Case
No. 34: Aum Shinrikyo & Aleph cult
CHARGES
- · Organized Crime
- · Terrorism
- · Crimes against Humanity and Peace
- · Spiritual Fraud and False Buddhism
DETAILS OF THE CASE
International Buddhist Ethics
Committee: In 1995
the powerful Japanese sect "Aum Shinrikyo" carried out terrorist acts
killing dozens of people and seriously injuring thousands of lives. This sect,
now called "Aleph", has been spread through several countries in
Europe, where it begins to be persecuted as a terrorist organization, as happens
in Russia. Indeed, the Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights has been able to
analyze during the "Supreme Court of Russia Federation" Case that
"Aleph" sect is being banned in that country. Because the actions
carried out by this dangerous sect would be Crimes against Humanity, the
International Buddhist Ethics Committee is in favor of this prohibition. On the
other hand, this Case not only plans to demonstrate that the Aum Shinrikyo or
Aleph sect has violated the International Human Rights Law, but also seeks to
demonstrate that this sect constitutes False Buddhism, which is very important
because many scholars have unreasonably accused Buddhism of being behind these
terrorist acts, erroneously stating that this sect has Buddhist bases. Among
these malicious or without knowledge academics is Ken Wilber, who has already
been sentenced by the International Buddhist Ethics Committee.
LIST OF EVIDENCES
EVIDENCE 1: Use of
Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
EVIDENCE 2: Assassinations,
Kidnappings and Extortions
EVIDENCE 3: Torture, Mind Control & False Spirituality
EVIDENCE
4: Attacks against Buddhism
EVIDENCE 1: Use of
Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
Monterey Institute of International
Studies: “[On]
march 20, 1995, five members of the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo (Supreme Truth)
boarded subway trains in Tokyo, Japan, and released the deadly chemical nerve
agent sarin. The attack killed 12 people and injured over 1,000, of whom 17
were critically injured (requiring intensive care), 37 were severely injured (with
muscular twitching and gastrointestinal problems), and 984 were slightly
injured (with pinpoint pupils but no other symptoms). Aum’s interest in chemical and biological
weapons (CBW) terrorism can be traced back to 1990. Between 1990 and 1995, Aum
launched 17 known CBW attacks, with motivations ranging from assassination to
mass murder. ”[1]
BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, JAKE ADELSTEIN:
"The Japanese
Doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo (Supreme
Truth) has been pretty quiet since its members, following the orders of its
founder, Shoko Asahara, killed 13
people and sent more than 5,000 to the hospital in a gruesome sarin gas attack
on the Tokyo subway in March 1995. But apparently that relative silence doesn’t
mean they’ve stopped their madness. Last week, 58 people believed to be
affiliated with the creepy cult were caught at a seedy hotel in Danilovgrad,
Montenegro, where they were holding a conference, according to Montenegro press
reports. (...) Aum Shinrikyo was the
first—and to date the only—terrorist group to launch a sophisticated chemical
warfare attack. It had invested a fortune developing the technology to
manufacture a weapon first produced by the Nazis in the 1930s that, even now,
al Qaeda and the so-called Islamic State can only dream about: a colorless,
odorless nerve agent that causes victims to suffocate within ten minutes and
may do permanent neurological damage to those who survive. It is classified as
a weapon of mass destruction, along with atomic bombs and biological agents.
