Editing Unification Church (section)

== Persecution ==

=== Germany ===
In November 1995, German authorities blacklisted the founders of the Unification Church (Reverend Sun Myung Moon and his wife, Hak Ja Han Moon) through the [[Schengen Information System]] and thus forbid entry to 12 European countries.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Reactions to the law by minority religions |date=2021 |publisher=Taylor & Francis Group Routledge |isbn=978-0-367-69449-4 |editor-last=Barker |editor-first=Eileen |series=Routledge informs series on minority religions and spiritual movements |location=Londin New York |page=97 |editor-last2=Richardson |editor-first2=James T.}}</ref> The period of exclusion was extended several times.<ref>{{Cite web |title=U.S. Department of State Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2002 – Germany |url=https://www.refworld.org/reference/annualreport/usdos/2003/en/23299 |access-date=March 16, 2024 |website=UNHCR Refworld |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=International Religious Freedom Report 2004, Germany |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2004/35456.htm |access-date=March 16, 2024 |website=U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor}}</ref> After 12 years on October 24, 2006, the [[Federal Constitutional Court|German Federal Constitutional Court]] ruled that previous court rulings and authorities' treatment of the Unification Church in the period from November 1995 violated Article 4 paragraph 1 (Freedom of faith and conscience is inviolable) and paragraph 2 (undisturbed practice is guaranteed) of the [[Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany|German Constitution]] and is repealed must reimburse the UC for the necessary expenses (articles 2 and 3 of the ruling). It also stated that the authorities' defense was based on [[rumor]]s and assumptions (article 15 of the ruling) and the previous ruling of the Higher Administrative Court was based on weighting religious matters, which is not permitted by state authorities (article 27 of the ruling).<ref>{{Cite web |title=BVerfG, Beschluss vom 24. 10. 2006 – 2 BvR 1908/03 |url=https://lexetius.com/2006,2690 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304231539/https://lexetius.com/2006,2690 |archive-date=March 4, 2024 |website=lexetius.com}}</ref> Court by this decision rejects with immediate effect the rationale of the [[Federal Ministry of the Interior (Germany)|German Federal Ministry of the Interior]] for the 1995 immigration exclusion and not granting an entry [[Travel visa|visa]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=2007 Report on International Religious Freedom – Germany |url=https://www.refworld.org/reference/annualreport/usdos/2007/en/48847 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304134426/https://www.refworld.org/reference/annualreport/usdos/2007/en/48847 |archive-date=March 4, 2024 |access-date=March 4, 2024 |website=UNHCR Refworld |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bundesverfassungsgericht – Presse – Erfolgreiche Verfassungsbeschwerde der deutschen Vereinigungskirche gegen Einreiseverbot für Ehepaar Mun |url=https://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/pressemitteilungen/bvg06-109.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028134706/https://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/pressemitteilungen/bvg06-109.html |archive-date=October 28, 2014 |access-date=March 27, 2024 |website=Bundesverfassungsgericht}}</ref>

=== France ===
In March 1982, a 21-year-old woman, Claire Château, who was on the central street of Dijon distributing brochures, was pulled into a moving car shouting for help. After a psychological examination showed that she was in good mental health with no traces of alleged "[[brainwashing]]", seven people, family members, and [[Union nationale des associations de défense des familles et de l'individu]] (ADFI) "professional [[Deprogramming|deprogrammers]]" were accused by the Dijon Regional Criminal Investigation Department (Service Régional de Police Judiciaire de Dijon) of kidnapping under §341 of the [[Code pénal (France)|French Penal Code]] to the Besançon Court of Justice.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Birman |first=Patricia |date=April 1, 2005 |title=Fronteiras espirituais e fronteiras nacionais: o combate às seitas na França |journal=Mana |language=pt |volume=11 |pages=7–39 |doi=10.1590/S0104-93132005000100001 |issn=0104-9313|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=March 9, 1982 |title=Sept personnes sont inculpées à Besançon pour avoir séquestré une adepte de Moon La secte à l'intention de se porter partie civile Un drame en trois actes |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1982/03/09/sept-personnes-sont-inculpees-a-besancon-pour-avoir-sequestre-une-adepte-de-moon-la-secte-a-l-intention-de-se-porter-partie-civile-un-drame-en-trois-actes_3146944_1819218.html |access-date=April 6, 2024 |work=Le Monde.fr |language=fr}}</ref> The case contributed to the gradual abandonment of abductions and deprogramming attempts.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Birman |first=Patricia |date=April 6, 2024 |title=Croyances et appartenances : un débat français |url=https://www.ethnographiques.org/2008/Birman |access-date=April 6, 2024 |website=ethnographiques.org |language=fr}}</ref>

