CCHR



The Napa Valley Register reported on January 5th that a California

hospital is disputing charges by Scientology that they have mistreated

patients at the facility.



"An organization backed by the Church of Scientology, the Citizens

Commission on Human Rights, last week announced the latest round of civil

lawsuits generated by Napa State Hospital patients over alleged civil

rights abuses. However, a hospital spokeswoman says that the hospital has

received good ratings with the Joint Commission on Accreditation of

Healthcare Organizations.



"The Citizen Commission's spokesman, Jeff Griffin, said that four suits

had already been filed in federal court by patients against the hospital

and that two more would be filed that day. A search at the San Francisco

federal courthouse resulted in three current lawsuits against the hospital

staff members and doctors; one filed by Danny Atterbury, one by Andrew

Trujillo and one by Barolo Mullen. In a phone interview last week, Griffin

said that to his knowledge, two more cases were planned to be filed,

although he wasn't aware of their current status.



"In a case filed by Atterbury in June 2003, he alleged that his mail was

being tampered with, that he was forced to ingest toxic drugs and that he

found it difficult to obtain ink, paper, stamps, legal and religious

materials and reading materials. That suit was dismissed in September for

failure to pay filing fees. In her order of dismissal, Judge Marilyn Hall

Patel noted that Atterbury had been convicted of murder previous to his

stay in the hospital.



"Lupe Rincon, spokeswoman for Napa State Hospital, said that she has never

before dealt with the Citizens Commission on Human Rights. She said that

patients have a number of ways to complain about conditions in the

hospital. 'The hospital has zero tolerance for patient abuse,' said

Rincon. 'They can choose to file complaints through the hospital internal

complaint process or of abuse directly through hospital staff.'



"'Every three years, Napa State Hospital goes through five days of

accreditation survey by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of

Healthcare Organizations in order to maintain accreditation,' Rincon said.

The last survey occurred in late 2002; NSH received an initial score of 89

out of a possible 100 points, Rincon said."



The Chicago Tribune reported on January 6th that a CCHR exhibit attacking

psychiatry has returned to a public building.



"One month after being kicked out of the Thompson Center, a controversial

Scientology-linked exhibit returned to the state government building

Monday, describing psychiatry as an evil profession that needlessly feeds

drugs to children and has ties to Nazism. The group was allowed to return

after the Blagojevich administration backed off an initial assertion that

the Citizens Commission on Human Rights' 'Destroying Lives: Psychiatry

Exposed' display advanced a religious philosophy. The Church of

Scientology founded the group in 1969 and endorses the group's tenets, but

the display does not promote the religion itself, attorneys for the state

ultimately decided.



"On Monday, officials with the Citizens Commission used last month's

dustup to promote the exhibit, saying it was a display that 'psychiatrists

don't want you to see.' 'Someone has to show the other side of the story,'

said Marla Filidei, the group's international vice president.



"But Joan Anzia, president-elect of the Illinois Psychiatric Society, said

the Citizens Commission's campaign against psychiatry was riddled with

distortions. The group's exhibit, for example, charges that 'psychiatry

spawned the ideology which fired Hitler's mania' and ties use of

psychiatric drugs to a number of high-profile murders in America,

including the mass killings at Columbine High School in Colorado. The

group implies that Eric Harris, one of the teens who committed the

murders, was under treatment for 'anger management' and that taking the

medication may have caused him to kill. 'The exhibit is extremely

misleading and simplistic,' Anzia said.



"'Our object isn't to prevent groups from using the display area for any

reason we can find,' said H. Edward Wynn, an attorney for the state agency

that oversees operations of most state government buildings. Wynn said the

Citizens Commission was first denied because it didn't clearly disclose

its affiliation with Scientology. The state also asked the group to hire a

security guard to stand by the display for the week as a precaution, he

said.



