Citizens Commission on Human Rights 1058167 move=:edit= 219574224 2008-06-15T22:14:09Z Koavf 205121 speedy CfD using [[Project:AutoWikiBrowser|AWB]] {{primarysources|date=February 2008}} ::''See also [[Scientology and psychiatry]]'' The '''Citizens Commission on Human Rights''' (CCHR; also sometimes known as the '''Citizens Committee on Human Rights''') is an advocacy group established in 1969 by the [[Church of Scientology]] and psychiatrist [[Thomas Szasz]]. Its stated goal is to fight what it describes as "human rights crimes" by [[mental health]] professionals, stating that [[electroconvulsive therapy]], [[racism]], [[psychosurgery]], involuntary commitment and child medication are all practices which are rife in psychiatry.<ref>{{cite web | author=CCHR International | title=What is CCHR? | url=http://www.cchr.org/index.cfm/5258 | accessdate = 2007-10-01}}</ref> ==CCHR's views on psychiatry== [[Image:CCHR.jpg|thumb|left|350px|The international headquarters of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights on [[Sunset Boulevard]] in [[Hollywood, California|Hollywood]], California.]] CCHR's views on psychiatry are a straightforward reflection of the position put forward by [[L. Ron Hubbard]], the founder of [[Scientology]], whose writings express a very strong anti-psychiatry viewpoint. The practice of psychiatry is considered by Scientologists to be a form of [[extortion]] based upon both [[Biopsychiatry controversy|secular antipsychiatrists]] and Scientology doctrine, stating there is no biological evidence to support psychiatric theories of mental disorders. However, unlike secular antipsychiatrists, according to Hubbard all psychiatrists are criminals: "There is not one institutional psychiatrist alive who, by ordinary [[criminal law]], could not be arraigned and convicted of extortion, [[Mayhem (crime)|mayhem]] and [[murder]]. Our files are full of evidence on them."<ref>{{cite web | author=Hubbard, L. Ron | year=1969 | title=Crime and Psychiatry | format= | work= | url=http://humanitarian.lronhubbard.org/psych2.htm | accessdate = 2006-06-12}}</ref> CCHR follows this line very closely, for instance describing psychiatrists and psychologists as "Professional Rapists, Perverts and Pedophiles".<ref>http://www.psychcrime.com</ref> It has developed ''[http://www.psychcrime.org Psych Crime]'', a database of criminal convictions of people working in the mental health sector (psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors, mental health executives, social workers, clerks and aides) to which it invites members of the public to contribute. Although CCHR states its purpose publicly as being "to investigate and expose psychiatric violations of human rights and to clean up the field of mental healing," in its own fund-raising publications — issued primarily to Scientologists — it espouses a goal of eliminating psychiatry altogether and invites contributors to sign up to that goal: "Be part of the team that is taking out psychiatry!"<ref>CCHR mailer [[7 December]] 1993, signed Don Gershbock; cited in Jacobsen, "[http://www.lisamcpherson.org/cchr.htm CCHR - Human Rights Organization Attacks Its "Enemies"]"</ref>; "The time to put an end to psychiatry and it's criminal practices is NOW!"<ref>CCHR mailer, copyright 1998; citation ''ibid''</ref>; "Get rid of the psychs! That is just what CCHR is doing."<ref>CCHR mailer, "Stop Psych Experiments on schoolchildren!", copyright 1997; citation ''ibid''</ref> The official Scientology FAQ reads, "psychiatric theories that man is a mere animal have been used to rationalize, for example, the wholesale slaughter of human beings in World Wars I and II."<ref>[http://faq.scientology.org/psychtry.htm Why is Scientology opposed to psychiatry? The President of the Church of Scientology Answers Your Questions<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> ==CCHR's activities== [[Image:Cchr flyer.png|right|thumb|250px|CCHR promotional leaflet, inviting members of the public to "report psychiatric abuse"]] CCHR has organized media campaigns against various psychiatrists, psychiatric organizations and pharmaceutical companies, including [[Eli Lilly and Company|Eli Lilly]], the manufacturer of [[Prozac]]. Its campaign is said to have caused a major fall in sales of Prozac, causing great commercial damage to the company.<ref>Thomas M. Burton, "Anti-Depression Drug Of Eli Lilly Loses Sales After Attack by Sect', ''Wall Street Journal'', [[April 19]], 1991, p. A1.</ref> The group has campaigned against the use of [[Ritalin]] for the treatment of [[attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder]], a disorder CCHR argues does not exist.