VOLUME 2 |NUMBER 1 |2011 31 30 ICSA TODAY
REPORT FROM Spain and
Latin America
Luis Santamaría del Río
and Erika Toren
The legislature in the province of
Cordoba, Argentina, in February
approved a project that creates a
program to help cult victims. The
project is called “Provicial Program
for Prevention and Assistance for
Victims of Groups Using Psychologi-
cal Manipulation Techniques.” This
program falls under the Ministry of
Justice of the Province of Cordoba.
The new law seeks, on the one hand,
“to sensitize, raise consciousness,
assist, and coordinate actions aiming
at early detection and prevention of
any situation of manipulative psy-
chology, and on the other hand “to
promote interdisciplinary assistance
for victims.” Some government offi-
cials have been critical of these
measures because of the sweeping
judicial methods being used.
The Spanish police have recently dis-
covered two prostitute rings that
were enslaving Nigerian women in
various provinces and threatening
them with the practices of voodoo
and other syncretistic Afro-American
cults. After being selected for the
group, the women were subjected to
voodoo and other black magic rituals
until they were under the control of
the drug traffickers and able to pay
their debts. Furthermore, the Spanish
police uncovered the biggest
cocaine producing lab in all of
Europe, where they ran satanic rites,
such as animal sacrifice. Vibhuti, the
spiritual leader of a cult group in
Llíber, Alicante, Spain, was arrested in
a Civil Guard operation in 2006, and
is now confronted by a petition by
the Fiscal court for nine years impris-
onment for causing “severe social-
addiction and important mental
health damage” to three of his fol-
lowers. According to written accusa-
tions, he used “coercive persuasion
techniques whose objective was the
alienation and depersonalization of
his adepts, their isolation from the
outer world, and mind control.”
Also, the Fiscal Court of Alicante,
Spain has requested a settlement on
behalf of 10 adepts from the Judaic
group, Congregación El Olivo (Con-
gregation of the Olive), for its use of
mind control along with isolation
from the outer world and the break-
ing of all familial ties.
In January in the Dominican Repub-
lic a Jehovah’s Witness member died
when he was run over and his family
denied blood transfusions. The
young man, 19 years old, died in
what his neighbors call “a homicide
based on fundamentalist religion.”
On the other hand, in March an
Argentine Jehovah’s Witness mem-
ber died under similar circumstances
and on this occasion his sister, who
was not a member, fought tooth and
nail through the courts for the trans-
fusion but it did not happen in time.
The president of Honduras, Porfirio
Lobo, in January asked the Secre-
taries of the Interior and Population
and Human Rights to take over the
investigation into the group Cre-
ciendo en Gracia (Growing in Grace),
in accordance with the Constitution.
This was done after the suspension
of the activities of the group in
Tegucigalpa at the end of Decem-
ber, when the state administration
considered that they were deceiving
the members.
In December in Mexico, D.F., David
Romo Guillén was arrested. He was
the leader of a group called Iglesia
Católica Tradicional (Traditional
Catholic Church), the sect that
spreads the cult of la Santa Muerte
(Holy Death). According to the
courts, Romo was arrested along
with other people who formed part
of the group dedicated to kidnap-
ping and bribery. The District Attor-
ney for Mexico City confirms that,
among other evidence, Romo took
the ransom money from a kidnap-
ping in cash from his bank account
and took it to the National Sanctu-
ary of the Holy Death. He used a
false name and handled a large sum
of money received from these crimi-
nal activities.
REPORT FROM Scandinavia
Arthur Buchman
In the case of cults, no news is almost
certainly NOT good news. Even
where adverse publicity is in the
press, consequences are sometimes
hard to see.
On Thursday, 17 February 2011, the
Danish newspaper Landbrugsavisen
reported that Tvind lost a legal case
and was forced to sell off some of its
land holdings in the northern part of
Sealand. But the case was not about
questionable Tvind activities, just real
estate. Tvind was also in the news for
flying a hot air balloon over western
Denmark, but the brief report (in
Danish here) was about the balloon,
not the organization.
Any other cultic activity in Denmark
is flying under the journalistic radar.
I can, however, report on personal
activities. I recently gave a talk about
cults to Gadejuristen (The Street
Lawyer), an organization that pro-
vides legal, social, and psychological
services to street people in Copen-
hagen. Part of the focus was on the
alarming similarity of 12-step pro-
grams to cult dynamics according to
Lifton’s criteria. I continue to attend
the every-other-month support and
education Ex-Member Group led by
Gillie Jenkinson in London. The cur-
rent topic being explored is shame.
Gillie’s well functioning model is one I
hope to import to Denmark one day.
