German Documentary
Transcript THE DARK SIDE OF SCIENTOLOGY ... a film from the German television magazine, "Gesucht wird ...", broadcast in the first program by ARD on April 2, 1997, filmed by Botros and Koch, TV reporters from Bremen: (translater's note: Egmont Koch sounds like Jacques Costeau. Whenever you see these brackets, read in a slow, deliberate voice with a French accent.)(in italics--Sue) February 1997, Los Angeles. We have called the police for assistance. Our chief witness, Garry Scarff, former Scientology agent, is suffering a nervous breakdown. Garry Scarff: They're going to kill me and they know where my parents live. 5 days earlier, Clearwater, Florida. Shooting some scenes in front of the Fort Harrison Hotel, the spiritual headquarters of Scientology. We are immediately photographed by one of the organization's security men. Garry Scarff knows the game. Until 1992, Scarff was on the other side, a Scientology agent. Then he defected and became an embittered opponent. Weeks before he had told us of penal camps, mysterious deaths, and even of, in 1991, a planned murder. We wished to pursue these serious accusations against the organization. Scarff, shown here on the right, wanted to help us. We are also accompanied by Martin Ottman from Stuttgart, on the left. He worked until 1992 as a member of the paramilitary Sea Org, the elite unit of Scientology here in Florida. The presence of Scarff and Ottman makes the Scientology staff members very nervous. Never before have former members of the sect who possess such an intimate knowledge appeared on television with such serious accusations. Scientologist #1:
How much are you getting paid for this? Garry Scarff: I was on staff of the Office of Special Affairs, OSA. That is like the intelligence service of Scientology. That is where the nerve center, the "war room" is, in the headquarters in Los Angeles. The organization has a special computer and communications network which they use to collect and evaluate information on the activities of Scientology critics worldwide around the clock. Scarff has given extensive testimony under oath as to his activities for the Office of Special Affairs. Reporter: Did you participate in any criminal activities? Garry Scarff: One time there was an assignment to which I was supposed to later testify under oath. At the time I claimed my right to remain silent, and will do so again today. Otherwise I would go to prison for a very long time. The take [loot] from that assignment went directly to the OSA intelligence service. Meeting to plan the footage for the next day. We want to try to track down alleged inmates of the organization. The so-called "Rehabilitation Project" (RPF) is, in reality, a labor camp of the Sea Org, says Garry, for members who have failed in their assigned duties on post. Also somebody who has not brought in enough income must go into the labor camp. Martin Ottman has regularly observed black-clothed inmates in a Scientology living quarters, the so-called 'hacienda.' Early the next morning on the way to the "hacienda." Once again we recall the directives of the organization for the so-called 'Rehabilitation Project': (Personal restrictions
and punishments: may only speak when spoken to, Garry Scarff: There is a inmate. They are having a meeting. They are sitting in a circle together. There he is, there he is. He is making a security check. He is running. Look, he's running. Martin Ottman says that the prisoners must always be in motion. Occasionally, as punishment, they must run around a tree for days at a time. Reporter: What is hidden behind the concept of "Rehabilitation Project"? Ottman: It is a type of punishment camp, about the same way I would picture a gulag from Stalinistic Russia to be. Reporter: How could a lay person envision a labor camp such as this? Ottmann: First of all you receive black clothes which you have to wear everyday. You have to work at least 16 hours a day. You have to explain your own case for five hours a day. And you have no contact of any sort with the outside world. Reporter: But the people don't leave. They can leave but they don't do it. Ottman: Yes, but they are dependent upon it. They have been made dependent and they have made themselves dependent upon Scientology. From their perspective, their lives depend completely upon Scientology and they would rather be humiliated that way than turn away from Scientology. On the way to Cape Corell. Martin has recommended that we speak with Hanna Whitfield. We read again what she has stated under oath: "Sea Org members were often locked up in a dark, dirty and smelly hole in which rats lived." Garry and Hanna Whitfield were members of the elite unit, the Sea Org, for years. Hanna even made it to Deputy Commodore, representative of Scientology's Founder, Hubbard. Hanna Whitfield: These pictures were taken in the early 1970's. That's me in the middle. That is Diana, the oldest daughter of Ron Hubbard and his third wife, Mary Sue. Here I am again. That is Hubbard's daughter and his son, Quentin. My loyalty to Scientology knew no bounds, nevertheless I was accused of having bad thoughts about Hubbard. That was my alleged crime. I was dragged by two powerful men to an area in Fort Harrison