Youth for Human Rights International
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Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) is a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles, California at 1332 L. Ron Hubbard Way, whose stated mission is "To teach youth around the globe about human rights, thus helping them to become valuable advocates for the promotion of tolerance and peace." Specifically, they teach the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.[1]
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[edit] Leadership
YHRI's president and founder is Mary Shuttleworth (formerly Mary Untiedt), president of YHRI's parent organization International Foundation for Human Rights and Tolerance. She also founded the Applied Scholastics schools "Shuttleworth Academy" and "Mary's Schoolhouse".[2] Shuttleworth holds an executive position at TXL Films[3] the company who created the music video UNITED with YHRI.[4]
YHRI's Executive Director is Tim Bowles, former law partner of Moxon & Bowles for the Church of Scientology, serving as general legal council. Bowles also acts as an advisor to the Church's Citizens Commission on Human Rights. [5]
Lynsey Bartilson, who appears on the television series "Grounded for Life," is YHRI's most visible spokesperson. She was raised and remains a Scientologist. In her online biography, she states that she worked as creative director and choreographer for the Scientology Celebrity Center’s “Kids on Stage for A Better World.”
[edit] Programs
YHRI has teamed with other organizations to produce youth-oriented multimedia content for the purpose of teaching human rights. In 2004, they teamed with TXL Films to create the award-winning music video, "UNITED." [6] In 2006, with support from the Human Rights Department of the Church of Scientology, they produced 30 public service announcements for TV, illustrating each of the 30 rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.[7]
Materials used by YHRI are produced in conjunction with the Church of Scientology International Human Rights Office.[8]
[edit] Controversy
YHRI and another group, the International Foundation for Human Rights and Tolerance, have been accused of serving as front groups for Scientology. Shuttleworth is president of both groups. Shuttleworth and Bowles are longtime Scientologists, as are many of the staff.
Historically, Scientology's initial excursion into human rights was part of an anti-psychiatry campaign that it began in the 1960s, founding the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) in 1969. According to Hubbard, Scientology was to wage that campaign in order "to take over absolutely the field of mental healing." [9] In this light, Scientology's interest in human rights is tactical rather than ideological, serving to disguise its attack on a branch of medecine that it regards as its direct competition -- psychiatry. Medecine would treat the mentally ill and unstable; Scientology would recruit them.
Aside from promoting human rights, critics have said, YHRI has three purposes: 1) it associates Scientology with more mainstream ideals, polishing its reputation; 2) it pushes for Scientology to be accepted as a religion, rather than monitored as a cult, as it is in several European countries; and 3) it provides Scientology with an avenue to distribute its materials to minors, who may be susceptible to its recruiting methods.[10]
In his book Combatting Cult Mind Control, Steven Hassan reveals how the Unification Church, or Moonies, employed similar methods to recruit him and other college students for the International One World Crusade, which claimed to bridge cultural differences but in fact served as a front group to swell the membership of the Church during the 1970s.
In December 2006, a parliamentary investigation published in France recorded ex-Scientologists, including Roger Gonnet, the former head of Scientology's office in Lyon, as testifying that Scientology had abused the human rights of children by separating them from their parents, exposing them to interrogation techniques and forcing them to work long hours.[11]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ (n.d.) About YFHR
- ^ (n.d.) About Mary Shuttleworth
- ^ (n.d.)Mary Shuttleworth
- ^ (n.d.) About United
- ^ (n.d.)About Tim Bowles
- ^ (n.d.) About "United"
- ^ (n.d.) Watch Ads
- ^ Scientology Newsroom (News ticker). Church of Scientology (2006-02-06). Archived from the original on 2006-02-20. Retrieved on 2007-02-01. “Bellini Secondary School in Novara, Italy, begins implementing a program of human rights education, based on the materials produced by Youth for Human Rights International, in conjunction with the Church of Scientology International Human Rights Office.”
- ^ Leiby, Richard. "A Couch Tom Cruise Won't Jump On", The Washington Post, The Washington Post Company, 2005-06-25, p. C01. Retrieved on 2006-08-17.
- ^ Scientology front groups, listed and discussed on F.A.C.T.net
- ^ [1] French government report on the abuse of children's rights by cults, including Scientology - in French
[edit] External links
- Youth For Human Rights - Official website
- ScientologyToday.org: Youth For Human Rights
- Mary Shuttleworth nee Untiedt's statement of faith
- Lynsey Bartilson's official home page
- The International Foundation for Human Rights and Tolerance
- Usenet group on Scientology
