Anti-cults

14 NGOs ask the British authorities to put an end to intimidation, harassment, and violence.

June 17, 2026

To the relevant authorities,

We, the undersigned NGOs, academics, and advocates for human rights and religious freedom, write to express our deep concern regarding the escalating pattern of harassment, violence, and targeted intimidation directed at members of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light (AROPL) in Crewe—particularly at Webb House—and increasingly at other locations where members reside.

by Alessandro Amicarelli — The 62^nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council opens on June 15 in Geneva, and among the written submissions already filed is a substantial statement by the ECOSOC-accredited NGO CAPLC (Coordination des associations et des particuliers pour la liberté de conscience), a watchdog for religious liberty issues, on the OneTaste case. The document urges the Council to examine the implications of the convictions of Nicole Daedone and Rachel Cherwitz, who received sentences of nine and six-and-a-half years on March 30, 2026. CAPLC presents the case as a turning point in the interpretation of trafficking law, with consequences that extend far beyond the United States.

By Alessandro Amicarelli — For years, I have defended individuals and communities targeted by states that see danger where none exists. Still, the case of Konstantin Rudnev in Argentina stands out—even after all I have seen—as an extraordinary instance of prosecutorial imagination. Rudnev remains in jail today despite three separate judicial orders, each converting his detention into house arrest. Three times judges have ruled he shouldn’t be in prison; three times the orders were ignored.

by Alessandro Amicarelli — The April 29 operation in Crewe, where some 500 British police officers—reportedly joined by Irish and Swedish personnel—stormed the headquarters of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light (AROPL), has generated serious questions about proportionality and the use of force. AROPL has filed a complaint with the United Nations for the mistreatments its members received in Sweden, and some see this action as the result of inputs to the UK from the Swedish police.

By Willy Fautré, director of Human Rights Without Frontiers — At the beginning of April, various parties publicly expressed, with complete impunity, their strong opposition to the freedom of worship and assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses wishing to publicly commemorate their annual “Memorial of Jesus’ death” in various towns across France, which corresponds to the Catholic celebration of Easter.

Her husband, Tony Ortega – best known as a fierce opponent of religions, with a particular ‘penchant’ for Scientology – has made headlines in the US – or rather, caused a scandal –  for becoming a staunch defender of paedophiles and child trafficking.

In a world where spirituality should unite, history tells us that the opposite has often been the case. This article, written by Prof. Pietro Nocita in concomitance with parliamentary hearings on the possible reintroduction of the crime of plagio in Italy, offers a profound and articulate reflection on the concept of religion, its linguistic ambiguities and its historical drifts.

South Korea’s justice system has once again revealed its fragility with the arrest of Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, widow of Rev. Sun Myung Moon, in Seoul. Known to her followers as “Mother Han,” the 82-year-old leader of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification is currently recovering from heart failure, a fact the prosecutor disregarded when ordering her detention. In “The Arrest of Mother Han: Korea’s Unholy War on Religion and Reason”, sociologist Massimo Introvigne dissects the legal case, arguing: “The legal grounds for arresting Mother Han were absent. The charges are implausible and politically motivated. This is not a corruption case—it’s a purge.”

In the following article, “Religiocide in Korea: The Attempted Assassination of a Faith”, sociologist Massimo Introvigne unveils and exposes a disturbing campaign of religious hatred and persecution happening in Korea.

Introvigne explores the legal and political siege against the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, generally known by its previous name of Unification Church.

This Korean crackdown stems from similar efforts started in Japan, where the movement faces legal dissolution.

by Willy Fautré, director of Human Rights Without Frontiers (Brussels) — In the last few months, a number of mainline British media, including the BBC, published sensational reports gravely stigmatizing the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light whose members were arrested and imprisoned as “heretics” in over a dozen Muslim majority countries and were defended by the United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights Without Frontiers and other NGOs.

There are signs that “traditional” anti-cultists are ready to enroll even the most lunatic “New Age” figures in their crusade.

