Scientology cult's secret prison camps: The "Sea Org" and "Rehabilitation Project Force"

Scientology staff and even "public" Scientologists are heavily recruited to join the "Sea Organization," or "Sea Org." The Sea Org is an insider order of Scientology, where all members are required to sign a "billion year contract" to help Scientology "clear the planet" and "obliterate psychiatry." Any person who joins the Sea Org and then later disagrees with its practices will soon find him- or herself confined in the RPF. The conditions these people live in are inhumane and violate many US laws, as well as prisoner of war standards held by the United Nations and the Geneva Convention.

Regular Sea Org members are required to work 10-12 hours a day, 7 days a week, receiving receive only a small stipend, usually 50 US dollars/week, from which FICA and tax is withheld. The standard net payment is $46 and some cents. The actual work time is disguised by the statement that there are 8 hours of work time and 2-4 hours of "study". The "study" activities are merely intensive indoctrination sessions in learning how to perform one's work duties and how to comply with the many rules and policies of the organization. There's no "study" of anything other than Scientology, and many times this is canceled in order to meet production quotas, called "statistics". If the "stats" are down, members are frequently required to work even more hours. Many weeks this minimal pay is cut down further, due to other "financial planning priorities." The United States Government's federal poverty guideline for religious workers is about $12,000 per year per person. The annual pay per the current Scientology system only gives a Sea Org member $2,390 annually. No medical or other benefits are provided.

Sea Org members who have been sent to the Rehabilitation Project Force are only granted $11 and some cents per week. Even this is often cut down to one-eighth of full pay or about $5 and some cents. This is annually around $300 to $600. This system is built on the assumption that a Sea Org member is doing his or her work "voluntarily" and this way of reasoning is justified with the fact that he or she is given food, "berthing" (a place to sleep) and a uniform.

The quality of the housing and food is poor, and in the case of housing especially, violates many fire, housing and safety codes, as up to 50 people are packed into bunks stacked to the ceilings in rooms meant for 2 to 4 people. Hundreds are forced to use a single shower room, and bathrooms are shared by approximately 25 full time residents each.

Scientology is spending millions of tax free dollars on new buildings to in an attempt to show the cult's "growth." They get the buildings renovated and upgraded by using the slave labor of Sea Org members, especially those in the RPF. With regard to the nationals of other countries who are in the Sea Org, the US State Department forbids workers on religious visas to work as "janitors, maintenance workers, clerks, fundraisers or persons involved solely in the solicitations of donations."

Scientology does not have any kind of insurance for most of its members and most medical expenses are borne by US taxpayers. When members require medical or dental attention, they are required to fill out state aid forms identifying themselves as "indigent." They are also encouraged to abuse other social programs such as SSI, MediCal and Medicare. Scientology uses many methods to persuade Sea Org members to give up all responsibilities to their families and children, and they are encouraged to abandon family responsibilities to welfare agencies and other government social services.

RPF members in the Sea Org are not allowed to leave the premises, not even for medical treatment, unless accompanied by "security" personnel to ensure their adherence to the "shore story" (party line). Should someone manage to escape, Scientology security will guard every means of exit, such as airports, bus stations, subways, etc. They will spend weeks investigating the escapee's family and friends, and use Private Investigators to track them down, even picketing people's homes and harassing their friends, family, neighbors and employers. People assigned to Scientology's RPF have their passports, visa, IDs, credit cards and other documents confiscated and locked up so that full control can be enforced on the member, in an attempt to prevent him or her from leaving without permission. Permission to leave is only granted after an extensive "routing out" procedure has been completed, which includes intensive re-indoctrination, "security checks" on the "e-meter," and many pages of other forms and agreements to keep quiet. Completing these requirements takes months and sometimes years. Meanwhile those wishing to leave are held in virtual isolation under 24 hour guard. RPF members are considered to be security risks, especially if they have been to or worked at the "top secret" international Scientology base and headquarters at Gilman Hot Springs (Hemet), California, where "Golden Era Productions" and Scientology's leader David Miscavige are located. This is done in an attempt to scare and prevent ex-members from speaking out or taking any legal action against the "church" or management once they are finally allowed to leave.

People assigned to Scientology's RPF are forced to work at hard labor for an average of 2 to 10 years. They are not allowed access to their own mail, nor to newspapers, TV, any music, radio, or books. It is forbidden for any Sea Org member to view the internet. They are told "it contains harmful, confidential data, detrimental to your well-being." This is to prevent them from discovering the tremendous amount of evidence now available on the internet of Scientology's crimes and misdeeds.

