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2003 Leipzig Human Rights Award
of the
European-American Citizens Committee for
Human Rights and Religious Freedom in the USA

(originally the "2000 Alternative Charlemagne Award")

Andreas Heldal-Lund receives the Human Rights Award of the European- American Citizens Committee for Human Rights and Religious Freedom in the USA

The European-American Citizens Committee for Human Rights and Religious Freedom in the USA is involved in human rights and religious freedom in the USA and worldwide, and is engaged in the discussion in particular about new totalitarian organizations. In doing so it lets itself be guided by the stance taken by 17 million Americans in 1950 when they signed a pledge to the Berlin Liberty Bell:

"I believe in the sacredness and dignity of the individual. I believe that all men derive the right to freedom equally from God. I pledge to resist aggression and tyranny wherever they appear on earth."

We are dismayed that, for the last few years, the Scientology Organization (SO) has managed to exert its influence in US foreign politics. The SO, responsible for the 17 days of anguish immediately preceding the death of Lisa McPherson (USA), for the financial ruin of the Aigner family (Germany) and for the tragic death of Patrice Vic (France), tries to inflict damage upon the European-American friendship for which we have all been working so hard in the past decades. As European friends of the United States of America and or as US citizens, we are concerned about the attacks by the Scientology organization on the lives and human dignity of not only its own members, but also of its critics.

2003 Human Rights Award for
Mr. Andreas Heldal-Lund, Norway

In Leipzig, the city of the East German civil rights movement, we will bestow the Human Rights Award of the European-American Citizens Rights Committee for Human Rights and Religious Freedom in the USA to Mr. Andreas Heldal-Lund.

Mr. Heldal-Lund is the fourth recipient of the Leipzig Award, which has been given each year to individuals who have made contributed to the bringing about human rights reforms in totalitarian cults that operate from the USA.

Previous Leipzig Award recipients have been Robert Minton, American retired banker and civil rights activist; Dr. Norbert Bluem, former German Federal Minister of Labor; and Alain Vivien, then President of the Mission Interministerielle pour la Lutte Contre les Sectes for the Prime Minister of the Republic of France (MILS).

Mr. Heldal-Lund is an Information Technology professional and free speech proponent who created and maintains the most famous Internet site in the world -- Operation Clambake http://www.xenu.net/ -- that exposes and opposes the fraud and human rights violations of the US-based Scientology organization.

Scientology has attacked Mr. Heldal-Lund and his Internet Service Providers with lawyer threat letters and a black propaganda campaign, and caused a succession of ISPs to terminate his service.

In February this year, bowing to pressure from Scientology lawyers employing the US law called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), the widely used Internet search engine Google removed links to Operation Clambake from its directory.

But Mr. Heldal-Lund held his ground, contending that Scientology withholds important information about its teachings that he was making available, and that people perhaps would not join the cult if the full information was accessible.

Free speech advocates around the world rushed to his defense, mounted an Internet and print media campaign, and forced Google to put Clambake back into its search engine.

During his years of activism against Scientology human rights abuses, in addition to his webmaster work, Mr. Heldal-Lund has given talks to various groups, generated a tremendous quantity of excellent news stories, and been a respected and valuable contributor to the Internet newsgroup alt.religion.scientology.

To this day, Heldal-Lund has not let himself be intimidated into silence. In November 2002 his "Operation Clambake" celebrated six full years of operation, publishing the truth about Scientology.

Although he has been a target of Scientology legal and extralegal threats, and black PR throughout these years, Mr. Heldal-Lund has stayed light hearted, kept his sense of humor, and sustained his desire to help the cult's victims.

The EEAC echoes Mr. Heldal-Lund's words from Operation Clambake:

"People should be free to believe whatever they want, including Scientology. What I have against [the organization] is
— its deceitfulness,
— its lack of compassion for its members (especially the hard- working staff),
— its aggressive hard sell,
— its arrogance,
— its attack on free speech,
— its litigiousness,
— its harassment of its critics,
— its lack of concern for families,
— its gross neglect and abuse of children."

With this distinction for Andreas Heldal-Lund, this Committee would also like to express support for all politicians on either side of the Atlantic for their efforts to put a stop to the human rights violations committed by the Scientology organization in both Europe and in the USA.

The Committee:

  • Gerry Armstrong, British Columbia, Canada, Writer
  • Prof. Claire Champollion, Paris, France, Linguist, Researcher and Author
  • Joe Cisar, M.S., Cleveland, Ohio, Vietnam Veteran, Journalist
  • Prof. Alexander Dvorkin, Moscow, Russia, Director of the St. Irenaeus-of-Lyon-Center
  • Rev. Thomas Gandow, Berlin, Germany, Publisher of Berliner Dialog
  • Mike Garde, Dublin, Ireland, Dialogue Ireland
  • Roger Gonnet, Paris, France, Author
  • Friedrich Griess, Vienna, Austria, Engineer, Press Spokesman of Gesellschaft gegen Kultgefahren Österreich
  • Birgitta Harrington, Accountant, Helsingborg, Sweden
  • Tilman Hausherr, Berlin, Germany, Software Developer
  • Ursula MacKenzie, Retiree, London, United Kingdom
  • Solveig Prass, Leipzig, Germany, Business Manager EBI Leipzig
  • Prof. Johannes Aagaard, Aarhus, Denmark, President of the Dialog Center International (DCI) ]

Add your congratulations here.