In this article, Rosita Šorytė explores the connection between the new anti-cult New Age movements and the conventional anti-cult movements that mostly orbit in the FECRIS galaxy, as demonstrated by Luigi Corvaglia's explicit appreciation of Wahid Azal's remarks, in perfect line with the motto “the enemies of my enemies are my friends”.

A “prophet,” whose revelations come from hallucinogenic plants, believes CESNUR funds AROPL as part of a Jewish “Sabbatian-Frankist” conspiracy.

In this article, Rosita Šorytė denounces the activities of one of the leaders of the New Age Anti-Cultism, Wahid Azal, whose “sources” derive from hallucinogenic plants. Wahid Azal has incorporated ayahuasca and Haoma – a MAO inhibitor from Syrian rue (Peganum harmala) and Australian acacia bark containing DMT – into his religious practice, which allows him to communicate with mythical figures from centuries past.

The attack against the spiritual master Aaravindha Himadra was an egregious example of irresponsible reporting that may incite violence. 

In this article, Rosita Šorytė explains how the new type of anti-cult activism – the so called New Age Anti-Cultism – works. The pattern is very much the same of anti-cult media campaigns many times denounced by FOB.

The American “journalist” Be Scofield is a new kind of anti-cultist. Her primary sources are revelations from angels, extraterrestrials, Tarot cards, and the Akashic records. 

In this series of articles, Rosita Šorytė explores the emergence of a new type of anti-cult activism, which she refers to as “New Age anti-cultism.” Unlike traditional anti-cult movements that oppose “cults” in the name of secular humanism or mainstream religion, this movement criticizes “cultic” beliefs rooted in a confusing mix of astrology, energy theories, and popular esotericism.

In this series of articles, Rosita Šorytė will examine two examples of “New Age anti-cultism” pertinent to AROPL. She will also explore whether New Age anti-cultism will be recognized as a legitimate component of the global anti-cult movement and whether it will benefit from the efforts of its coordinating agencies. Rosita Šorytė, member of FOB’ Scientific Committee, joined in 1992 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, and worked for 25 years as a diplomat, inter alia at the UNESCO in Paris and the United Nations in New York.

by Alessandro Amicarelli — Luigi Corvaglia, the self-styled anti-cult crusader and FECRIS board member, has once again graced the digital pages of “AgoraVox”—that Italian bastion of citizen journalism where anyone with a keyboard and a grievance can play pundit. But this time, his article didn’t just linger in the depths of AgoraVox’s volunteer-driven archives. It was swiftly picked up and republished by the China Anti-Xie-Jiao Association ...

In Italy, but unfortunately not only there, there is an ongoing emergency: a virus that was thought to have been permanently eradicated back in the early 1980s has made a comeback. It is again circulating and being transmitted by communicating, exchanging ideas, changing one's point of view and embracing new life experiences. It is the “virus of mental manipulation”. It seems that the only vaccine that can stop this alarming phenomenon is a law to control and limit the freedom to change one's opinion about someone or something.

FOB has addressed the topic of apostates several times, including the study "Apostates and New Religious Movements" by Bryan Ronald Wilson, Emeritus Fellow, University of Oxford, and the article "The Defector's Syndrome" by attorney Fabrizio d'Agostini, founding member of FOB. The following article, by Willy Fautré, director of Human Rights Without Frontiers, exemplifies a typical modus operandi in the anti-cult world ...

by Alessandro Amicarelli — In its ruling of 16 June 2025 in civil case no. 7879/2023, Section II of the Florence Tribunal ruled against the Italian Association of Victims of Cults (AIVS) for actions carried out online targeting the Soka Gakkai Buddhist Institute, based in Florence.  

What led to this ruling?

2025 is proving to be an annus horribilis for MIVILUDES, the French anti-cult state organization (Mission interministérielle de vigilance et de lutte contre les dérives sectaires – Interministerial Mission for Monitoring and Combating Cultic Deviances). On July 11, in fact, the Administrative Court of Paris issued the 5^th sentence against MIVILUDES for refusing to delete from its 2021 report some defamatory phrases to the detriment of the Christian congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. The story goes hand in hand with the judgment of ...