Multi-Faith Coalition Calls on Germany to Account for Decades of Unfounded Surveillance of Scientologists

The International Multi-Faith Coalition welcomes the end of the decades-long surveillance of the Church of Scientology and Scientologists in Germany as an overdue but profoundly important development for religious freedom, human dignity, and the rule of law.

For nearly 30 years, members of a peaceful religious community were subjected to suspicion, stigma, and state scrutiny on the basis of allegations that, after three decades, produced no evidence of the threat that had been claimed. No democratic society is strengthened when citizens are treated as suspects because of their faith. Democracy is strengthened when the state has the courage to correct its course, acknowledge error, and ensure that such treatment is never repeated.

This matter is larger than one religion. It concerns the principle that every faith community—popular or unpopular, familiar or misunderstood—is entitled to equal treatment before the law. Religious liberty is not proven in moments of consensus. It is proven when governments protect the rights of minorities against prejudice, political pressure, and fear.

The end of this surveillance should therefore not be treated as a quiet administrative adjustment, but as an occasion for moral and institutional accountability. The German government should review the damage caused by years of official suspicion, public stigmatization, and discriminatory practices, including the use of so-called “sect filters,” and should take meaningful steps to restore the dignity and rights of those affected.

Germany has long presented itself as a defender of human rights and constitutional democracy. That role now requires more than ending an unjust policy; it requires acknowledging that religious minorities cannot be placed outside the normal protections of democratic life simply because they are controversial or misunderstood.

We stand with Scientologists in Germany, and with all religious minorities who have faced discrimination under the guise of public protection. The lesson of this history must be clear: suspicion is not evidence, prejudice is not policy, and religious identity must never be treated as a security threat.

The International Multi-Faith Coalition calls on German authorities to ensure full equality, public accountability, and lasting safeguards so that no faith community in Germany is again subjected to decades of state-sponsored suspicion without proof, due process, or justification.