Extracts from Report by the Belgian Parliamentary Commission about Sects

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Your commission have dedicated 58 meetings to the achievement of the present inquiry which started on April 25 1996 and has heard 136 witnesses.

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4. Hearing of Mr Ch. Berlinger, physician and representative of the "Association of victims of illegal Practices of Medicine."

Mr Berliner founded in 1992 the "Association of victims of illegal Practices of Medicine." after the death of little Ana‘lle B., on October 8 1991. She had been cured in awful conditions by anthroposophy healers, a general homeopath doctor of which was revoked from the Orders of Physicians.

The goal of this association was to help victims of such practices and gather as many witnesses as possible to keep the population informed. Through the witnesses he gathered, Dr Berliner dealt with the problems of sects as numerous cases were directly linked with sectarian activities.

The witnesses says it seems to be a certain tolerance, in justice and in the public, against this kind of practices. The only cases in which he could really help victims are those in which a doctor was involved...

According to the witness, it is urgent to create an official pluridisciplinary center, gathering all persons who wish to deal this problem efficiently and coherently. Yet, the government has refuse to give the necessary credits for it.

After several years of activity, Mr Berliner sees that the sects strike all sociological layers and are focused around non conventional medicines.

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Most sectarian practices lie on a pessimistic vision of things, in which the external world is said to be evil.

As far as medicine is concerned, Mr Berliner also underlines the danger of mind control. Taking theirs techniques from recent psychotherapies, generally from the US., such as transactional analysis, bio-energy, PNL and other hypnosis, the sects aim at developing a state of dependence within generally fragilised beings. These techniques are valid from a scientific point of view, but they are here taken away from their first therapeutic goal.

There are also the depressive accidents of some sect members when they are aware they have been deceived and that they will have to take contact with the external world, which is extremely difficult. It is similar with what drug-addicts feel when they stop taking drugs. These are critical moments which can lead to severe depressions, delirious moments or even suicide.

The witness mentions several examples of intolerable medical practices :

• the Hamer theory says all cancers are caused by psychological conflicts and there is no use curing them by chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgery. In Belgium, this theory has been applied to Dr Coste, today revoked for the Order of Physicians;
• the healing tendencies by praying or imposition of hands (antoinist sect, Father Tardif, Father Samuel);
• the system developed by l'IEREHU (human and universal energy) of Luong Minh Dang;
• Sukyo Mahikari which criticises without nuance traditional medicine and praises a medicine essentially made up of a kind of imposition of hands, passes, allowing to everybody to become a healer;
• Ecovie : the adepts lived in tepees, without any hygiene and were submitted to highly severe regimes; they had to make heavy physical efforts and had not enough sleep; nobody did call a doctor;
• the Horus sect in France : a child developed tetanus while his health book mentioned wrongly a vaccine;
• Yvonne Trubert, leading the IVI sect (Invitation to intense life), claims to heal the most serious diseases only using energetic theories, Hindu spirituality and soft medicines. As to IVI, there is no decease which can be healed. We must re-establish the harmonisation between the physical, energetical astral bodies opening the chakra blocked by the decease, allowing to make flow the energy, so we can cure any decease. Georgina Dufoix, former French minister of Health, marked her interest for this sect.

The gurus are often charismatic figures. They destroy families, causing a big affective but also financial misery.