FBI Is Investigating Scientology For Human Trafficking

As expected, New Yorker staff writer Lawrence Wright‘s massive profile of ex-Scientologist writer-director Paul Haggis (Million Dollar Baby, Crash) in this week’s New Yorker contains many interesting revelations about the Church of Scientology and the life of a prominent member.

Chief among these is the existence of an ongoing FBI investigation into allegations of abuse by Scientology’s leader David Miscavige, and the enslavement of members of Scientology’s religious order, “Sea Org”. (Recently, former Sea Org members claimed to have been forced to have abortions.)

According to the article, agents from an FBI task force on human trafficking have been interviewing former members of Scientology about abuse in the church since at least December, 2009, and the case remains open. Why human trafficking?

Lawrence writes:

The laws regarding trafficking were built largely around forced prostitution, but they also pertain to slave labor. Under federal law, slavery is defined, in part, by the use of coercion, torture, starvation, imprisonment, threats, and psychological abuse. The California penal code lists several indicators that someone may be a victim of human trafficking: signs of trauma or fatigue; being afraid or unable to talk, because of censorship by others or security measures that prevent communication with others; working in one place without the freedom to move about; owing a debt to one’s employer; and not having control over identification documents. Those conditions echo the testimony of many former Sea Org members…

Scientology’s financial exploitation of its members and brutal, stalkery retention practices always seemed to barely skirt the edges of legality. Looks like they might have crossed over into outright slavery.

Popularity: unranked [?]

FBI Is Investigating Scientology For Human Trafficking

ADVERTISERS

TOPICS

AFFILIATIONS