In May, I will present “The Psychology
of Cults” at the “Controversies on
Cults”conference in Poznan, Poland
conducted by Piotr Nowakowski and
colleagues,sponsored by the College
of Education and Administration. Two
days later I will attend the FECRIS
conference in Warsaw.
And I am looking forward very much
to seeing many friends and col-
leagues at our ICSA conference in
Barcelona this July. ■
Announcements
ICSA Annual Conference
Barcelona, Spain, July 7-9, 2011
More than 120 speakers from
around the world.
More info: www.icsahome.com
ICSA Recovery Workshop
for Former Group Members
Colorado Springs, Colorado,
August 5-7, 2011.
More info: www.icsahome.com
The 25th Anniversary Celebration
of Wellspring Retreat &Resource
Center of Albany, Ohio
will take place August 5, 6, and 7th,
2011, in southeast Ohio. The anniversary
celebration will include an open house
at the Center for any and all alumni of
our program (friends and family wel-
come) and a “conference on cults”to
be held on Saturday, August 6, 2011 on
the subject of cults and spiritual abuse.
Activities for children and families will
be offered at a nearby park. More info:
www.wellspringretreat.org
Books/Reports
Feierman, Jay. (2010 ).
The biology of religious behavior:
The evolutionary origins of faith
and religion. Reviewed in: Journal
for the Scientific Study of Religion,
50(1), 217-218.
Gooren, Henri. (2010).
Religious conversion and disaffilia-
tion: Tracing patterns of change in faith
practices. Reviewed in: Journal for the
Scientific Study of Religion, 50(1), 211-212.
Granhag, Pars Anders (Ed.). (2011).
The detection of deception in
forensic contexts. Cambridge
University Press
Joy, Connie and Richard. (2010).
Tragedy in Sedona: My life in
James Arthur Ray’s inner circle.
www.transformationmediabooks.com
McNamara, Patrck. (2009).
The neuroscience of religious
experience. Reviewed in: Journal
for the Scientific Study of Religion,
50(1), 219-220.
Reitman, Janet. (Forthcoming, July 2011).
Inside Scientology: The story of
America’s most secretive religion.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Trade and
Reference Division. www.hmhpub.com.
Shepherd, Gordon, &Shepherd, Gary.
(2010). Talking with the Children
of God: Prophecy and transformation
in a radical religious group.
Reviewed in: Journal for the Scientific
Study of Religion, 50(1), 212-214.
The Pew Forum on Religion in
Public Life. (March 31, 2011).
Legal Report -Churches in court:
The legal status of religious
organizations in civil lawsuits.
http://pewforum.org/Church-State-
Law/Churches-in-Court%281%29.aspx
Thiesen, Elmer. (2011).
The ethics of evangelism: A philosoph-
ical defense of proselytizing and per-
suasion. Paternoster, UK IV Academic,
USA. http://www.ivpress.com/cgi-
ivpress/book.pl/code=3927
ICSA News
Special Event Report
“Helping People Affected by Cults: What People
are Doing in the UK and Around the World” –
An ICSA Special Event in London
On Sunday, November 21,
2010 ICSA hosted a special
event in London, England
at the Baden Powell House
Conference Center. The
event was organized by
Lois Kendall. Michael
Kropveld, who had spoken
the day before at the
INFORM conference on
“State Reactions to Minority Religions,”was the featured
speaker. Also speaking were colleagues from the major cult
educational and helping organizations in the UK, including,
Ian Haworth of the Cult Information Center, Christian Szurko
of the DialogCentre UK, Julian Chater of the Family Survival
Trust, Gillie Jenkinson of Hope Valley Counselling, Ltd. (Gillie
also delivered a report for Rod and Linda Dubrow-Marshall
of RETIRN), Nick Cliffe of EnCourage, Eileen Barker of
INFORM, Celeste Jones of the Safe Passage Foundation. Gra-
ham Baldwin of Catalyst couldn’t attend because of medical
reasons, so his report was read.
“I believe, if I am not mistaken, that this event is
a first, and representing the International Cultic
Studies Association (ICSA), I want to underline
ICSA’s belief in the benefits of dialogue. One can
learn from those with views close to our own but
also from those we perceive as having differing
viewpoints (though one might be surprised to
learn that sometimes other views aren’t so
different). Furthermore ICSA believes that in
being open and respectful of other ideas we can
learn from one another, which will enhance our
understanding of this issue and subsequently
our ability to deal more effectively with those
who’ve been harmed and seek our help.”
– Michael Kropveld
Mike Kropveld discussing how people
around the world are responding to
the cult phenomenon.