But a more suitable description would be weapon for mass murder. In 2013, the
world got a glimpse of sarin in action when the Syrian regime used some of its
stockpile on civilians. On March 20, 1995, Asahara’s followers dropped five
plastic bags filled with sarin in liquid form on Tokyo subway trains at the
height of rush hour, simultaneously puncturing them with sharpened metal-tipped
umbrellas. Although the death toll was lower than expected, hundreds of people
still suffer from the effects of the poison and the trauma of that day. Many
more people likely would have been killed had the agent been dispersed in
aerosol form. The cult had plans to disperse the gas over Tokyo with a
helicopter purchased from Russia, but it was stopped before it could put the
larger plan into effect, according to police officers who worked the case
Followers of the cult, then and now, worship Shoko Asahara, whose real name is
Chizuo Matsumoto. He is currently on death row awaiting the outcome of appeals
on multiple convictions related to the 1995 attacks, but the faithful see him
as a Christ-like figure. The fact that those in Montenegro were worshiping a
man who orchestrated what he hoped would be an apocalyptic incident might
indicate that they agree with his philosophy—the fact that they were holding
their meeting on the anniversary of the Tokyo attack would appear even more
incriminating. (...) After the 1995 Tokyo gas attacks, nearly 200 people were
charged with various offenses related to the atrocity. Some members of the cult
are still on trial for various felony charges including attempted murder and
sending mail bombs."[2]
MASAMI ITO: "On the morning of March 20,
1995, members of the Aum Shinrikyo (Supreme Truth) doomsday cult carried out
the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in the postwar era, releasing a toxic
nerve gas that killed 13 and injured thousands during the rush-hour in Tokyo.
Twenty years later, a number of victims continue to suffer physical or mental
after-effects of the sarin attack, experiencing complications such as impaired
speech, blurred vision and post-traumatic stress disorder. Some of the more
unlucky ones are still confined to their beds. To date, investigators have
charged 192 Aum members over their alleged role in the attack, with 13 members,
including leader Shoko Asahara, receiving the death sentence. Katsuya
Takahashi, who was arrested in June 2012 after being on the run for 17 years,
is the last cultist still on trial. Takahashi is thought to have been the
driver for one of the senior cultists who sprayed the gas, and faces charges
that include murder, kidnapping and solitary confinement resulting in death,
and violation of the Explosives Control Law. He pleaded not guilty to almost
all charges against him at the beginning of his trial at the Tokyo District
Court in January. A verdict is expected at the end of April. Following Aum’s
dismantlement, former members quickly reorganized into a group called Aleph in
2000. Others joined a splinter group headed by former Aum spokesman Fumihiro
Joyu called Hikari no Wa (Circle of Rainbow Light). The spin-off groups will
remain under the Public Security Intelligence Agency’s surveillance until the
end of January 2018."[3]
Judge
Yamazak: "It was mass murder resulting from blind faith
in a self-righteous dogma, which leaves no room for excuse (…)It was an act of
indiscriminate terrorism unprecedented in criminal history because it was
carried out in crowded trains." [4]
Japan Times: "The Tokyo High Court on
Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced a former Aum Shinrikyo
fugitive to life in prison for his role in the doomsday cult’s 1995 sarin
attacks on the Tokyo subway system that killed 13 people and sickened
thousands. Katsuya Takahashi, 58, was found guilty by the Tokyo District Court
in April 2015 of murder and other crimes for his role as a driver for one of
the cult members who released the deadly poison on a subway car on March 20,
1995. Takahashi was also accused of involvement in three other attacks
orchestrated by Aum during its heyday in the early 1990s. During the appeal
process, Takahashi’s lawyers claimed that he wasn’t sure what chemical the
cultist would release, and that he didn’t expect the incident to lead to
casualties. The lower court said in the original ruling that Takahashi had been
warned by a former senior cult member and so was “aware that a volatile poison
was to be released and deaths were highly likely.” It said Takahashi played an
“indispensable” role in ensuring a successful attack, though it acknowledged
that he was simply following instructions from his superior. Yoshihiro Inoue, a
46-year-old former senior cult member who was sentenced to death over his role
in the gas attacks, testified during Takahashi’s trial in the lower court that
he had told him that sarin would be released. Takahashi denied that Inoue had
ever told him this. Takahashi was apprehended in Tokyo in June 2012 after
nearly 17 years on the run. He was the last Aum Shinrikyo member on a special
nationwide wanted list. Cult founder Shoko Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo
Matsumoto, has been sentenced to death for masterminding the subway attacks.