<ref>[http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/la90/la90-6b.html Suits, Protests Fuel a Campaign Against Psychiatry], Los Angeles Times, [[29 June]] [[1990]]</ref><ref>[http://www.macleans.ca/topstories/health/article.jsp?content=20060515_126736_126736 A new war over Ritalin], MacLeans, [[May 10]] 2006</ref><ref>[http://www.rickross.com/reference/scientology/scien477.html Kennedy Takes Aim at Ritalin Provision], Roll Call, [[May 7]] [[2003]]</ref> This campaign was part of the [[Ritalin class action lawsuits]] against the manufacturer of Ritalin ([[Novartis]]), CHADD, and the [[American Psychiatric Association]] (APA). All five lawsuits were dismissed in 2002. It has also campaigned against legislation on mental health issues, as well as encouraging legislators to sponsor laws more in line with its own views.<ref>"[http://www.rickross.com/reference/scientology/psychiatry/psychiatry11.html Scientology's War on Psychiatry]," ''Salon'', [[July 1]], 2005</ref> CCHR has published an extensive report of its activities, with references to sources of government issued reports such as [http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/antidepressants/SSRIPHA200410.htm FDA Public Health Advisory] (an FDA website).<ref>http://www.cchr.org/media/pdfs/White_Paper_-_Information_Concerning_Antidepressants_2008.pdf</ref> CCHR's aggressive stance has provoked controversy. In 1988 the group alleged that Professor Sir [[Martin Roth]] of [[University of Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle University]] had used [[LSD]] in tests on mental patients in the 1960s. The statements were publicised in the ''Newcastle Times'' newspaper, which was ordered by an English court to pay "very substantial" [[libel]] damages to Roth after the court found that CCHR's claims were "highly defamatory" and "utterly false."<ref>"Prof's libel victory over LSD claims," ''Northern Echo'', [[22 June]], 1990.</ref> For their part, psychiatrists and psychologists have responded dismissively to CCHR's allegations. Some commentators have noted similarities between CCHR's campaigns against psychiatry and other religiously-motivated organisations' campaigns against scientific aspects of [[birth control]] and [[evolution]], amongst other topics.<ref name="gumbel"/> ==="Psychiatry: An Industry of Death" museum=== {{main|Psychiatry: An Industry of Death}} In December 2005, CCHR opened the [[Psychiatry: An Industry of Death|"Psychiatry: An Industry of Death" Museum]] on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, [[California]]. The museum has displays alleging psychiatry's long-standing "master plan" for [[world domination]], [[Adolf Hitler]]'s central role in the plan, and in the words of reporter Andrew Gumbel, "a display holding psychiatry to blame for the deaths of [[Ernest Hemingway]], [[Del Shannon]], [[Billie Holiday]], [[Kurt Cobain]], [[Spalding Gray]], and just about every other entertainment celebrity who did not happen to die of strictly natural causes."<ref name="gumbel">Andrew Gumbel, "[http://www.lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=3137&IssueNum=136 Scientology vs. Science]," ''Los Angeles City Beat'', [[January 12]], 2006</ref><ref>"[http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0512/20/sbt.01.html Showbiz Tonight]," CNN, [[December 20]], [[2005]]</ref> The opening event on [[December 17]], [[2005]]<ref>[http://www.cchr.org/index.cfm/12423 Opening Press Release]</ref>, was attended by well-known Scientologists, including [[Priscilla Presley]], [[Lisa Marie Presley]], [[Jenna Elfman]], [[Danny Masterson]], [[Giovanni Ribisi]], [[Leah Remini]], [[Catherine Bell]], and [[Anne Archer]].<ref>{{cite news |first = Jeannette |last = Walls |url = http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9916572/ |title = Getting hitched hasn't mellowed Elton John - Gossip: The Scoop - MSNBC.com |work = [[MSNBC]] |date = [[2005-12-22]] |accessdate = 2006-06-08 }}</ref> ===Chelmsford Hospital and DST=== From 1988 to 1990 the [[Australia]]n government held the [[Chelmsford royal commission]] inquiry into [[Deep Sleep Therapy]] (DST). For a decade prior, the CCHR had been pushing for an investigation of the [[Chelmsford Private Hospital]] in New South Wales, and its head, Dr. [[Harry Bailey]], who had been practicing DST from 1963 to 1979.<ref>http://www.scientology.org/reform/new/5chelms.htm</ref> The CCHR's website quotes Honorable Justice John (J. P.) Slattery, Royal Commissioner, as stating that the CCHR "contributed considerably to advance the cause of the Chelmsford patients in their campaign for an open inquiry into the hospital." <ref>[http://www.cchr.org/index.cfm/7174 Public Hearings & Testimonies - Citizens Commission on Human Rights<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>The inquiry discovered that deep sleep therapy had killed 26 patients, 22 patients who had it had killed themselves, and close to a thousand had suffered brain damage. Of the former patients, 152 received reparations from a fund totaling in excess of 5 million dollars. <ref>[http://suburbia.net/~fun/scn/books/inside-60-minutes.html] 'Inside 60 Minutes'</ref> Chelmsford Hospital was forced to close in 1990, and two of its psychiatric staff were brought on charges in 1992. Dr. Bailey himself stepped down in 1979 due to the CCHR's protest campaign, and committed suicide by drug overdose in 1985, the night before he was subpoenaed to appear in court.