which was next to the garage. The punishment camp was on the second and third levels. I was locked for two days in a room without windows, all by myself. I didn't have a bed, nothing at all. Just a mattress on the floor. The lights were sometimes on, sometimes off. We had to perform a lot of repair work. We did the dirty work. Cleaned the bathrooms and the rest rooms. And when they did construction work in Fort Harrison, we had to carry away the refuse in buckets from the highest floors, then carry mortar back up. We were not allowed to use the elevators. Here is the three level garage at Fort Harrison, and a black-clothed Scientologist, apparently an inmate. A co-inmate of Hanna's was even chained in the basement. Hanna Whitfield: She worked for the Guardian's Office. Today it is called the Office of Special Affairs, OSA, and it's like the CIA of Scientology. The undercover espionage department of the organization. Linn had the assignment of conducting certain inquiries in Washington. She found irregularities and wanted to have the case investigated. Her employer had decided against that, however, and wanted to cover up everything. As a result, Linn was sent to the punishment camp at Fort Harrison. They chained her to a pipe there. She was locked in the basement for 2-3 weeks. She slept down there. She ate down there. She was forced to clean the pipes. Sometimes I thought of calling the police for assistance. As soon as I'd think of doing that, it would occur to me that that would be the greatest crime against Hubbard and the organization. I could not have done that in any case. We made an appointment to speak with Sergeant Greg Tita, the Sheriff of Pinellas Country, where the Scientology enclave of Clearwater is located. We have learned that there is even a penal camp for children in the organization. An internal report talks about cadets who tried to flee [from it]. Tita: I've had run-away cadets here that must have gone into the children's prison camp. Pinellas County has also had experiences with Scientology children. In a visit to the cadet school, my colleagues have determined that there were signs of child neglect and abuse. They wrote up a report and the case was forwarded to the juvenile office. However, Scientology lodged a complaint against the publication of the report in the press and won. It is still sealed today. I don't think that it has to do with a dispute over the investigation, they just wanted to make sure no information got to the public. Ariane Jackson can assess what happens with Scientology children. She was forced to separate from three of her four children. Ariane Jackson: At the time they were two, four and six years old. Scientology put them in a children's establishment, later they made cadets out of them. That was 10 years ago. Later she had only sporadic contact with them. Since Ariane has left Scientology, she may no longer see her children. Reporter: Can you still remember leaving them? Ariane Jackson: I hate to think about it. They climbed into a special bus. An older man from the Sea Org tore me away and pushed me into the car. I could still wave to them and then we drove to the airport. Reporter: Does it often happen that children are separated from their parents? Ariane Jackson: Yes. Reporter: Do you know of other cases? Ariane Jackson: Yes, if the partners separate in a divorce and one of them is in the Sea Org, then that is the better person. The children are awarded by the organization. Then what could be better for their children than Scientology training, Scientology schools, just Scientology everything. The Clearwater police station is within line-of-sight distance of the Fort Harrison Hotel, the headquarters of Scientology in Florida. We again meet Ariane Jackson there the next day. Martin Ottmann has talked her into giving testimony in an investigation which the police are in the process of investigating. It has to do with the mysterious death of a young Scientologist who was last seen alive in Fort Harrison. Garry Scarff also wants to support the investigation, and has offered his assistance to the investigating officials. Lisa McPherson, shown here with her mother, died in December, 1995 under mysterious circumstances a short time after she had successfully graduated a Scientology course. Lisa had wanted to leave the sect, said the family's attorney. After a nervous breakdown, 17 days before her death, the organization completely isolated her inside Fort Harrison. Kennen G. Dandar (attorney): Our research has determined that she was unconscious. She received no nourishment, no water. She was extremely dehydrated. Before she lost consciousness, she was beating against the walls. Reporter: How do you know that? Attorney: The Scientologists themselves have admitted that she beat against the walls. According to the autopsy report, Lisa must have received strong medication before her death. Reporter: In order to sedate her? Anwalt: Whether she fell into the coma because of the sedative, or whether she had a psychological breakdown that led to the coma, in any case they were very late in deciding to bring her to the clinic. And instead of driving her to the nearest hospital which was only a few blocks away, she was brought 20 miles