36 ICSA TODAY
Cult prevention group seeks stay of execution for
“brainwashed” former Aum Shinrikyo members
“The Japan Society for Cult Prevention and Recovery (JSCPR)
demanded Monday that the state refrain from executing 12
former members of doomsday cult group Aum Shinrikyo,
not including the group’s guru leader, amid growing
speculation that recent transfers of seven of them could
indicate their hanging was imminent.” (Japan Times, 03/19/18)
Aum cult leaders’ execution: Why now? Why only seven?
“Seven members of the [Aum Shinrikyo] cult responsible
for the 1995 Tokyo Metro sarin gas attacks—including cult
leader Shoko Asahara and six accomplices—were executed
in Tokyo on Friday, July 6. The question on everyone’s mind
is “Why now? ...At a special press conference held on July
6, Minister of Justice Yoko Kawakami was asked about the
selection of the convicts to be executed. She repeatedly said
she would ‘refrain from commenting.’ The cult’s 1994–1995
sarin gas attacks and other murders terrorized the Tokyo
region. Thirteen victims died in the 1995 gas attacks alone,
and several thousand were injured, including 54 victims
with serious injuries. Although no specific explanation has
been articulated for the timing of the executions, there are
several factors which may have played a role, in addition to
conclusion of the trials of the accomplices. Next year is full
of official imperial events [and] … ‘executions should be
avoided during such an auspicious year.’ The following year
brings the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the United Nations
Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Kyoto.
… Consequently, according to a government official, the
Ministry of Justice maintained its stance on carrying out
the executions within this year. Another factor affecting
timing may be the upcoming presidential election … which
raises the possibility of … an incoming minister that may
be reluctant to allow executions. … all seven cult members,
including mastermind Asahara, were leaders in the cult.” (The
Sankei Shimbun, 7/14/18)
St. Paul archdiocese to pay $210M to clergy-abuse victims
“The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has agreed to
a $210 million settlement with 450 victims of clergy sexual
abuse as part of its plan for bankruptcy reorganization,
making it the second-largest U.S. payout in the scandal
that rocked the nation’s Roman Catholic Church. Victims’
attorney Jeff Anderson said the settlement was reached with
the victims and the archdiocese and includes accountability
measures. The money, a total of $210,290,724, will go into a
pot to pay survivors, with the amount for each survivor to be
determined.’” (Associated Press, NBC News, 6/01/18)
Pennsylvania report to document child sexual abuse,
cover-ups in six Catholic dioceses
“For more than two years, dozens of victims have filed into
a secret grand jury room in Pennsylvania, faced a group of
strangers, and recounted how they were sexually abused
as children by Catholic priests, their rapes and molestation
buried by church leaders. One, a former Erie priest who
testified that he was molested when he was a teenager,
called the experience cathartic. … Later this month, state
Attorney General Josh Shapiro is expected to release a
landmark report by that grand jury that will detail, in stark
and stomach-turning terms, decades of abuse and cover-ups
in every Catholic diocese in the state except Philadelphia and
Altoona-Johnstown, which have already undergone such
scrutiny. It is, legal experts say, among the most expansive
investigations into clergy abuse in the country, one that will
provide a panoramic view into the church’s handling of the
scandal, dating back decades, across most of the state.” (The
Inquirer, 6/17/18)
Two Montreal religious groups can now legally import
ayahuasca
“With little fanfare, Health Canada granted exemptions last
summer to two Montreal religious groups to allow them to
import and serve ayahuasca to their members. The drug,
originating from the Amazon, is otherwise banned in Canada
since it contains dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and harmaline,
two prohibited hallucinogens. The eclectic Center of
Sparkling Universal Light, also known as Céu do Montréal,
and the Beneficient Spiritist Center União do Vegetal,
have so far been very discreet about their exemption. Beyond
an announcement on Céu do Montreal’s website, the news
has gone virtually unnoticed in Quebec. ...Health Canada
confirmed that it has exempted both groups under section 56
of the Controlled Drugs Act. ‘The Minister of Health may, on
the conditions he considers necessary, exempt a person or a
substance from the application of any provision of this Act or
its regulations,’ said spokesperson André Gagnon. The two-
year exemptions, first granted in June 2017, are renewable.
Health Canada refused to provide VICE with the quantities
allowed, claiming the information is confidential. ‘These
exemptions were for religious purposes only.’ ...Ayahuasca
is a drug with dangerous side effects, if consumed without
supervision. ‘It may be incompatible with certain substances,
including certain antidepressants,’ says Jean-Sébastien Fallu,
a drug addiction specialist at the University of Montreal.
‘Some people with mental health issues ...may also be at
risk for toxic psychoses. This is not an experience to be taken
lightly. It is a journey that can reactivate trauma. Hence the
importance of being surrounded by experienced people.’
News Desk
Edited by Ana Rodriguez and Patrick Ryan
34

37 VOLUME 9 |ISSUE 3 |2018
Canadian followers of these religions have fought for more
than 15 years to obtain an exemption from the Canadian
federal government. Jeffrey Bronfman, a third-generation heir
to one of Montreal’s wealthiest families, was at the heart of
the negotiations. Ironically, his great-uncle, Samuel Bronfman
made his fortune in the 1920s with the Seagram liquor
company, while alcohol was banned in the United States.