ICSA_volume3_proof6 5/10/11 12:14 PM Page 32
REPORT FROM Spain and
Latin America
Luis Santamaría del Río
and Erika Toren
The legislature in the province of
Cordoba, Argentina, in February
approved a project that creates a
program to help cult victims. The
project is called “Provicial Program
for Prevention and Assistance for
Victims of Groups Using Psychologi-
cal Manipulation Techniques.” This
program falls under the Ministry of
Justice of the Province of Cordoba.
The new law seeks, on the one hand,
“to sensitize, raise consciousness,
assist, and coordinate actions aiming
at early detection and prevention of
any situation of manipulative psy-
chology, and on the other hand “to
promote interdisciplinary assistance
for victims.” Some government offi-
cials have been critical of these
measures because of the sweeping
judicial methods being used.
The Spanish police have recently dis-
covered two prostitute rings that
were enslaving Nigerian women in
various provinces and threatening
them with the practices of voodoo
and other syncretistic Afro-American
cults. After being selected for the
group, the women were subjected to
voodoo and other black magic rituals
until they were under the control of
the drug traffickers and able to pay
their debts. Furthermore, the Spanish
police uncovered the biggest
cocaine producing lab in all of
Europe, where they ran satanic rites,
such as animal sacrifice. Vibhuti, the
spiritual leader of a cult group in
Llíber, Alicante, Spain, was arrested in
a Civil Guard operation in 2006, and
is now confronted by a petition by
the Fiscal court for nine years impris-
onment for causing “severe social-
addiction and important mental
health damage” to three of his fol-
lowers. According to written accusa-
tions, he used “coercive persuasion
techniques whose objective was the
alienation and depersonalization of
his adepts, their isolation from the
outer world, and mind control.”
Also, the Fiscal Court of Alicante,
Spain has requested a settlement on
behalf of 10 adepts from the Judaic
group, Congregación El Olivo (Con-
gregation of the Olive), for its use of
mind control along with isolation
from the outer world and the break-
ing of all familial ties.
In January in the Dominican Repub-
lic a Jehovah’s Witness member died
when he was run over and his family
denied blood transfusions. The
young man, 19 years old, died in
what his neighbors call “a homicide
based on fundamentalist religion.”
On the other hand, in March an
Argentine Jehovah’s Witness mem-
ber died under similar circumstances
and on this occasion his sister, who
was not a member, fought tooth and
nail through the courts for the trans-
fusion but it did not happen in time.
The president of Honduras, Porfirio
Lobo, in January asked the Secre-
taries of the Interior and Population
and Human Rights to take over the
investigation into the group Cre-
ciendo en Gracia (Growing in Grace),
in accordance with the Constitution.
This was done after the suspension
of the activities of the group in
Tegucigalpa at the end of Decem-
ber, when the state administration
considered that they were deceiving
the members.
In December in Mexico, D.F., David
Romo Guillén was arrested. He was
the leader of a group called Iglesia
Católica Tradicional (Traditional
Catholic Church), the sect that
spreads the cult of la Santa Muerte
(Holy Death). According to the
courts, Romo was arrested along
with other people who formed part
of the group dedicated to kidnap-
ping and bribery. The District Attor-
ney for Mexico City confirms that,
among other evidence, Romo took
the ransom money from a kidnap-
ping in cash from his bank account
and took it to the National Sanctu-
ary of the Holy Death. He used a
false name and handled a large sum
of money received from these crimi-
nal activities.
REPORT FROM Scandinavia
Arthur Buchman
In the case of cults, no news is almost
certainly NOT good news. Even
where adverse publicity is in the
press, consequences are sometimes
hard to see.
On Thursday, 17 February 2011, the
Danish newspaper Landbrugsavisen
reported that Tvind lost a legal case
and was forced to sell off some of its
land holdings in the northern part of
Sealand. But the case was not about
questionable Tvind activities, just real
estate. Tvind was also in the news for
flying a hot air balloon over western
Denmark, but the brief report (in
Danish here) was about the balloon,
not the organization.
Any other cultic activity in Denmark
is flying under the journalistic radar.
I can, however, report on personal
activities. I recently gave a talk about
cults to Gadejuristen (The Street
Lawyer), an organization that pro-
vides legal, social, and psychological
services to street people in Copen-
hagen. Part of the focus was on the
alarming similarity of 12-step pro-
grams to cult dynamics according to
Lifton’s criteria. I continue to attend
the every-other-month support and
education Ex-Member Group led by
Gillie Jenkinson in London. The cur-
rent topic being explored is shame.
Gillie’s well functioning model is one I
hope to import to Denmark one day.