away to the Columbia New Port Ritchie Hospital. A Scientology doctor worked there. They had called him up in advance. He said, yes, bring her to me. Was Lisa already dead when she arrived at the hospital? According to the Scientology doctor in the clinic, Lisa died in the emergency room as a result of a bacterial infection. Was the report falsified? In any case, it contains a false birth date. Besides that, the pathologist who performed the autopsy on Lisa McPherson said that no sign of an infection was found. It was much more likely that she had died from severe dehydration. Scientology has complained before a court in Clearwater about the release of test results from the autopsy. The case has raised considerable apprehension. Did Lisa McPherson die because she was locked up and because she was denied any medical care? This was the question Sergeant Wayne Andrews was trying to answer as he led the police investigation in the McPherson case. He was not ready to appear in an interview. However, he let us research other cases in the police archives. We came across a series of peculiar deaths among the Fort Harrison guests in the past 20 years. These also included German Scientologists. South of Clearwater. This is where Sergeant Greg Tita, who was working for the harbor patrol at the time, found a man's corpse in the water. It was later determined to be that of Andreas O., a 38 year old German, Chief of the Stuttgart Scientology Mission. He had apparently been in Florida for months. Scientology was unhappy with him and his sales. They had prescribed special courses for him. Despite the no-swimming zone and although a storm was fast approaching, the German had gone into the water two days prior. He believed, we later learned, that as a Scientologist he had supernatural powers. According to the police report, the Scientologists had given a false name for the missing German before the body was found. In order to mislead the police? Tita found that somewhat remarkable. There are still other unexplained deaths among the guests of the Fort Harrison Scientology Hotel on record: -- 1980 Suicide: The woman suffered from depression, but was not permitted to take any medication for it. -- 1980 A puzzling death in a bathtub full of boiling hot water. Probable drowning. -- 1988 Death by drowning. Unexplained circumstances, accident, murder or suicide. -- 1989 Death in the basement near the boilers, carbon monoxide poisoning. -- 1988 Death in room 758. The victim: a 31 year old German man. According to investigation documents, Heribert P. died the night of August 28, 1988 while suffering a severe epileptic seizure, during which time he hit his head on the nightstand. Until early 1988, he had been treated by Dr. Klaus Ballin, a doctor from Munich. He, also a Scientology adherent, was coincidentally also in Fort Harrison at the time. A swimming pool is in the rear of the hotel, so that people can relax between their expensive courses. Heribert P., son of a well-to-do construction contractor, also apparently enjoyed his life in the Scientology refuge up until his death. Back in Germany, in Friedrichshafen am Bodensee. Here is where the German lived. We wanted to look into the case because the police report has made us curious. It said that despite regular seizures, the Scientology doctor had prescribed vitamins for his patient instead of medication which would prevented the seizures. Those would not have been discovered in his blood at the autopsy. His mother said that the Scientologists had promised to cure her son without medication by giving him expensive courses in Florida. Immediately following his marriage, at the recommendation of his wife, Heribert was treated by Ballin, the Scientologist doctor. The mother is still very upset. Mother: A human life is not a factor for this organization. You don't just cavalierly make promises that you can't keep. Reporter: Do you believe that the death of your son, Heribert, could have been prevented if he would have been taking his medication? Mother: Unconditionally. The mother thinks that Heribert had wanted to give huge amounts of money to Scientology. Mother: It wasn't until after his death that we learned that he had called from a bank in Florida requesting a loan of a half million. The reason he gave was that he would like to procure real estate in Florida. Reporter: And what do you think the money was really for? Mother: It would have gone straight to Scientology. Munich: We tried to set up a meeting with Dr. Klaus Ballin. How would he reply when asked about taking his epileptic patient off medication? Ballin did not want to go on camera. He preferred to make a written comment: At the time, he prescribed vitamins and Scientology concentration exercises as an alternative treatment. Although he says he has separated himself from the organization since then, he dismisses any complicity on his part in the death of Heribert P., the epileptic. We show the documents on the case to Professor Gunther Schwendemann. He leads the neurology section in the East Bremen Hospital. Schwendemann says that vitamins are completely ineffective in treating epilepsy. Schwendemann: It is against the fundamentals of therapy to take a patient who is having seizures every