According to the district court ruling, Inoue took part in the attacks to realize his own religious goal of achieving
enlightenment according to the teachings and urging of his guru Shoko Asahara
and to secure his position in the cult."[5]
Council on Foreign Relations: “As
early as five years before the March 1995 subway attack, the group attempted to
carry out at least nine biological assaults—all failed—according to a 1998 New York Times investigation. Originally,
Aum planned to massacre citizens by spraying botulin, the most lethal natural poison
to humans, from buildings and modified delivery vans. Aum’s team of young
scientists cultured and experimented with biological toxins, including botulin,
anthrax, cholera, and Q fever. The transition to chemical weapons came after
biological attacks failed. Investigations and raids after the subway attack
showed that Aum was capable of producing thousands of kilograms of sarin a
year, according to the Center for
Disease Control (CDC). The cult
had also acquired a Russian military helicopter that could have been used to
distribute the gas, the police said. Initial plots failed to produce the deadly
chaos that Aum wanted, although one incident in June 1993 in which Anthrax
spores were released from a Tokyo building caused a foul odor in addition to
the deaths of some birds, plants, and pets. According to the CDC, Aum sent a
fact-finding team to Zaire to study and collect Ebola virus samples in 1993. Aum
reportedly sprayed some of the failed batches of biological weapons in the
areas surrounding U.S.military bases in the early attempts involving botulin,
according to the New York Times. After the subway
attack, the State Department says that Japanese authorities reinvestigated and
found Aum responsible for a mysterious attack—that later proved to be sarin—on
a residential neighborhood in 1994 that killed seven and injured over one
hundred people. Russian officials arrested several Aum followers in 2001 for
planning to bomb the Imperial Palace in Japan as part of an elaborate attempt
to free Asahara.”[6]
Morris M: “When Australian
Federal Police raided the Banjawarn ranch in 1995, it was like they’d stepped
into a nightmare. Remote parts of the property were littered with the carcasses
of sheep that had died in agony. Tests revealed that they’d been poisoned with
sarin. In the abandoned house, policemen stumbled across a vast chemical
weapons lab, primed to produce nerve gas. Horrifically, it began to dawn on
them that they’d uncovered a testing ground for weapons of mass destruction. (…)
Following the 1995 raid, police discovered an active uranium mine on the ranch,
leading some to conclude the explosion had been Aum testing its own crude nuclear weapon. (…) The
group was later found to have been creating anthrax and nerve agents like Soman at the ranch, some of which had been
tested on the local wildlife. (…) As early as 1990, Aum’s leadership was
planning mass-casualty terror attacks. In April of that year, they modified a
van to emit a fine spray as it drove and then loaded up with samples of
botulinum toxin. The group then drove it through central Tokyo, spraying the Japanese parliament with one of the deadliest bacteria known to man.
Thanks to the cult’s poor understanding of germ warfare, the attack released a
harmless version of the bacteria. But it inspired them to greater, scarier
heights. Two years later, the group managed to acquire some anthrax. A
stupendously deadly strain of bacteria, anthrax can kill you in unimaginably
gruesome ways. If you happen to get infected by inhaling it, you’ll almost certainly die even with treatment. Aum took their anthrax
samples, loaded them into giant aerosols, and tried to spray the whole lot over
Tokyo. A successful anthrax attack could have killed thousands. Thankfully, Aum
had accidentally acquired a vaccination strain that was harmless to humans. Less happily, the
repeated failure of their germ attacks is what inspired them to move on to
sarin. By 1994, they’d successfully tested their new gas in the town of Matsumoto, killing eight people
and wounding nearly 500. (…) In the aftermath of the Tokyo subway attack,
Japanese police raided Aum compounds across the country, hunting for more
sarin. What they found was chilling. Aum had established vast chemical
factories capable of producing literally tons of sarin. A highly effective
nerve agent, sarin can cause seizures after exposure to a single drop. Aum was
stockpiling enough to power a country-wide war. Sarin wasn’t the only weapon
that Aum’s chemical warfare department was developing. Up to 80 members were
found to be developing mustard gas, sodium cyanide, phosgene gas, tabun, and VX
to use against civilian populations. At the same time, a dedicated biological
warfare lab was churning out a nonstop assembly line of horrors. Anthrax,
Ebola, and the deadly Q-Fever were all being developed as weapons, all
potentially capable of wiping out thousands of people. By this time, the full
extent of Aum’s arsenal was becoming clear. The group had also taken to
manufacturing AK-47s, building enough to equip their own paramilitary outfit.