...The exemption in Canada closely follows the protocols
established under an agreement negotiated with the drug
control authorities in the United States, Bronfman writes, in an
email sent to VICE. Previously, Canadian members of the UDV
had to cross the border to participate in religious services.
‘To obtain permission from the Canadian government for
our tradition to be recognized stemmed from the need to
care for our members so that they would not have to travel
so far to practice our religion.’ In 2000, Canada Customs
intercepted a number of plants destined for Ceù do Montreal
and turned it over to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The
president of the organization, Dr. Jessica Rochester, made
an initial request for an exemption from Health Canada. On
the group’s website, she writes that the Conservative years
in Canada, from 2006 to 2015, completely froze the process.
Health Canada officially rejected her application in 2012. (Dr.
Rochester refused all our requests for an interview.) ...Jean-
Sébastien Fallu looks favourably on this new openness on
the part of the federal authorities. The professor is also the
founder of GRIP Montreal, a group that has been fighting
for two decades to obtain an exemption for the purpose of
analyzing substances. ‘Any move away from prohibition is
good news,’ he said. ‘The more exemptions are granted, the
more likely it is to facilitate our requests for the analysis of
[these] substances.’” (VICE News, 04/12/18)
Utah company that used child labor must still pay
$200,000 to compensate kids, federal appeals court rules
“A federal appeals court has upheld most of the ruling against
a company affiliated with a polygamous church [FLDS]
and which was found to have used child labor, though the
company did win one point. The contempt of court finding
against Paragon Contractors Corp. and its owner, Brian
Jessop, stands, and they still must pay $200,000 into a fund
to compensate the children who harvested pecans on a
ranch near Hurricane in 2012. But the 10th Circuit Court of
Appeals said a federal judge in Salt Lake City was wrong to
make Jessop and Paragon report to what is called a special
master—someone who would monitor their business
practices. That could be an important ruling for Jessop. Last
month, he appeared at a new court hearing where he was
accused of failing to comply with that special master. ...
Paragon and Jessop had entered into an agreement with the
U.S. Department of Labor in 2007 to not use child labor in
ways that violated the law. After hearing testimony about the
2012 pecan harvest, U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell found
Paragon and Jessop in contempt for violating the earlier
agreement. She then ordered the $200,000 be paid and that
Paragon and Jessop report their work to the special master.
...Jessop may still be in trouble for more recent business
dealings. At the hearing last month, the Labor Department
presented evidence that Paragon had folded into a new
company, called Par 2, that should inherit the child labor
restrictions imposed in 2007. Inspectors in Arizona found Par
2 building a motel. They also suspected Par 2 of employing
two 17-year-olds who were using nail guns. Federal labor
laws says no one under 18 may operate such machinery. Jeff
Matura, an attorney for Par 2, on Thursday said a judge in Salt
Lake City can still consider whether Par 2 is subject to the
order not to violate child labor laws, but questions about the
special master are moot. ‘We can’t be held in contempt for
violating something that should not have been ordered in the
first place,’ Matura said.” (Salt Lake Tribune, 03/15/18)
OZ actor claims to be God, starts cult called Galighticus
“Former Shaft and OZ actor and Wu Tang Clan graffiti artist
Gano Grills is an emerging cult leader who claims to be
God. He says he’s here on a mission to usher 144,000 people
off the planet. He claims to do exorcisms and revive the
dead. He says he’s part of a Galactic Council of 22 gods that
contains four insectoids. Women who have abortions suffer
catastrophic karmic debt, he believes.” He also believes that
“Kendrick Lamar is a ‘propagator of Lucifer’ and drinking dark
rum or Hennessy attract bad spirits. He sells training programs
for as much as $12,000. He also says Michael Jackson told him
in a meditation that he wanted the world to know he was
murdered.” (Medium, 5/29/18)
Flanders turns to imams for prisoner deradicalization
“...After the appointment of two Flemish deradicalisation
consultants, Flemish Minister of Welfare, Jo Vandeurzen
(CD &V), initiated a project called Theological Approach
to Islamic Radicalization. This project, with an allocation of
174,000 euro, is aimed at detainees on parole. … ‘Flanders is
taking the initiative to prevent #radicalisation,’ Vandeurzen
writes in a tweet. ‘Selected imams accompany ex-prisoners
on their way back to society.’ The Investigation Committee
22/3 on terrorism recommended that prisons increase
their deradicalisation programmes and training for Islamist
detainees. ‘Religious and spiritual support can also be
improved,’ it added. The committee … also asked for more
imams who are trained here and speak one of the national
languages.” (Brussels Times, 6/6/18)
Jehovah’s Witnesses parents’ legal win means child with
cancer can skip blood transfusions
“The parents of a 14-year-old boy with bone cancer won a
legal challenge against a Mesa hospital that attempted to
override their religious objections to blood transfusions.
The Arizona Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled that a lower
court’s emergency hotline used by hospitals to authorize
medical treatment on behalf of patients is not allowed under
state law. ...While Banner Cardon’s medical-treatment plan
initially consisted of alternative therapies to fit the parents’
[Jehovah’s Witnesses] religious views, hospital staff later