night off medication, rather than find a medication which is suited for him. Furthermore, vitamins and minerals are not effective against seizures. Therefore, one could say that the patient would very likely still be alive today if he had received adequate treatment. Los Angeles airport: We see Garry Scarff again. He was not surprised when we told him of the case of the epileptic from Friedrichshafen. Garry had stated that he was ready to help us in the search for the abortion clinic, as well as the labor camps and children's camp of which we had heard from former members. He'll be traveling back to his old workplace, and can count on running into his ex-bosses there. The next morning. Sight-seeing tour of the Scientology headquarters. Scarff: Here in the middle building is where they locked up prisoners when I was here. Several weeks before, we had actually observed Scientology inmates at work at this location. In the offices of the Office of Special Affairs, up there, Scarff said that a plot to commit murder was hatched in 1991. That is what led him to leave, he said. Scarff: I was supposed to have done the worst thing that can be demanded of a person, namely, take the life of another human being. It was horrible to see that much of an enemy in a sect opponent, so that something like that would be ordered of me. It was an order, not a request. I was put under pressure to carry out this murder. The plan was that she should lose control of her vehicle after I had cut the brake line. In case that didn't work, I was supposed to ram her car from behind in order to cause an accident. I was supposed to do everything to make sure she was dead. In case she should have survived the accident, my assignment was to suffocate her with a pillow. Scarff has also testified under oath to these horrible accusations, which have been contested by Scientology Scarff: As we were talking about the murder of the sect opponent, the mood was very casual. People were laughing a lot. The whole thing looked like a big joke. It was a feeling of power. Power that we had over this individual. And then we talked about what would be done in case the investigating authorities should react so swiftly that I would not be able to flee. In this case, I was supposed to make a TKO. A TKO is "Total Knock Out" - suicide. Somebody showed me exactly how I was supposed to do that. He took his finger, as if it were a revolver, and pressed it into his mouth. It had to point upwards, so that the bullet would penetrate the brain stem. Then he said to me, that in case I didn't die immediately, then at least my brain would be destroyed and I wouldn't be able to talk and would just be a lifeless shell. Scientology also contests this. A little later, in the middle of Los Angeles. High ranking people from Garry's former department suddenly fell upon us with cameras. They must have been following us. Reporter: What's going on? Scientologist: We're making a film about your film. Elliot Abelson is a legal counsel for Scientology International. Mike Rinder is the Chief of the Secret Service. Lisa Goodman is an official spokesperson on his staff. Then came the confrontation between Garry Scarff and Mike Rinder. They mutually revile each other as liars. Rinder: Garry, you are a liar! Scarff: No, Mike you are the liar! Rinder: No, you are, Garry, Garry! Scarff: Mike! Rinder: Garry! Rinder accused Garry of publicly lying years before when he was a member of an anti-sect organization. Scarff: Yes, everything I did on assignment from OSA was a lie. In the offices of Graham Barry, attorney in Los Angeles. Garry shows us photographs from his time in Scientology. The court transcription of his "sworn testimony" is contained in a 1,000 page document. Graham Berry has represented a number of Scientology opponents. In the course of a proceeding he had Garry participate in a so-called "deposition," which is an examination under oath. That is how the former Scientology agent became a leading witness for the alleged criminal machinations of the organization. Graham Berry: Scarff's examination lasted a very long time. There were numerous attempts on the part of the Scientology attorney to prevent him from testifying. They constantly asserted that Scarff was not credible, that the evidence was not relevant, that we only wanted to annoy the church, etc. In spite of all these objections the presiding judge ordered that the witness's testimony should continue. It was a cross examination with Graham Berry on one side and the Scientology attorneys on the other side. The examination lasted 17 days. It was recorded, in its entirety, by court stenographers on video. Garry Scarff had demanded the highest security measures from the attorneys. He was afraid for his life. And he gave the reason for his fears in his examination. After his departure, he said an attempt was made to kidnap him. Garry Scarff: I saw a hand on the side door of a step van. And a face was looking in my direction. I said that I was going to call the police right away, and heard, at the same moment, the step van tear away. I saw then that a second vehicle was following it. Reporter: What do you think they had in mind? Garry Scarff: I know what they had in mind. They wanted to kidnap