They’d acquired a drone from somewhere and modified it to spray nerve agents on
those below. All in all, Aum were found to be better equipped for war than many
armies. That they didn’t deploy their capabilities more intelligently is a
matter of pure fortune. (…) the March 20 gas attack on the Tokyo subway is
today known as simply a warm-up. Less than two months later, on May 5, 1995,
two men from Aum left a mysterious bag in the restroom at Tokyo’s Shinjuku
Station. Inside was a timed weapon, set to release a deadly cloud of cyanide
gas directly under a main ventilation shaft. Had it gone as planned, it’s
estimated that this second gas attack could have killed as many as 10,000 people. That it
failed is down to nothing more than dumb luck. A cleaning woman found the bag
and moved it out of sight behind a door. By sheer fluke, the way she carried it
resulted in the bomb’s trigger mechanism getting knocked out of place. When the
timer reached zero, instead of exploding, the bag burst into flames. Although
this could still have caused the cyanide to be released, it caught the
attention of passersby, who managed to put out the fire before catastrophe
occurred. Although two Aum members were later convicted of planting the cyanide bomb, the cult wasn’t
done yet. Even with its leaders in prison, letter bombs were sent out to the
governor of Tokyo, wounding one official. More cyanide bombs were planted on the subway, although these attacks were
foiled once again. Luckily, it couldn’t last. By fall 1995, Aum was spent as an
organization. Police raids shut down its chemical and biological weapons
laboratories and confiscated its small arms.”[7]
Journal
of Strategy Security: “Aum Shinrikyo, an apocalyptic-millenarian cult
headquartered in Japan, made headlines in March 1995 by conducting one of the
most notorious terrorist attacks using an unconventional agent, during which
five Aum members released sarin nerve agent in five subway lines in Tokyo,
killing twelve, injuring several hundred, and forcing around six thousand
people to seek medical attention. Prior to the attack, the group attempted at
least ten chemical agent and ten biological agent attacks between 1990 and
1995. While Aum Shinrikyo actually engaged in the development of biological and
chemical weapons, the group actively sought a nuclear weapons program. Indeed,
in the early 1990s, Aum Shinrikyo moved to acquire nuclear materials and
construct nuclear weapons. When the construction of nuclear weapons proved
unattainable, Aum members abandoned their nuclear aspirations and focused on
their chemical and biological programs. This article focuses on the evolution
of Aum Shinrikyo, from its inception as a failed political entity to its
eventual place in history as one of the most notorious terrorist groups, with
specific attention paid to its complex engineering efforts, especially the
chemical and nuclear weapons programs. (…) Secondary factors included the
group’s expanding size and influence, protected status as a religious
organization (preventing intervention by Japanese authorities), and a desire to
eliminate perceived enemies. Aum Shinrikyo is considered by some to be the
first violent non-state actor (VNSA) with the
means, capabilities, intentions and finances to develop and deploy a
sophisticated weapon of mass destruction.[8]
(…)Following its poor showing in Japan’s 1990 parliamentary elections, Aum
Shinrikyo’s agenda shifted from doomsday survival to doomsday initiation, with
the goal of bringing about the apocalypse. Asahara accused the Japanese
government of deliberately altering election results, and sought to overthrow
the Japanese government (and other perceived enemies, including the United
States) using weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Asahara demonstrated a
fetish-like affinity for unconventional weapons with high destructive
potential. The extent of his obsession was manifest in the fact that he wrote
odes about the chemical agent sarin. (…) Asahara’s
obsession with nuclear weapons formed the foundation for all of his actions
related to these weapons. Not only did he try to develop his own nuclear weapons, he sought to provoke a
U.S. nuclear attack on Japan in order
to precipitate Armageddon, and he
