak. He just stood there. He was supposed to talk to us, and tell us all this shit, and he literally stood there in horror (Kent Interview with Prince, 1998: 25). One specific area is called "Rats alley." It
speaks for itself! Members that for one reason or another had to be punished were thrown into this
small space, with rats all over the place, rotting and eating each other,
along with thousands of cockroaches, to clean it up.
This was done so one would "get ones confront up."
I'm glad this was finally fully cleaned up, so I
didn't have to face this nightmare.
Birgitta Dagnell: "My story about scientology" The "rehabilitation" consisted of lots of work,
mainly cleaning, and started at 8 AM with roll-call. We
had to say "Ay Sir" when called upon or spoken to. We
were not permitted to talk to people outside the DPF and
later on not to DPF-members from other countries. In
that way be became isolated. The first night we were
only 2 people in a normal 2-beds room. Next night and
the following, we were 18 people in it. We happen to get
breakfast sometimes, but that was not normal.
I remember one morning when the 82
of us got 16 slices of bread to share and one man took 6
of them. It was near a civil war got started. The
meals was eaten in a cellar where we shared the
space with lots of pigeons. It was very dirty,
filled with bird shit. At one occasion I had to
fight with the pigeons to get my meal. The food was
never enough for all of us and consisted of rice and
beans. No plates, no cutleries and no pots. Once we
got soup, and I was lucky to possess a small plastic
mug so I could drink it. We used to feel like "the
poor man with no spoon when the sky is raining
semolina".
Affidavit of Martin Ottmann (19 April 1996): The Rehabilitation Project Force In 1992 a Class-IX-Auditor was found to have an
affair with a "squirrel" (an ex-Scientologist, who would
do practices similar to Scientology) on her "libs-days".
She was sent immediately to the RPF. Debbie Cook, the CO
FSO, was furious about that scandal at a staff meeting
and screamed that the Auditor would receive a very
harsh ethics treatment.
Affidavit of Anne Rosenblum (pre 1995) When I first arrived in the RPF, I went to the RPF
MAA (Master-at-Arms, in charge of "ethics") and was
given forms to sign. I don't remember what I signed. I
don't remember reading them. I only vaguely recall one
of them which was something about how I entered the RPF
voluntarily to be able to get redemption, and that I'm
being treated well, being taken care of, etc. I don't
remember at all what else I signed. For one thing, I was
still in a state of shock and confusion at being in the
RPF. They were forms to go to the G.O. [Guardians
Office] — I do remember that much.
Affidavit of Andre Tabayoyon (5 March 1994) 120. I personally participated in the construction of an
apartment at the Gold base, using extensive funds from various
non profit Scientology religious organizations, for the personal
and exclusive use of Tom Cruise. This was done on the orders of
David Miscavige. Even though Miscavige has claimed to be
Chairman of the Board of RTC, here he is directing the
expenditure of CSI money and the deployment of CSI labor — both
paid and slave. Other apartment cottages were built for the use
of John Travolta, Kirstie Alley, Edgar Winters, Priscilla
Presley and other Scientology celebrities who are carefully
prevented from finding out the real truth about the Scientology
organization. The labor used to construct Tom Cruise's apartment
was provided by Gold, a division of CSI, and persons from a
myriad of Scientology organizations serving time in the RPF. The RPF (Rehabilitation Project Force) is the Scientology gulag or
concentration camp. Using RPFers to renovate and reconstruct Tom
Cruise's personal and exclusive apartment at the Scientology
Gold base is equivalent to the use of slave labor for Tom
Cruise's benefit. The Tom Cruise apartment at the Gold base is
located at the golf course end of the Gold base,
closest to State Street. When Tom Cruise visits the
Gold base, and stays in his personal apartment, he
is cared for by a Sea Org steward.
Affidavit of Hana Eltringham Whitfield (8 August 1989) Then in 1978, I was assigned to the Rehabilitation Project
Force
at the Fort Harrison, the Sea Organization's slave labor camp. I
was assigned to it because I had evil thoughts about Hubbard and
the Sea Organization. I was utterly shocked and devastated. I
was
escorted to the RPF location between two heavy men, both well
over
6' tall. I was locked up for about 24 hours in a room with no
windows. I was under continual guard during that time and slept
on
a mattress on the floor without sheets or blanket. I was shocked
and awake the entire night sometimes weeping and other times
completely numb, devoid of all feeling or thought. I had a
crazed
urge to escape but knew I could not, that I had to finally
confront myself and discover how evil and truly bad I was. I
felt
I was split into several people — one of them a kind, loving
person who was in deep shock, the other a cold, calculating,
evil-minded person who was intent on harming others for the fun of
it,
and yet another person who was terribly confused and did not
know
which of the other two was correctly me. I felt my mind was
being
ripped apart, that I could not think or feel anything. I forced
myself blindly through the routine of having to run continually
(RPF members were not allowed to walk at any time), of having to
talk to non-RPF staff only when spoken to, of having to address
everyone as "Sir", of having to do menial work of
cleaning toilets, of having to wear old, torn and
tattered blue overalls, of having to be seen running
in the Florida heat, perspiring and without makeup
or hairdo, doing menial and embarrassing work in
front of all the public — in pain all the time.
Affidavit of Howard "Homer" Schomer (18 March 1986) 21. Life in the RPF was despicable and degrading. You lost
all sense of self-esteem, freedom and human dignity. It was a
world unto itself and you felt like a leper or a member of the
caste "The Untouchables". You could not speak to other crew
members unless you were spoken to and you had to "run"
everywhere. The conditions were even worse than on board the
regular quarters, damp, cold and, again, roach infested. The
food was substandard and members of the RPF only ate after
others had eaten. Often there was little leftover food. Members
of the RPF were forced to wear black boiler suits. We slept very
little everyday and awoke each morning to swab the decks. We
were allowed 30 seconds to shower and had to be up and ready in
the morning within 15 minutes. There was supposed to be time for
study and auditing, but this rarely occurred, [handwritten:
except in the RPF where it was the only way to get out, was to
complete a training & auditing program given to
you.]
Willamette Week (1985): "Scientology on trial" The detail, known as the Rehabilitation Project
Force (RPF), was started in the early '70s when Hubbard
and the international headquarters of Scientology were
based on a ship called the Apollo, which sailed
primarily off the coast of Europe and Northern Africa.
Homer Schomer, a former financial aide to Hubbard who
left Scientology in 1982, said people, sometimes as few
as 20 or 30 and sometimes as many as 150, were assigned
to a lower hold in the ship which was "cockroach and
rat-infested." He said they slept in the hold and also
did TRs and Security Checking drills there during the
day. They wore black coveralls and were not allowed to
talk to anyone outside the RPF.
Another former Scientologist, Laurel Sullivan, who served for years as one of Hubbard's top personal public-relations aides, said she was sickened by the fact that RPF people "had to eat out of buckets." Bill Franks, who was RPF'd several times before being named executive director international, said the "idea is to be reprogrammed." All the former members who discussed the RPFs said the sessions lasted anywhere from two to 18 months. |