<ref>[http://www.scientology-europe.org/en_US/pub/human-rights/pg008.html scientology-europe.org<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> His suicide note read, in part: "Let it be known that the Scientologists and the forces of madness have won."<ref>''The Melbourne Age'', [[April 22]] [[1991]]. [http://www.holysmoke.org/cos/melbourn-age2.htm]</ref> ===Riverside Community Care=== On [[October 5]] [[2006]], National Mental Health Screening Day, the CCHR picketed outside of Riverside Community Care in [[Wakefield, Massachusetts|Wakefield]], [[Massachusetts]], holding a protest rally against [[New Freedom Commission on Mental Health|mental health screening]]. According to journalist Gary Band in the ''Wakefield Observer'', "The protest fell somewhat flat because Riverside has not conducted these screenings since 2001."<ref>http://www.townonline.com/wakefield/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=591117</ref> ==CCHR and Scientology== A persistently controversial aspect of CCHR is the question of its relationship with Scientology. For its part, CCHR states that it is "an independent organization [...] compris[ing] members of the Church of Scientology and many other people of various denominations, faiths and cultural beliefs,"<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.cchr.org/index.cfm/7095| title = Frequently Asked Questions Cont. 2: Is CCHR part of the Church of Scientology?| accessdate = 2006-11-26| publisher = Citizens Commission on Human Rights}}</ref> and the Church of Scientology International acknowledges the CCHR is "church sponsored".<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.correctscientology.org/education.htm| title = Helping Children Get the Most From Their Education| accessdate = 2006-11-26| publisher = Church of Scientology International| quote = The Church of Scientology International sponsors the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR).}}</ref> <ref>[http://www.scientology.org/news-media/faq/pg037.html Scientology - Church of Scientology Official Site<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>Although it is incorporated separately, it is regarded by the [[United States Government]] as part of the Church of Scientology's network of corporate entities. In 1993, the US [[Internal Revenue Service]] granted CCHR [[tax exemption]] as part of an agreement with the [[Church of Scientology International]] and [[Religious Technology Center]] (RTC) under which the RTC took responsibility for CCHR's tax liabilities.<ref>"[http://www.xenu.net/archive/IRS/ Closing Agreement On Final Determination Covering Specific Matters]," [[October 1]] [[1993]]</ref> CCHR's relationship with the Church of Scientology is mediated through the Church's [[Office of Special Affairs]] (OSA)<ref>Stephen A. Kent, "The Globalization of Scientology: Influence, Control and Opposition in Transnational Markets," ''Religion'', v. 29, n. 2, April 1999, p.147-169</ref>. Critics of Scientology have charged that CCHR is merely a "front group" for the Church<ref>[http://www.holysmoke.org/cos/cult-front-groups-latest.htm Scientology - Scientology front groups... what are they? <!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and have pointed to internal Church documents that appear to describe CCHR's campaigns as a means of extending the influence of the Church of Scientology. Until recent years, a number of CCHR offices were listed at Church of Scientology Org locations.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.cchr.org/cchrnatl.htm | title = Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) National Offices | accessdate = 2007-02-14 | publisher = CCHR | archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20020611082424/http://www.cchr.org/cchrnatl.htm | archivedate = 2002-06-11}}</ref> In one example, a leaked document<ref>[http://www.xenu.net/archive/go/media/pe200366.htm "One Man Britain Can Do Without"], The People, [[March 20]] [[1966]]</ref> outlining a training course for the job of President of the Church of Scientology International requires the trainee to demonstrate "How a PR Campaign Exposing the Psychiatric Drugging of School Children in a Community or Country Would Build a Pro Area Control for the Church of Scientology"<ref>[http://www.xenu.net/archive/go/osahist.htm Scientology's Secret Service: 3. The Office of Special Affairs (1983 to present)<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>. An internal training course from the Office of Special Affairs reportedly requires the trainee to undertake exercises such as devising a "campaign that you can actually execute from your hat ['job'] to help cut off the funding to psychiatrists in your area."