"There were no incidents Monday, though the display did draw a good number

of spectators, many of whom didn't know that the group sponsoring the

exhibit was tied to Scientology. 'I feel duped,' said Steve Selan, an

attorney. 'I think they should be required to tell people that they are

Scientologists. It puts everything they are saying in a different light.'

But Filidei said that is not relevant. 'Who delivers the message doesn't

matter as much as what the message is,' she said."



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Tom Cruise



The Australian Associated Press reported on January 10th that Scientology

celebrity Tom Cruise has associated Scientology with Buddhism as he

promotes his latest move, "The Last Samurai."



"Tom Cruise Friday praised eastern religion saying 'Buddhism is the

grandfather of Scientology' and climbed up on a chair to show off his

new-found strength and flexibility in the making of the film. The star

waxed lyrical on Buddhism during a Paris news conference at the Ritz hotel

held to promote the release in France of the movie next week. 'I was

struck by the code of Bushido (the way of the Samurai). It's powerful, it

talks about compassion, helping others, responsibility, integrity -

timeless values, ways I identify with,' said Cruise, who has practised

Scientology for 20 years."



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Netherlands



Dutch newspaper Het Parool reported on January 10th that a professor is

calling on officials to reconsider the tax status of Scientology in The

Netherlands.



"'It is high time that the ministry [of finance] is going to act more

forcefully and says: this is not at all a church, but merely a commercial

enterprise. And that fiscally they from now on are to be treated as a

commercial institution,' says Van Overbeeke, who among other things is

specialized in the relationships between churches and the tax department.



"'Scientology purposely positioned itself in the grey area between a

church and an enterprise, and that area simply asks for clarity. As a

government you can put this on the back burner for a long time, but there

comes a time when you have to solve it. The finance minister is qualified

to finally make a singular decision: we, the Dutch State, consider

Scientology to be a business, not a church. No doubt they would take legal

steps [against such a decision], but that is of later concern.'



"Over the years, the Ministry of Finance, the Tax Department and tax

judges have strongly varied the way they have handled this issue:

sometimes they have considered Scientology to be a church, and other times

a commercial business. 'That wobbling is due to the fact that tax

inspectors and judges aren't always constant in their opinions. Sometimes

they are bamboozled by fine stories regarding freedom of religion.

Sometimes it is difficult to determine where the line is between a

commercial institution that pretends to be a church, and a genuine church.

That is why there is a need for clarity,' according to the academic."



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In Memorium



The Columbian reported on January 3rd that Edgar Mercado, an Oregon

Scientologist, has passed away.



"Edgar C. Mercado, a financial consultant for A.G. Edward & Sons Inc.,

drowned in the Washougal River while fishing Sunday, Dec. 28, 2003, He was

40.  Mr. Mercado was born Jan. 9, 1963, in Manila, Philippines. He lived

in Clark County the past two years.  He was a member of the Church of

Scientology in Portland. He enjoyed cooking and fishing."



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Jive Aces



Peeblesshire News reported on January 8th on a New Year's Eve fundraiser

by the Scientology jazz band the Jive Aces to benefit Narconon.



"Pictured with the Jive Aces after the event are Eve Mckenzie and Narconon

Trustee Mark Gibson. Despite bad weather on New Year's Eve, people in

Peebles swung the night away with top UK band, the Jive Aces. And all in a

good cause to raise money for the Narconon Drug Rehabilitation and

Education Programme. This programme uses techniques to rid addicts of the

harmful effects of drugs and has a 76 per cent success rate of addicts

staying off drugs for good.



"Event organiser, Eve McKenzie said: 'I've had a very good response to our

drug education programme and we are already arranging a presentation to

the Peebles Scout Group.' People from the local community attended

including Duncan Hood, Scout Leader, Sheila Whitie from the newsagent,

Mark and Tara Gibson, famous kilt maker with people coming all the way

from Glasgow and Edinburgh. The Narconon Family Support Group is now

running on Tuesday nights."



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