me. I think they would have brought me to Hemet. [He weeps.] Reporter: What is Hemet? Garry Scarff: Hemet, Gilman Hot Springs, that's where the prisoners go. And I think that I would never have gotten away from there. My life would have ended. [He weeps uncontrollably.] After the visit with the attorney. The camera man from Scientology was waiting outside. Secret service chief Rinder and Abelson, the attorney, also hurry to their vehicles. Two, then three cars begin the pursuit. A huge show is made of following us. It appears to be put on for the benefit of our fellow traveler, Garry Scarff. We call the Los Angeles police, as Garry has requested. He appears worse and worse off. Reporter: A television team accompanied by a man who is threatened by Scientology. And those are the ones who are following us. The police, however, showed little interest. We tried, unsuccessfully, to shake off our pursuers on the highway. We are on the way to the center in which the women of the Sea Org have their abortions, which they are compelled to do, as stated in sworn testimony. The more the woman wants to have her baby, the greater the pressure put on her to have her abortion. X: I was induced to have an abortion. Women who get pregnant are driven to a clinic in Riverside to get abortions as a matter of course. Do our pursuers know what our destination is? Are they already putting the pressure on the management at the abortion center over their cellular phones? At the Planned Parenthood Center. The director on duty is already expecting us. In a nearby parking place, one of our Scientology pursuers provokes an accident. It is apparently an attempt to prevent our planned interview, but it doesn't work. Janet Honn-Alex: We thought that it was really very peculiar that all the women were making the same decision. Independent of the individual woman's condition, all of them had made the decision to have an abortion. It made no difference how old they were or how many children they had already had. We thought that was very strange. And as we took the trouble to look into individual cases more precisely, because the whole thing was beginning to look suspicious, they stopped coming to us altogether. The police arrived outside and started taking statements about the accident. In the meantime, we told Janet about Scientology instruction Nbr. 3905: In the event that a married Sea Org member has a child, they are transferred out of the Sea Org. Reporter: Wouldn't that be the same thing as having to leave your family? An extreme pressure? Janet Honn-Alex: I didn't know anything about that. And we had asked the women if they could have a child and still remain in Scientology. They always said yes. I think that is alarming, that there is a rule which says that women should be excluded from a group if they would like to have a child. I think that's terrible! After the interview, on the way back to our hotel. We have picked up 4 Scientology vehicles which are following us. One of them is a green van, which, we later learn, is possibly outfitted with electronic eavesdropping equipment. Garry Scarff: Even as we speak, four vehicles are parked outside our hotel. They will watch us all night, in case we get the idea of taking off. They will maintain their readiness round the clock. Naturally, those people are not just sitting around in their cars. All of them are in constant contact with the secret service headquarters in Los Angeles. The attorneys, the OSA people, everybody who is assigned to your surveillance is at work at this very moment. The next morning - Hollywood, Los Angeles: The night before we hired body guards who are supposed to see to Garry's safety while we speak with Scientology. We have before us an interview with Mike Rinder, the Chief of the OSA secret service, and Elliot Abelson, attorney. Garry does not want anything more to do with these people. The entrance of one of the private detectives we have hired to come along as a witness is barred at the door by Abelson and Rinder. The interview takes place in the Celebrity Center, which serves Scientology's Hollywood stars. Mike Rinder: Scientology is not dangerous. There are eight million Scientologists worldwide. They find it totally good. You have three, four, five or six people, a small handful that say something about it is not right. We have even heard and read that we are supposed to have gulags. That claim is outrageous. It is particularly outrageous because it is being made by somebody from Germany. If any country should be especially sensitive when it comes to the rights of religious minorities, that is Germany. Elliot Abelson (Scientology Attorney): You are agents of the German government. You are not concerned with reality, but with confirming your prejudice. After the scolding, we steer the discussion to Lisa McPherson, the Scientologist who lost her life under peculiar circumstances in Clearwater, Florida. Question about this are apparently unwelcome. Reporter: Had Scientology given her all the medical assistance she required? Mike Rinder: If you claim in your broadcast that someone has done something to murder her, then I will haunt you until the end of time. That is an insolent lie. Nevertheless, Rinder and Abelson unintentionally