Office of Special Affairs

Office of Special Affairs
Formation	1966
Type	Department of Scientologists
Legal status	Non-profit
Purpose/focus	Legal affairs and public relations
Headquarters	Hemet, California, USA
Chairman of Religious Technology Center	David Miscavige
Website	Scientology.org

The Office of Special Affairs or OSA (formerly the Guardian's Office) is a department of the Church of Scientology. According to the Church, the OSA is responsible for directing legal affairs, public relations, pursuing investigations, publicizing the Church's "social betterment works," and "oversee[ing its] social reform programs". Some observers outside the Church have characterized the department as an intelligence agency, comparing it variously to the CIA, the Secret Service, and the KGB.^[1][2][3] The department has drawn criticism for its involvement in targeting critics of the Church for dead agent operations. OSA has mounted character assassination operations against many critics of the Church.^[4][5]

OSA is the successor to the now-defunct Guardian's Office,^[6] which was responsible for Operation Snow White; both are in Department 20 in the Scientology Org-Chart. The most recent head of OSA International was Mike Rinder, who has since departed from the organization.^[7]

Structure

At local Scientology organizations, directors (Special Affairs, Legal, Public Affairs) are OSA staff members. Local Directors of Special Affairs are known as DSAs. Members of the Office of Special Affairs are drawn from the Sea Org.^[8]

In addition to regular staff, some church members also act as volunteer collaborators for the office, which cuts down on private investigation and legal research expenses.^[9][10] Some volunteers participate under the notion that they receive special "ethics protection."^[11] In one case a volunteer who read critical information about Scientology on the internet was led to believe that he would be unable to continue receiving services unless he performed a series of investigations for OSA.^[12]

History

The Guardian's Office was established in 1966, and its initial mission was to protect the interests of the Church of Scientology,^[13] and gather information on agencies and individuals deemed enemies of the organization.^[14] The Guardian's Office was also charged with internal monitoring of current Scientologists, in particular heretics and notable defectors.^[15] L. Ron Hubbard put his wife Mary Sue Hubbard in charge of the Guardian's Office,^[14] and it was initially headquartered at Saint Hill Manor, in England.^[6] The Guardian's Office functioned effectively as an Intelligence Bureau of the Church of Scientology, and planted members in key positions within federal government agencies, in order to obtain confidential material.^[16] Most branches of the Church of Scientology soon had at least one member from the Guardian's Office on its staff, and the Guardian's Office itself had its own secret Intelligence Bureau at the top of its organizational structure.^[6] The Guardian's Office was disbanded in 1983, and the bulk of its previous functions were then assigned to the Office of Special Affairs.^[6]

Methods

Garry Scarff has said that he used to be an OSA operative. He has made a number of statements about the inner workings of OSA, many of which are disputed by the Church. In a sworn deposition taken between July and August 1993 and submitted in Church of Scientology International vs. Steven Fishman and Uwe Geertz, Scarff testified, "...I was directed, one, to go to Chicago, Illinois and to murder Cynthia Kisser, Cynthia Kisser being the Executive Director of the Cult Awareness Network, by a staged car accident." The murder of Kisser did not take place and Scarff said, "I could not bring myself to harm or kill anybody."^[17] Scientology attorney Kendrick Moxon has called Scarff "a liar" and Moxon also stated that "Scarff's own father says he's a scumbag." Scarff has also been said to "flip-flop" by a representative of the former Cult Awareness Network.^[18]

Attorney Graham E. Berry was repeatedly the target of OSA "fair game" operations. In one case on May 14, 1994, OSA employed private investigator Eugene Ingram to solicit false statements from Robert Cipriano in order to bring phony criminal charges against Berry. The criminal scheme backfired when Cipriano realized that he was bribed by the Church of Scientology and recanted the charges against Berry.^[19][20]

Tory Christman, a former volunteer for OSA has stated that the organization hired private investigators, fabricated criminal charges and harassed their targets, including at their place of employment, as well as their family members.^[21]

Bonnie Woods, a former member who began counselling people involved with Scientology and their families, became a target along with her husband in 1993 when the Church of Scientology started a leaflet operation denouncing her as a "hate campaigner" with demonstrators outside their home and around East Grinstead. She and her family were followed by a private investigator, and a creditor of theirs was located and provided free legal assistance to sue them into bankruptcy. After a long battle of libel suits, in 1999 the church agreed to issue an apology^[22] and pay £55,000 damages and £100,000 costs to the Woods.^[4][23]