Tabula Gratulatoria:

With our names we support the presentation of the Leipzig Human Rights Award by the European-American Citizens Committee for Human Rights and Religious Freedom in the USA to Norwegian citizen Andreas Heldal-Lund and cordially congratulate him.

  1. Jens Ackermann, independent construction, Germany
  2. Thomson Allan, administrator, Scotland
  3. Ken Amick, founder CTO T3i, USA
  4. Christian Ansorge, technician, Germany
  5. Kim Baker, Programme Executive, South Africa
  6. Myles Barchas , business owner, USA
  7. Claudia Bartels, scholar, Germany
  8. Rüdiger Bartels, artist, Germany
  9. Sören Bartsch, religion teacher, Germany
  10. Sven Bartschat, salesman, Germany
  11. Graham Berry, attorney at law, USA
  12. Jutta Birlenberg, retiree, Germany
  13. Mary Ann Bosnos, musician, teacher, USA
  14. Klaus Butschies, clerk, Germany
  15. Ida Camburn, retiree, USA
  16. Ingolf Christiansen, Representative for worldview affairs in the Evangelical-Lutheran state church of Hannover, Germany
  17. Tory Christman, Marketing/Sales, USA
  18. Elizabeth Ann Cox, Digital Librarian/DBA, USA
  19. Ingrid Dietrich, clergyman, Germany
  20. Volkmar Dietrich, musician, Germany
  21. Torsten Döring, automobile salesman, Germany
  22. Enrico Dörl, motor vehicle mechanic, Germany
  23. Katharina Doyé, studies director, Germany
  24. Jeta Eggers Info analyst (IT), The Netherlands
  25. Vera Ehrhardt, nurse, Germany
  26. Heidi El Haci, saleswoman, Germany
  27. Harald Fagerhus, Secretary of the Norwegian Society of Heathens, Norway
  28. Tobias Fleck, electronic technician and student, Germany
  29. Jonas Flygare, employee, Sweden
  30. Charlotte Fröling, receptionist, Sweden
  31. Ute Gandow, minister's wife, Berlin, Germany
  32. Oliver Ganz, contractor, Germany
  33. Christa Gerlach, bank clerk, Germany
  34. Doreen Gerlach, bank clerk, Germany
  35. Uwe Gerlach, glazier, Germany
  36. Lisa Gibson, vocalist, USA
  37. Peter Golembe, editor, USA
  38. Frank Golmann, employee, Germany
  39. Bartolomej Gooz, General secretary, Slovakia
  40. Mikael Göransson, managing director, Sweden
  41. Elke Gorf, Aufklärungsgruppe Krokodil, Weinstadt, Germany
  42. Barbara Graham, Digital Animator, USA
  43. Thomas Grüge, motor vehicle mechanic, Germany
  44. Reverend Thomas Günzel, Leipzig, Germany
  45. Hans-Michael Hanert, Ev. Kirchengemeinde und Ökumenische Studentenarbeit Frankfurt(O), Germany
  46. Roland Hartig, editor Lichtblick-Newsletter, Germany
  47. Anton Hein, Christian Apologist, the Netherlands
  48. Ingo Heinemann, attorney, chairman AGPF, Germany
  49. Keith Henson, refugee from Scientology, Canada
  50. Ralph Hofmann, Student, Germany
  51. Ilse Hruby, author, Austria
  52. Ines Ihring, dental assistant, Germany
  53. Vesna Izakovic, M.Phil., retiree, Zagreb-Croatia
  54. Jonny Jacobsen, journalist, France
  55. Thomas Johansson, Sales, Sweden
  56. Rod Keller, USA
  57. Marianne Kestler, online editor/journalist, Germany
  58. Haco Klöß, Evangelical minister, Germany
  59. Sascha Konztabel, carpenter, Germany
  60. Stephanie Krumbein, legal assistant, Germany
  61. Michael Kühn, primary school teacher, Germany
  62. Andrea Kuepker, family counseling and information, Germany
  63. Arnaldo Lerma, design engineer, USA
  64. Mathias Lerche, salesman, Germany
  65. Caroline Letkeman, web designer, Canada/Germany
  66. Aurora Lindström, student, Sweden
  67. Christer Lindstrom, CEO, Sweden
  68. Renata Linne, translator, Germany
  69. Daniel Lorenz, motor vehicle mechanic, Germany
  70. Arel Lucas, archivist, USA/Canada
  71. Cyril Malka, psychoanalyst, France
  72. Elvira Martin, nutrition expert, Germany
  73. X. Martin-Dupont, France
  74. Aniara Martinsson, student of physiotherapy, Sweden
  75. Heiko Mehlgarten, mechanic, Germany
  76. Barbara Mehlgarten, mechanic, Germany
  77. Sabine Mierisch, journalist, Germany
  78. Doris Müller, social worker (grad.), Germany
  79. Daniela Nowak, saleswoman, Germany
  80. Melanie Oßwald, member of the Germany Bundestag(CSU), member of the Committee for Human Rights and Humanitarian Help of the German Bundestag
  81. Tom Padgett, hotelier, USA
  82. Karin Paetow-Froese, chairman of the "Arbeitskreis Sekten e.V." Herford, Herford, Germany
  83. Catarina Pamnell, Student, Sweden
  84. Viola Phillipp, employee, Germany