All mail to all Sea Org members is opened and scanned into a security computer system. Personal mail containing any criticism of Scientology is sent to the "Ethics Department" and withheld from the addressee. RPF members are essentially cut off from reality for years. They are not allowed to contact their own families or children unless there is a "PR" (public relations) issue, in which case a staff member might be allowed a phone conversation or letter that is scripted and observed by Scientology security and designed to reassure those concerned that there is "nothing to worry about." Social gatherings such as weddings, anniversaries, family reunions are forbidden and though in rare cases a funeral attendance can be granted, the member will be accompanied by Scientology security.

Many married members have been forced to divorce if one of the spouses dares to defy scientology management. All Scientologists are forced to adhere to a policy called "disconnection, whereby they are forced to cut off contact with any friends or family members (including their own minor children) who express disagreement with Scientology.

"Retirement" in this cult occurs when a member becomes too old or sick to work. There are members of the Sea Org who are over 80 years old and still working. Members who are too ill to work are kept in isolation and abide by the same rules of no family contact, no TV, books, etc. as the rest of the RPF. The routine to offload "useless” members from the RPF program is called a "Fitness Board Turndown," and many are put out on the street with only $500 in "severance pay" after many years of labor (in many cases 20 or more years); no retirement funds, and no useable work history or skills. They end up dependent upon Social Security, or the mercy of family they haven't seen in years. Occasionally, Scientology Security will prevail on "Public Scientologists" (ordinary citizens who are Scientologists) to create a job for these unfortunate people. When released from "duty" in this way, they are forced to sign 15 or so pages of "nondisclosure" agreements wherein they are required to promise to never reveal the truth of what it is like to be a Sea Org member, especially one assigned to the RPF.

Child welfare and social services authorities in California and Florida are well acquainted with Scientology. Members are discouraged from having children due to the many legal "flaps" over the years. Children are considered to be "off purpose" as they take time away from "production" and "getting the stats up." Many members have been coerced into having abortions. Children who are raised in Scientology are separated from their parents, live in squalid conditions with minimal supervision, and are "trained" in scientology schools using "Study Tech." Many do not graduate high school. When they rebel, as most teenagers do, they are sent to the RPF (where many spend years) or are offloaded and declared "SP" (Suppressive Persons) and forced to disconnect from their parents and other family still in Scientology.

Yes, this is all taking place daily right here in the USA, while the Chairman of the Board of Scientology, David Miscavige, and his celebrity friends, are known to frequent casinos in Las Vegas and the Caribbean. Miscavige lives in luxury quarters at the Hemet Base and in Hollywood, where he has two additional luxury suites that were built and are maintained by Sea Org members, at no charge to him or to the church.

Scientology has been given a free ride in the USA and other countries for too long. The moment anyone criticizes the cult, the organization and its members begin whining loudly about "hate speech" and "bigotry," and frequently make comparisons of themselves with the Jews of 1938 Germany; i.e. threatened and persecuted victims of religious bigotry. Fortunately, several very serious investigations by US authorities have now begun into the Sea Org and many other nefarious aspects of Scientology.

You can join us in the effort to hold Scientology accountable for its many crimes and abuses. Please come to http://www.youfoundthecard.com and http://www.enturbulation.org

Locations of RPF facilities:
1308 L. Ron Hubbard Way, Los Angeles, CA 90027
19625 Highway 79, Gilman Hot Springs, CA 92583
Clearwater, FL 33755
East Grinstead, Sussex, England
Copenhagen, Denmark
Sydney, Australia
SEE ALSO:

The RPF Insider series of communiqués
http://www.xenu-directory.net/critics/rpfinsider/rpfinsider1.html

Ex-Scientology Kids: The Sea Org
http://www.exscientologykids.com/seaorg.html

The Rehabilitation Project Force
http://www.xenu-directory.net/practices/rpf.html

Scientology's RPF (from ABC TV)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JArJaG1Hv_k

The Childrens' RPF (from "Missing in Happy Valley")
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW8ZqGSkXjI

Scientology: Tax-exempt Child Abuse
http://www.taxexemptchildabuse.net

Professor Stephen Kent: Brainwashing in Scientology's Rehabilitation Project Force
http://www.solitarytrees.net/pubs/skent/brain.htm

Previous Indybay coverage of the Scientology cult
http://www.indybay.org/search/search_results.php?search=marcab

You Found the Card: Great source of basic info about Scientology
http://www.youfoundthecard.com

Operation Clambake: Probably the most comprehensive source of info about Scientology
http://www.xenu.net

Enturbulation: Worldwide coordinating center for anti-Scientology activities
http://www.enturbulation.org