Among the targets of OSA operations are Free Zone groups.^{[24] [25]}

See also

Scientology portal

• Fair Game (Scientology)
• Intelligence agency
• Suppressive Person

References

1. ^ Wakefield, Margery Understanding Scientology
2. ^ Cisar, Joe (translator) The Guardian Office (GO)
3. ^ Hamburg Regional Office of the German Constitutional Security Agency Der Geheimdienst der Scientology-Organisation - Grundlagen, Aufgaben, Strukturen, Methoden und Ziele - Zweite Auflage, Stand 06.05.1998"
4. ^ ^{a b} Scientologists pay for libel, Clare Dyer, The Guardian, 9 June 1999.
5. ^ Sappell, Joel; Welkos, Robert W. (1990-06-29). "On the Offensive Against an Array of Suspected Foes". Los Angeles Times: p. A1:1. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-scientology062990x,1,5622544,full.story?coll=la-news-comment. Retrieved 2006-08-02.  Additional convenience link at "?". http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/la90/la90-6a.html. 
6. ^ ^{a b c d} Davis, Derek; Barry Hankins (2003). New Religious Movements and Religious Liberty in America. Baylor University Press. pp. 44, 48, 49, 189. ISBN 0918954924. 
7. ^ Cook, John (March 17, 2008). "Scientology - Cult Friction: After an embarrassing string of high-profile defection and leaked videos, Scientology is under attack from a faceless cabal of online activists. Has America's most controversial religion finally met its match?". Radar Online (Radar Magazine). http://radarmagazine.com/from-the-magazine/2008/03/scientology_anonymous_protests_tom_cruise_01.php. Retrieved 2008-03-20. 
8. ^ Ebner, Mark; Andrew Breitbart (2004). Hollywood, Interrupted. John Wiley and Sons. pp. 125–138. ISBN 0471450510. 
9. ^ Ortega, Tony (Sept. 9, 2001). "Sympathy for the Devil." New Times Los Angeles.
10. ^ How the OSA trap really works Tory Christman ex-OSA volunteer
11. ^ Pieniadz, Patty Pattie Pieniadz
12. ^ Gerry Armstrong Scientology's 1023 Submission (Bates Nos. 152016-152073)
13. ^ Propp, Steven H. (2004). Utopia on the 6th Floor: Work, Death, & Taxes-Part 2. iUniverse. p. 512. ISBN 0595337376. 
14. ^ ^{a b} Streissguth, Thomas (1995). Charismatic Cult Leaders. The Oliver Press, Inc.. pp. 74–78. ISBN 1881508188. 
15. ^ Kaslow, Florence Whiteman; Marvin B. Sussman (1982). Cults and the Family. Haworth Press. p. 185. ISBN 0917724550. 
16. ^ O'Mahony, Paul (2002). Criminal Justice in Ireland. Institute of Public Administration. pp. 38, 39. ISBN 1902448715. 
17. ^ Deposition of Gary Scarff in Church of Scientology International vs. Steven Fishman and Uwe Geertz
18. ^ Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlatans, Tony Ortega, Phoenix New Times, 30 November 1995.
19. ^ Graham Berry's letter to Kobrin and Moxon
20. ^ Documentation of Church of Scientology persecution of Graham Berry
21. ^ Christman, Tory How the OSA trap really works March 2001
22. ^ Apology to Bonnie Woods from the Church of Scientology and other defendants, 8 June 1999.
23. ^ Stars' cult pays out £155,000 over hate campaign, Richard Palmer, The Express, 8 June 1999.
24. ^ FreeZone Association of Germany Chronology of the Scientology Movement, 1984 (accessed 4/21/06)
25. ^ RON's Org Netherlands History of Scientology Timetrack of the 1990's (accessed 4/21/06

Further reading

• Office of Special Affairs and the Religious Technology Center (scientology.org)
• Office of Special Affairs (scientology.org)
• OSA (Office of Special Affairs) -- The Secret CIA of Scientology
• Scientology's Secret Service: Inside Scientology's Intelligence Agencies (xenu.net)
• Scientology's Secret Service: The Office of Special Affairs (1983 to present) (xenu.net)
• Documentation of harassment of former members by private investigators hired by OSA
• Garry Scarff court deposition on conspiracy to murder critic.
• Deceived; One woman's stand against the Church of Scientology, Bonnie Woods, London: Published by Hodder & Houghton. 2001. ISBN 0340785675