In May, I will present “The Psychology
of Cults” at the “Controversies on
Cults”conference in Poznan, Poland
conducted by Piotr Nowakowski and
colleagues,sponsored by the College
of Education and Administration. Two
days later I will attend the FECRIS
conference in Warsaw.
And I am looking forward very much
to seeing many friends and col-
leagues at our ICSA conference in
Barcelona this July. ■
Announcements
ICSA Annual Conference
Barcelona, Spain, July 7-9, 2011
More than 120 speakers from
around the world.
More info: www.icsahome.com
ICSA Recovery Workshop
for Former Group Members
Colorado Springs, Colorado,
August 5-7, 2011.
More info: www.icsahome.com
The 25th Anniversary Celebration
of Wellspring Retreat &Resource
Center of Albany, Ohio
will take place August 5, 6, and 7th,
2011, in southeast Ohio. The anniversary
celebration will include an open house
at the Center for any and all alumni of
our program (friends and family wel-
come) and a “conference on cults”to
be held on Saturday, August 6, 2011 on
the subject of cults and spiritual abuse.
Activities for children and families will
be offered at a nearby park. More info:
www.wellspringretreat.org
Books/Reports
Feierman, Jay. (2010 ).
The biology of religious behavior:
The evolutionary origins of faith
and religion. Reviewed in: Journal
for the Scientific Study of Religion,
50(1), 217-218.
Gooren, Henri. (2010).
Religious conversion and disaffilia-
tion: Tracing patterns of change in faith
practices. Reviewed in: Journal for the
Scientific Study of Religion, 50(1), 211-212.
Granhag, Pars Anders (Ed.). (2011).
The detection of deception in
forensic contexts. Cambridge
University Press
Joy, Connie and Richard. (2010).
Tragedy in Sedona: My life in
James Arthur Ray’s inner circle.
www.transformationmediabooks.com
McNamara, Patrck. (2009).
The neuroscience of religious
experience. Reviewed in: Journal
for the Scientific Study of Religion,
50(1), 219-220.
Reitman, Janet. (Forthcoming, July 2011).
Inside Scientology: The story of
America’s most secretive religion.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Trade and
Reference Division. www.hmhpub.com.
Shepherd, Gordon, &Shepherd, Gary.
(2010). Talking with the Children
of God: Prophecy and transformation
in a radical religious group.
Reviewed in: Journal for the Scientific
Study of Religion, 50(1), 212-214.
The Pew Forum on Religion in
Public Life. (March 31, 2011).
Legal Report -Churches in court:
The legal status of religious
organizations in civil lawsuits.
http://pewforum.org/Church-State-
Law/Churches-in-Court%281%29.aspx
Thiesen, Elmer. (2011).
The ethics of evangelism: A philosoph-
ical defense of proselytizing and per-
suasion. Paternoster, UK IV Academic,
USA. http://www.ivpress.com/cgi-
ivpress/book.pl/code=3927
ICSA News
Special Event Report
“Helping People Affected by Cults: What People
are Doing in the UK and Around the World” –
An ICSA Special Event in London
On Sunday, November 21,
2010 ICSA hosted a special
event in London, England
at the Baden Powell House
Conference Center. The
event was organized by
Lois Kendall. Michael
Kropveld, who had spoken
the day before at the
INFORM conference on
“State Reactions to Minority Religions,”was the featured
speaker. Also speaking were colleagues from the major cult
educational and helping organizations in the UK, including,
Ian Haworth of the Cult Information Center, Christian Szurko
of the DialogCentre UK, Julian Chater of the Family Survival
Trust, Gillie Jenkinson of Hope Valley Counselling, Ltd. (Gillie
also delivered a report for Rod and Linda Dubrow-Marshall
of RETIRN), Nick Cliffe of EnCourage, Eileen Barker of
INFORM, Celeste Jones of the Safe Passage Foundation. Gra-
ham Baldwin of Catalyst couldn’t attend because of medical
reasons, so his report was read.
“I believe, if I am not mistaken, that this event is
a first, and representing the International Cultic
Studies Association (ICSA), I want to underline
ICSA’s belief in the benefits of dialogue. One can
learn from those with views close to our own but
also from those we perceive as having differing
viewpoints (though one might be surprised to
learn that sometimes other views aren’t so
different). Furthermore ICSA believes that in
being open and respectful of other ideas we can
learn from one another, which will enhance our
understanding of this issue and subsequently
our ability to deal more effectively with those
who’ve been harmed and seek our help.”
– Michael Kropveld
Mike Kropveld discussing how people
around the world are responding to
the cult phenomenon.
ICSA_volume3_proof6 5/10/11 12:14 PM Page 32