gave themselves away. They admitted that Lisa was already dead when she arrived at the clinic. Then Rinder conceded that she had died in a hotel room. Reporter: In a hotel room? Yes, Lisa McPherson died in the care of the Scientologists. The golf course at "Gold." That is the largest Scientology base, the real center of power. Mike Rinder drove out with us. Here, especially, he wants to keep our filming under control. Right on the golf course, asserted Andre Tabayoyon, the former security chief of "Gold", after his departure [from Scientology], there was an apartment for Tom Cruise, the Hollywood star... Reporter: Tom Cruise profited from slave labor of Scientology prisoner. Mike Rinder: That is another one of Andre Tabayoyon's lies. Reporter: That's not right? Mike Rinder: Absolutely not. No, he doesn't come here. You wanted to come here and take a few pictures, not ask me any questions. We've already had the big interview. Rinder gave us aerial photographs of the area which were not free from technical defects. Nothing suspicious was in view; Rinder had seen to that. Tabayoyon's sworn testimony also stated that the Scientology base is defended with firearms. There are semi-automatic machine guns, pistols, all unregistered. "I trained the security force in the use of these weapons, and I trained them in various methods of killing people." That evening we plan out the next day with Garry. We wanted to rent a helicopter and fly over the alleged children's camp. It lies several miles from "Gold" base. The next morning. Rinder called up and said that Garry had told him our plans. Garry Scarff: I didn't call up last night. I think I know what is really wrong here. I have a suggestion: I'll fly back home. You continue, but don't say anything more to me. These people are running an operation against you and against me. Reporter: Did Garry call them up, or did the Scientologists eavesdrop on our discussion of the night before from one of their vehicles? We drive back to Los Angeles. We are unsure. The situation comes to a head in a parking place in Los Angeles. We called the police and our bodyguards for assistance. Garry is suffering a nervous breakdown. The Scientology pursuers observed the event from their vehicles. Reporter: Did you call Rinder last night and tell him what we had in mind? Garry Scarff (weeping): Yes! They don't say anything for fun. If they say that they are going to kill somebody, then they do it. You can't play around with Mr. Rinder. He doesn't joke around. I will give them what they want, so that they will leave me alone. These people have told me that I should not come to Los Angeles, or else there'd be trouble. And I didn't listen to them. They are angry because I called them murderers in front of the camera. Reporter: But that was the truth. Garry Scarff: They are going to kill me. And they know where my parents live. [Weeping, he ends the discussion.] Our private detective, Roger Johnson, advises that we call off our filming. Roger Johnson: They know that you want to take pictures out there, and they have a helicopter on call. That much I know. Reporter: What could they do? Roger Johnson: They will cut you off in the air. Two helicopters could look pretty exciting, but it would be dangerous. They will do anything to disrupt your filming. We accompany Garry to the airport. We stay with him until the engines start. And we decide to stop the filming. Three weeks later. Clearwater, Florida. Scientology-opponents demonstrate in front of Fort Harrison. They blame the organization for the death of Lisa McPherson. Garry is also here. We have stayed in close contact with him ever since we shot in Los Angeles. He hopes that public appearances such as this can protect him from further psychological terrorism or even acts of revenge. Attorney Elliot Abelson has organized a counter-demonstration by Scientology adherents. Mike Rinder, chief of the OSA Scientology secret service, has also flown out from Los Angeles. He wants to personally observe the appearance of the Scientology opponents. Meanwhile, back in California... Preparations for a helicopter fly-by. Our goal is difficult to find. It lies on the edge of an Indian reservation. The organization's children's camp (the Scientologists call it a cadet school) lies in an inaccessible region of the San Bernadino Mountains. One of the Scientology directives says that Sea Org members may only sporadically see their children. In any case, one hour per day is too much. And we read, once again, the internal directive on the so-called children's "Rehabilitation Project." We had heard about a boy named Gavin. He had cut both his arms up with a razor blade. He was a problem. He had to go into the children's camp. The barracks appear deserted; the work areas are abandoned. Not a soul is in sight. It gives us the impression that the children were sent into the buildings at the first sound of the approaching helicopter. This region is known as "Happy Valley" to the Scientologists. Anybody who has read the internal directives of the organization - anybody who has read the reports on neglected Scientology cadets would have a hard time imagining that happy children live here.
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