went about doing so by targeting a
U.S. military base, rival organizations, and the general public (…) While the ultimate decision to pursue a particular
weapon fell to Asahara, he exchanged ideas on weapons and strategies with the
heads of Aum’s biological, chemical, and nuclear programs, often in the context
of informal conversation. (…)The decision to engage in the in-house production of weapons of mass destruction came only after
the group faced numerous setbacks in its attempts to acquire such weapons
abroad. These setbacks, and the ultimate shift to intra-group development, will
be addressed in detail within the context of a broader discussion concerning
the group’s weapons programs. (…) Indeed, the group was able to attempt at
least 20 attacks with biological and chemical agents prior to 1995. A trial and
error approach was thus far more feasible for Aum than groups with more limited
resources. Its high risk tolerance was also the result of its obsession with futuristic technologies such as WMDs,
which it was prepared to pursue despite the daunting technical obstacles their development
presented. Furthermore, the group risked discovery of its illicit operations by
state authorities by making large-scale purchases and circumventing basic
national regulations and protocols. For example, Hayakawa Kiyohide, Aum’s
construction minister, and Yoshihiro Inoue, its intelligence minister, oversaw
and coordinated the ill-conceived purchase of a 500-acre sheep farm in Western
Australia to mine uranium and test chemical Weapons. (…) Aum Shinrikyo’s WMD
pursuits would reemerge in 1992 when its efforts to acquire nuclear weapons
capabilities began in earnest through the group’s international networks and
activities in Russia and the United States, through which the group intended to
procure information and materials. During visits to Russia, Aum leaders
consulted Russian scientists in order to obtain laser and nuclear technologies.
The group was also believed by some to have shown interest in purchasing fissile
materials from Russia. Through its network, Aum Shinrikyo successfully
recruited over 300 scientists and engineers—including employees at the
Kurchatov Institute, the premier nuclear facility in Russia—who were either
attracted to the apocalyptic ideology or lured with financial incentives. Aum
Shinrikyo’s Russian contacts enabled group members to access black market
materials and hardware. (…)Not willing to abandon its nuclear aspirations, the
group attempted to lay the foundation for its own nuclear program in Australia,
yet failed again. In May of 1993, a large explosion occurred near the farm in
Australia that remains unexplained, but may be attributed to Aum’s nuclear
program. If, indeed, the explosion was related to its nuclear program, a
possible explanation for the subsequent abandonment of the farm is that Aum may
have realized that nuclear technologies fell outside of their capabilities, or
at least were unattainable because Asahara’s 1995 timeframe for nuclear
Armageddon proved too short for group members to successfully construct a
nuclear weapon. Even if unrelated to its nuclear research, Aum Shinrikyo may
have reasonably left the farm in order to avoid interdiction by law enforcement
authorities. As a result, the group more effectively utilized its resources by
focusing on chemical attacks, which had shown the most promise to date. The farm in Australia may have also served as
a testing ground for Aum’s chemical weapons program. When Australian
authorities examined the farm once Aum had abandoned it, they discovered the
remains of 29 sheep and Japanese-language documentation that led the
authorities to believe the reason for the deaths of the livestock was for
unidentified experimentation. While the tests to identify sarin were not
necessarily conclusive, as a byproduct of sarin breaking down in the
environment is also related to the natural decomposition of the sheep,72 the
timeline does suggest that Aum Shinrikyo had used the sheep to confirm the
lethality of their chemical weapon. (…) [The] organization’s fascination with
technology inspired members to pursue multiple, novel weapons programs, largely
as a means of appeasing Asahara and achieving higher status within the cult.