=== Russia ===
In 2000, Russia excluded Patrick Francis Nolan from reentry, holding him captive at the airport overnight based on FSB material concerning countering non-traditional religions. The visa was repeatedly canceled on reentry without an explanation, which separated him from his son, who stayed in Russia, for almost one year. [[European Court of Human Rights]] (ECHR) in 2009 in the case ''Nolan and K. v. Russia'' stated, that Russia failed to comply with or violated Articles 38§1a, 9, 8, 5§1, 5§5 and Article 1 of Protocol No. 7 of the [[European Convention on Human Rights|Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms]] (Convention) and decided that Russia should pay a sum of €7,810 for damages.<ref>{{Cite web |title=HUDOC – European Court of Human Rights |url=https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#%7B%22tabview%22:%5B%22document%22%5D,%22itemid%22:%5B%22001-91302%22%5D%7D |access-date=April 6, 2024 |website=hudoc.echr.coe.int}}</ref> In 2005–2006, Russia forcibly expelled John Alphonsus Corley and Shuji Igarashi and separated them from their families staying in Russia. Mr. Igarashi was held in detention for 3 days in inhuman conditions. Newspaper [[Rossiyskaya Gazeta]] published an article "ComMoonism has come to the Urals" explaining the reason as "State campaign against the Unification Church." In the 2022 case ''Corley and Others v. Russia'', the ECHR  stated that Russia violated Articles 1, 2, 9, 8, 3, and 5 of the Convention and decided that Russia should pay a sum of 30.270 € for damages.<ref>{{Cite web |title=HUDOC – European Court of Human Rights |url=https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/fre#%7B%22itemid%22:%5B%22001-213717%22%5D%7D |access-date=April 6, 2024 |website=hudoc.echr.coe.int}}</ref>

=== United States ===
On [[Thanksgiving]] 1979, the parents of 28-year-old Thomas Ward conspired with 31 other people to kidnap him (for the second time) and hold him captive for 35 days. He suffered verbal and physical abuse in attempts to "de-program" him of his religious beliefs. Attempts failed and 33 people heard the verdict on the crimes of [[Criminal conspiracy|conspiracy]], [[Battery (crime)|battery]], [[false imprisonment]], [[intentional infliction of emotional distress]], and [[Larceny|grand larceny]]. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on April 18, 1980, that federal civil rights laws protect against religious discrimination. The judgment contradicted the (then common) "parental immunity" principle in such cases.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ward v. Connor, 495 F. Supp. 434 |url=https://casetext.com/case/ward-v-connor |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240407003320/https://casetext.com/case/ward-v-connor |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 7, 2024 |access-date=April 7, 2024 |website=Casetext }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=March 2, 2024 |title=Court Rules Rights Laws Protect Against Religious Discrimination |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1981/08/14/court-rules-rights-laws-protect-against-religious-discrimination/caba88e2-4477-464a-9147-b7276acbc774/ |access-date=April 7, 2024 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> Thomas J. Ward graduated in 1981 from the [[Unification Theological Seminary]] and in 2019 became its president.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History – HJI International |url=https://hji.edu/history/ |access-date=April 7, 2024 |website=hji.edu}}</ref> In 1991, [[Carlton Sherwood]] in his book [[Inquisition: The Persecution and Prosecution of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon]] accused Congress, courts, state agencies, and the press of "worst kind of religious prejudice and racial bigotry" against the church, its leaders and followers as determined attempt to erase the church from the United States.<ref name=":5" />