<ref>[http://www.gerryarmstrong.org/50grand/cult/osa-int-ed-508r.html "INVESTIGATIONS OFFICER FULL HAT CHECKSHEET"], OFFICE OF SPECIAL AFFAIRS INTERNATIONAL, 1970</ref> [[Reed Slatkin|Reed Eliot Slatkin]] was an initial investor and co-founder of EarthLink and the perpetrator of the largest Ponzi scheme in the United States since that conducted by Charles Ponzi himself. Slatkin was an ordained Scientology minister<ref>{{cite web|url=http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Retirementandwills/Createaplan/P124450.asp |title=The Basics: 7 reasons to fire your financial adviser |accessdate= 2006-08-05 |author=Liz Pulliam Weston |work= MSN Money |publisher=Microsoft}}</ref> and long-time adherent of the group, as were many of his victims. <ref>[http://www.slatkinfraud.com/report/december_2001.htm Slatkin Trustee Report], December 2001, by R. Todd Neilson</ref>. Slatkin's scheme collapsed in 2000 following complaints to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from victims seeking to withdraw their money from the scheme. Slatkin had raised some $200 million from over 500 wealthy investors, including many Hollywood celebrities, and funnelled much of the money to the Church of Scientology and their related entities, such as the CCHR. ==Relationship with secular critics== Kendra Wiseman, the daughter of Bruce Wiseman, the president of the U.S. CCHR, maintains that: {{cquote|Members of CCHR put down and ridiculed non-Scientology anti-psych groups as "crazy" [...] One day, I ran across another group of people who considered themselves psych-survivors. Their message was almost identical to ours, and they'd really experienced psych-abuse first hand. I was so excited, I ran and told my senior about it. To my surprise, she already knew about them, but discounted them as "people we didn't want to have anything to do with." <ref>[http://www.exscientologykids.com/kendra3.html Kendra's Scientology Story]</ref>}} ===Survivors group=== [[MindFreedom International]], an international coalition of thousands of individual members in several nations, is an organization that identifies itself as rooted in the [[psychiatric survivors movement]] and fights against what it asserts are human rights violations in the mental health system. The organization states in its website: {{Cquote|MindFreedom attorney David Atkin has provided a letter to clarify and emphasize that MindFreedom has no connection to CCHR or Church of Scientology. This clarification is not to criticize any organization, but to just state the facts.<ref>[http://www.mindfreedom.org/mfi-faq/MFI-atkin.pdf/view?searchterm=cchr Attorney letter about MFI independence — MFI Portal<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>}} ===Dr. Fred Baughman=== Retired neurologist [[Fred Baughman]] has been a medical expert for [[CCHR]] and provides content for their publications and media.<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/medicating/interviews/baughman.html PBS - frontline: medicating kids: interviews: fred baughman<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Dr. Baughman most often comments about ADHD and has done so in court and before Congress. He has written for the print media, and has been interviewed on the radio. Baughman also has a website, [http://adhdfraud.org adhdfraud.org] ===Dr. Peter Breggin=== Psychiatrist [[Peter Breggin]] worked with CCHR from 1972 until 1974. Breggin dissociated himself from the organization in 1974, having "found myself opposed to Scientology's values, agenda, and tactics." In 1994 Breggin said that Eli Lilly (maker of the [[antidepressant]] [[fluoxetine|Prozac]]) had tried to discredit him and his book ''Talking Back to Prozac'' by improperly linking him to the Church of Scientology and labeling his views as "Neo-Scientology."<ref name="McCarthy Lives">{{cite web | author=Peter R. Breggin, MD | title=Joe McCarthy Lives! Prozac Manufacturer Uses Smear Tactics to Try and Silence Critic | url=http://www.breggin.com/Joemccarthylives.html | accessdate = 2007-03-07}}</ref> In response to what he said were "smear tactics" by Eli Lilly, Breggin said: {{Cquote|I have nothing whatsoever to do with Scientology, a controversial religious group that frequently criticizes psychiatry. Instead, for the last twenty years, I have spoken out against cults in general, and specifically against Scientology. [...] For two decades I have refused to have anything to do with Scientology and have criticized it hundreds of time <nowiki>[sic]</nowiki> to the media, on the air, and in public speeches and workshops.