US embassy cable - 04FRANKFURT5072

C O N F I D E N T I A L FRANKFURT 005072 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/AGS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/14/2014 
TAGS: GM, PGOV, PHUM, PREL, SOCI 
SUBJECT: BADEN-WUERTTEMBERG REJECTS SCIENTOLOGIST REQUEST 
FOR DIALOGUE 
 
REF: A) FRANKFURT 3507 `B) STATE 4493 
 
Classified By: Consul General Peter W. Bodde, reasons 1.5(b) and (d) 
 
 1.  (C) SUMMARY: In a June 4 letter to Church of Scientology 
(CoS) President Helmuth Bloebaum, Baden-Wuerttemberg (B-W) 
State Secretary Rudolf Boehmler refused CoS Germany's request 
for dialogue with B-W state authorities (reftels), listing 
"widespread parliamentary opposition" as a primary concern. 
Scientology officials cite alleged pressure from the national 
Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a reason for 
B-W's refusal to engage.  The CoS will continue to pressure 
B-W authorities for informal contacts as a precursor to 
substantive dialogue but realize that a breakthrough is 
unlikely.  We will stay engaged on the margins and reiterate 
our support for dialogue (formal or informal) between the 
parties.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (SBU) CoS Germany contacted the Baden-Wuerttemberg State 
Chancellery on March 2, requesting an informal dialogue with 
a "neutral committee" of ad hoc officials from the B-W state 
government.  Poloff voiced USG support for Scientology's 
request during a March 11 meeting with Hans-Werner Carlhoff, 
the head of Baden-Wuerttemberg's Interministerial Working 
Group on Sects (reftels).  At that meeting and in subsequent 
contacts, Carlhoff underlined the importance of USG support 
for the Scientologist initiative, and promised to follow up. 
 
3.  (SBU) Boehmler's letter to Scientology President Bloebaum 
did not mention USG involvement, merely noting unanimous B-W 
parliamentary opposition to the CoS as an organization and 
the government's continued belief that CoS matters are most 
appropriately handled by the Interministerial Working Group 
on Sects.  The letter cited two different recent instances 
(December 10, 2003 and April 24, 2004) where B-W Parliament 
members had spoken out against Scientology and its activities 
in Baden-Wuerttemberg.  In our subsequent engagement with CoS 
officials, they expressed disappointment with the decision 
and asserted that they would continue to lobby for dialogue 
and an end to "state-sponsored discrimination" against the 
CoS in Baden-Wuerttemberg. 
 
4.  (C) COMMENT: CoS Germany's Human Rights Office Director 
Ingo Lehmann told us that he had learned that the national 
Office for the Protection of the Constitution had pressured 
Baden-Wuerttemberg and other states to refuse CoS requests 
for dialogue because they would interfere with pending CoS 
litigation against the OPC.  Scientologists have long been 
active in trying to get the OPC to stop surveillance of CoS 
activities, and we believe that any step towards 
"normalization" of relations could damage the OPC's case for 
regarding Scientology as an anti-constitutional movement and 
maintaining surveillance of CoS groups.  Given B-W's 
consistent hostility towards Scientology, however, it is 
unlikely that national-level pressure from the OPC, even if 
true, is solely responsible for the state's continued 
intransigence.  END COMMENT. 
BODDE