While the group’s chemical and biological weapons programs were the most
well-known, it had shown interest in a myriad of technologies, including
nuclear, seismological, plasma, and laser weapons as well. Despite a substantial
war chest, all of these initiatives ended in failure save for the chemical
weapons program, and even its successes were few. (…) Aum Shinrikyo took up
complex engineering tasks concerning nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons
due to its apocalyptic ideology and the Aum leadership’s obsession with
high-tech and unconventional weapons. Asahara, in particular, expressed a
techno-fetishist affinity towards WMDs, which led the group to pursue more
advanced technological weapons. Ranking Aum members generally shared this
obsession, resulting in a leadership with numerous ideas for achieving
apocalyptic ends, but without efficacious plans or practical knowledge for
bringing those ideas to fruition. As a cult that grew quickly and incorporated
over 300 scientists and engineers, Aum Shinrikyo developed a false sense of
confidence in the coming of doomsday and in the group’s ability to embark on a
WMD development program.”[9]
Neal A. Clinehens,
Major, USAF: “At Asahara’s direction, the cult would use WMD against Japanese
society thereby provoking a catastrophic social breakdown. Asahara was
convinced that, amid the resulting death and confusion, Japan would blame the
United States. Asahara would then step into the confusion and lead his
followers to victory. With this master plan in mind, Asahara decided to invest
very large amounts of Aum Shinrikyo’s eventual $1 billion-plus financial empire
into WMD research and development. The scope of Aum Shinrikyo’s WMD
research is wide and impressive. Not content with standard biological, chemical
or nuclear work, the cult researched and invested in other, more exotic weapons
offering the potential to inflict mass casualties. Aum Shinrikyo was determined
to acquire any type of functional, even if non-traditional, WMD. For example,
the cult purchased a green laser worth $400,000 intending to develop a weapon
capable of blinding masses of people. (…)Aum Shinrikyo never neglected its main
biological, chemical and nuclear efforts. The cult acquired a relatively remote
section of land near the base of Mt Fuji and constructed a complex that housed
the majority of its WMD work and accompanying infrastructure. Within this
compound, the cult constructed biological, chemical and nuclear research
facilities complete with state-of-the-art equipment and fully staffed with
technicians. Within this compound, Aum Shinrikyo established a biological toxin
laboratory designed to produce, among other things, clostridium botulinum,
which causes botulism. Sixteen million times more poisonous than strychnine and
with 10,000 times the lethality of cobra venom, botulism had the potential to
kill masses of people. Additionally, cult scientists produced
anthrax spores. Both the botulism and anthrax would later be used in attacks
against Tokyo. The cult studied every lethal agent they could find, even
sending some members on a “humanitarian mission” to Africa with the true aim of
collecting a strain of the Ebola virus for cultivation in cult laboratories. The
mission failed. Overall, the biological weapons program was a partial success.
(…)However, the cult was more successful in its effort to create and deliver
another weapon of mass destruction: chemical agents. (…)The list of chemicals
produced by the program is impressive. The cult managed to manufacture quantities
of Sarin and the nerve agents VX, tabun and soman (…).As the cult poured money
into biological and chemical efforts, Asahara also wanted to develop nuclear
weapons. At first, Asahara ordered the development of a full-scale nuclear
weapons program. When that project proved too technically challenging, the cult
attempted to acquire a fully functional nuclear weapon either from sources in
the former Soviet Union or from any other willing seller. Finally,
when they could neither buy nor build a nuclear weapon, the cult decided to
spread unprocessed uranium — mined from the its Australian sheep ranch — in
downtown Tokyo. This attack was never attempted. The cult’s efforts to attain a
nuclear weapon never came to the attention of any intelligence agency in any
country. Neither did the acquisition and production of biological and chemical
agents. Every domestic legal authority in Japan that should have detected the
cult failed to do so. The cult operated with impunity while trying to acquire
the means to kill millions. (…)Aum Shinrikyo had decided to destroy Japanese
society in order to accelerate the coming apocalypse. Shoko Asahara became
convinced that by eliminating the Japanese Diet, the equivalent of the U.S.