<ref name="McCarthy Lives" />}} Breggin later clarified that on certain points he was still in agreement with some of CCHR's antipsychiatric views, making a point of thanking and supporting [[Tom Cruise]] following Cruise's panning of psychiatry on national television: {{Cquote|Scientologists seem to share a number of views about psychiatry with me, including everything Tom {{interp|Cruise}} said. In fact, I'd go further. Modern [[biological psychiatry]] is a materialistic religion masquerading as a science.<ref>{{cite web | author=Peter R. Breggin, MD | title=Thanks Tom Cruise| url=http://www.breggin.com/Thanks%20Tom%20Cruise%5B1%5D.htm | accessdate = 2007-03-04}}</ref>}} ===Secular antipsychiatrists=== {{Main|Anti-psychiatry}} Despite sharing notable antipsychiatrists' views on some issues, Scientology doctrine does differ in some respects. Scientology has promoted psychiatry-related [[conspiracy theories]], including that [[September 11]] was caused by psychiatrists<ref>{{cite journal |last=Thomas |first=Gordon |coauthors= Whittle, Thomas G. |title=The Terror Doctors |journal=[[Freedom Magazine]] |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=5 |url=http://www.freedommag.org/english/vol36i2/page03.htm |accessdate = 2007-02-10 }} "Emerging from research into terrorist kingpins — those engineers of terrorist calamities from 9/11 to the Madrid bombings—one is struck by the dominance of members of the psychiatric profession in their midst..."</ref><ref name="gumbel">{{cite news |first = Andrew |last = Gumbel |url = http://www.lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=3137&IssueNum=136 |title = Scientology vs. Science |work = [[Los Angeles CityBeat]] |publisher = Southland Publishing |date = [[2006-01-12]] |accessdate = 2006-06-08 }}</ref> and that psychiatrists caused the universe's havoc billions of years ago.<ref> Hubbard Communications Office Bulletin [[26 August]] [[1982]], "Pain and Sex". Cited in {{cite book | last = Atack | first = Jon | authorlink = Jon Atack | year = 1990 | url = http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/atack/index.html | title = A Piece of Blue Sky | publisher = Carol Publishing Group | location = New York, NY|id = ISBN 0-8184-0499-X}}, p. 288. "{{interp|The psychs}} are the sole cause of decline in this universe ..."</ref> Scientologists are religiously committed never to take psychiatric drugs and to reject [[psychology]] outright. These positions are shared by few, if any, secular critics of psychiatry. ==References== {{reflist}} ==See also== * [[Chemical imbalance]] * [[Scientology and psychiatry]] ==External links== {{Portal|Scientology|Scientology e meter blue.jpg}} * {{cite web | title = Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) | work = | publisher = CCHR International | url = http://www.cchr.org/}} * {{cite web | title = Scientology FAQs: What is CCHR? | work = An answer to a commonly asked question | publisher = Church of Scientology | url = http://faq.scientology.org/cchr.htm}} * {{cite web | title = Citizens Commission on Human Rights | work = CCHR and Psychiatry | publisher = Church of Scientology | url = http://www.scientology.org/reform/new/3cchr.htm}} * {{cite web | title = Citizens Commission on Human Rights Florida (CCHR) | work = | publisher = CCHR Florida | url = http://www.cchrflorida.org/}} * {{cite web | title = Psychiatric Profession Current Target of Citizens Commission on Human Rights | work = An article from the Psychiatric Times | publisher = Psychiatric Times; [[CMP Media]] | url = http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/p961110.html}} * {{cite web | title = What is the Citizens Commission on Human Rights? | work = From the information pack of Operation Clambake | publisher = [[Operation Clambake]] | format = | url = http://www.clambake.org/archive/infopack/12.htm }} * {{cite web | title = Consultant Rick Ross' list of articles on Scientology & CCHR | publisher = [[Rick Ross (consultant)|Rick Ross]] | format = | url = http://www.rickross.com/groups/scientology.html}} {{Scientology}} [[Category:Scientology organizations]] [[Category:Anti-psychiatry]] [[Category:Organizations based in Los Angeles, California]] [[de:Kommission für Verstöße der Psychiatrie gegen Menschenrechte]] [[fr:Commission des citoyens pour les droits de l'homme]] [[it:Comitato dei Cittadini per i Diritti Umani]] [[nl:Nederlands Comité voor de Rechten van de Mens]] [[ja:市民の人権擁護の会]] [[sv:Kommittén för mänskliga rättigheter]] [[zh:公民人權協會]]