=== Communist Czechoslovakia ===
The movement sent missionary Emilia Steberle to communist countries in 1968 during the [[Prague Spring]] to [[Czechoslovakia]]. She succeeded in building an underground movement during the early [[Normalization (Czechoslovakia)|Normalization]]. The group was soon observed by the [[StB]] (communist secret police) since 1971.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bellum |first=Post |date=March 22, 2025 |title=Moonistku Marii Živnou našli na samotce mrtvou. Zavraždila ji StB? |url=https://hlidacipes.org/moonistku-marii-zivnou-nasli-na-samotce-mrtvou-zavrazdila-ji-stb/ |access-date=August 1, 2025 |website=HlídacíPes |language=cs}}</ref> The [[Communist state|communist regime]] persecuted members of the group as undesirable for the establishment.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Stehno |first=Bohuslav |date=November 6, 2014 |title=Deska Marie Živné na hradě zatím nebude |url=https://svitavsky.denik.cz/volny-cas/deska-marie-zivne-na-hrade-zatim-nebude-20141106.html |access-date=August 1, 2025 |work=Svitavský deník |language=cs}}</ref> In 1973, during an operation called "FAMILIA", almost 30 members were captured and arrested. In the following months of imprisonment in a communist jail, one of the members, [[Marie Živná]], who resisted interrogation methods,<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 15, 2024 |title=Ani padesát let po smrti Marie Živné není jasné, co se v komunistickém žaláři odehrálo |url=https://www.novinky.cz/clanek/historie-ani-padesat-let-po-smrti-marie-zivne-neni-jasne-co-se-v-komunistickem-zalari-odehralo-40467834 |access-date=July 30, 2025 |website=Novinky |language=cs}}</ref> died on April 11, 1974, at the age of 24, with unclear reasons. Witnesses who saw her body before the burial testified that she had unnaturally white hair,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Kubínová |first=Anna |date=April 23, 2024 |title=Příběh Marie Živné ožívá padesát let po její záhadné smrti |url=https://stisk.online/a/iPHBP/pribeh-marie-zivne-oziva-padesat-let-po-jeji-zahadne-smrti |access-date=July 30, 2025 |website=stisk.online |language=cs}}</ref> concluding that she was tortured.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alois Živný – Městys Svojanov |url=https://mestyssvojanov.cz/w/alois-zivny/ |access-date=July 30, 2025 |language=cs}}</ref> The funeral in [[Svojanov]] became a demonstration against the communist regime.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 5, 2025 |title=Dívka vyznávala tajemnou víru. Vzala si ve vězení život, nebo ji oběsila StB? |url=https://www.seznamzpravy.cz/clanek/domaci-divka-vyznavala-tajemnou-viru-vzala-si-ve-vezeni-zivot-nebo-ji-obesila-stb-272978 |access-date=July 30, 2025 |website=Seznam Zprávy |language=cs}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Marie Živná – Městys Svojanov |url=https://mestyssvojanov.cz/w/marie-zivna/ |access-date=July 30, 2025 |language=cs}}</ref> On October 10, 1974, the Supreme Court in Bratislava sentenced 14 young people to prison terms ranging from 18 months to 4 years and 4 months.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 12, 2025 |title=Moonistku Marii Živnou našli na samotce v roce 1974 mrtvou. Zavraždila ji StB? |url=https://magazin.pametnaroda.cz/volne/zeny-v-ohrozeni-ukazky/moonistku-marii-zivnou-nasli-na-samotce-vroce-1974-mrtvou-zavrazdila-ji-stb |access-date=July 30, 2025 |website=Magazín Paměti národa |language=cs}}</ref> Marie Živná is the first officially recognized [[martyr]] of the Unification Movement behind the [[Iron Curtain]], for her exemplary fight for freedom.<ref name=":1" />