  85. Mark Plummer, writer, USA
  86. Christoph Polster, clergy, Germany
  87. Dorothee Rammler, social scholar, Germany
  88. Roland Rashleigh-Berry, computer programmer, UK
  89. Henry Ratz, long-distance driver, Germany
  90. Jan-Pieter Rau, city commissioner for the City of Rheinsberg, Germany
  91. David Rice, writer, USA
  92. Simone Rockrohr, employee, Germany
  93. Matthias Roser, academic theologian, teacher, Germany
  94. Christian Rößler, sysopwannabe, Germany
  95. Gisela Rusch, Berlin, Germany
  96. Christine Sampson, educator, USA
  97. Reinhold Schaube, attorney, Germany
  98. Mandy Schlegel, saleswoman, Germany
  99. Prof. Dr. Thomas Schirrmacherm, theology professor, department chair, Germany
  100. Helmut Schmidt, Chairman EBI Berlin-Brandenburg, Germany
  101. Birgit Schneider, Religionslehrerin, Deutschland
  102. Mike Scholz, tool maker, Germany
  103. Sandra Scholz, hair stylist, Germany
  104. Christian W. G. Schultze, clergyman, Germany
  105. Walter Schütte, Journalist/Reporter, Munich, Germany
  106. Hella Schwarzbach, librarian, Germany
  107. Uwe Simon, electronic technician, Germany
  108. Sigbjørn Skjæret, IT Consultant, Norway
  109. Karin Spaink, writer, the Netherlands
  110. Anette Starke, hair stylist, Germany
  111. Franka Marie Stein, teacher, Germany
  112. Wolfgang Steiner, Austria
  113. Frank Stelling, motor vehicle mechanic, Germany
  114. Hannelore Stingl, journalist, Germany
  115. Rolf Stöckel, Unna, member of the German Bundestag (SPD); Chairman of the federal Humanistic Association of Germany; member of the Committee for Human Rights and Humanitarian Help of the German Bundestag
  116. Starshadow, artist, USA
  117. Nikolaos Stavrianidis, judge, Greece
  118. Jörg Stolzenberger, Aufklärungsgruppe Krokodil, Weinstadt, Germany
  119. Alexander Strange, student, USA
  120. Uwe Sydow, chemist, Germany
  121. Atilla Szatmari, employee, Germany
  122. Jim Szpajcher, technical manager, Canada
  123. Jim Talley, transportation, USA
  124. Reverend Willi Thaler, Innsbruck, Austria, Sect spokesman of the Evang. Church in Austria
  125. Wolfgang Tiefensee, Mayor, City of Leipzig, Germany
  126. Nicole Tischow, senior care professional, Germany
  127. Dr. Károly Tóth, Bishop emeritus, President of the Ecumenical Study Center, Budapest, Hungary
  128. Dave Touretzky, Research Scientist, USA
  129. Marilyn Traver, retired, USA
  130. Constanze Treuner, producer (drama), Germany
  131. Gunar Werner, mormonen.de founder and operator, Germany
  132. Peter Widmer, Switzerland
  133. Irmgard Wiesner, Switzerland
  134. Ake Wiman, Information Technology professional, Sweden
  135. Rainer Wittner, attorney, Germany
  136. Margarete Wittstock, retired, Berlin, Germany
  137. Skywalker Wolf, astrologer, Canada
  138. Rev. Dr. Richard Ziegert, Pfalz Evang. Church spokesman for weltanschauung issues, Ludwigshafen, Germany
  139. Marion Zimmermann, employee, Germany
  140. Udo Zimmermann, mechanic, Germany
  141. Roland Zwanziger, traffic professional, Germany

16 countries so far


The European-American Citizens Committee for Human Rights and Religious Freedom in the USA was organized to work toward achieving the following reforms:

  • Freedom for everyone to speak about his experiences, knowledge and thoughts in any organization, church or cult, be it religious or not;
  • Freedom for members of an organization, church or cult, religious or not, to leave that organization, without being detained, threatened or persecuted;
  • Freedom from fear of being confronted with material that a religious or therapeutic organization has obtained through religious or spiritual counseling; Such material should not be allowed to be used for publication, litigation, or blackmail;
  • Freedom from persecution through Copyright Laws; such laws should not be used against members who try to support their arguments by citing " church scriptures" or "spiritual literature" or other texts associated with the group;
  • Full application of law enforcement to prosecute fraud, mental and physical abuse hidden behind the shield of "religion";
  • Refusal / Withdrawal of tax exemptions for secretive organizations, be they religious or not. Full disclosure of past secret agreements with the IRS.

 

 

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