Congress, the destruction of society would follow. Using botulinus toxin, the
plan was for cult members to drive in circles around the Diet building in a
modified truck and spray the toxin into the air. Biohazard suits protected the
cult members in the truck. Fortunately, the attack failed. (…)In spite of this
failure, Aum Shinrikyo continued to plan. The cult decided to attack world
dignitaries attending the royal wedding of Prince Naruhito. During the wedding,
cult scientists planned to again introduce botulinus toxin into downtown Tokyo.
Modifications made to the spraying mechanism after the failed Japanese Diet
attack convinced cult scientists that delivery difficulties had been solved.
Asahara gave the orders to proceed. The cult rigged the improved spraying
device onto a truck loaded with botulinus toxin. The plan was to drive through
downtown Tokyo as near to the royal wedding as possible, spray toxin into the
air and thereby kill as many people as possible. The plan was considered to be
so foolproof that Asahara himself rode in the truck to witness it. The delivery
system failed again. (…)The cult scientists decided to employ anthrax. They
believed it to be a more reliable biological weapon because it was more stable
outside the laboratory. In addition to changing agents, cult scientists also
altered their delivery methods. Instead of a mobile delivery platform, such as
a truck, they decided to spread anthrax spores from a stationary point. Anthrax
spores would be poured into a modified steam generator located in a cult-owned
building in downtown Tokyo. The anthrax-saturated steam was blown across Tokyo
for four consecutive days. Aum Shinrikyo’s attack failed again. (…)After three
consecutive failures with biological weapons, Asahara examined the available
alternatives. Concurrent with this weapon reevaluation, the cult was also
involved in legal troubles. Embroiled in a lawsuit he was sure the cult would
lose, Asahara decided to try a new type of WMD against the three judges ruling
in the case. He instructed his scientists to employ a chemical rather than
biological agent. The chemical he decided to use was Sarin. Cult scientists
reverted to a truck fitted with a spraying mechanism. The truck would be parked
in a lot very close to a dormitory where the three judges lived. The cult team
would release Sarin and the gas was supposed to leak into the dormitory and
kill the judges as they slept. As with every other cult WMD attack to this
point, it did not go according to plan. Due to a change in the wind, the
Sarin was blown in the wrong direction. Instead of killing the judges, the gas
killed seven other people and injured over 200 in nearby buildings. Even though
this attack failed to kill the judges, it managed to make them so ill that they
delayed the judgement against the cult for a number of weeks. More importantly,
the cult had learned how to deploy and deliver, with a reliable degree of
effectiveness, a weapon of mass destruction. They had gained confidence with
Sarin and Asahara decided to use for the cult's most famous and effective
attack. The Second Successful Chemical
Attack: The Tokyo Subway. (…) This time, the attack was relatively
successful. The subway cars converged on the central station as scheduled.
Eventually, twelve people died as a direct result of the assault. Over 5000
were injured, some receiving such severe damage to their cardiovascular system
that they will ultimately die as a result of the attack. Others will survive
but with lifelong effects. This attack was again motivated by Asahara’s undying
conviction that he should accelerate the apocalyptic battle. He believed that
the ensuing deaths and panic from the subway assault would paralyze Tokyo and
the entire Japanese government. However, there was also a less spiritual motive for the attack. Aum
Shinrikyo was about to get raided by the police in connection with a murder
investigation. Asahara was convinced this subway attack would overwhelm the
police and the murder investigation into the cult would be delayed indefinitely.
(…)The police finally began to round up cult members and started a full-scale
investigation into cult activities. This police action precipitated a final WMD
attack by the cult. Determined to shield their leader from arrest, cult members
staged another attack in the Tokyo subway system designed to keep the
authorities too busy to look for Asahara. (…)Using a very simple system, the
cult almost succeeded in generating and releasing enough poisonous gas to kill
20,000 people”[10]
Sara
Daly, John Parachini, William Rosenau: “In 2000, the cult hacked into classified
computer networks to obtain information about nuclear facilities in Russia,
Ukraine, the People’s Republic of China, South Korea, and Taiwan. Working from
legitimate companies
Aum had established, group members were able to obtain information about a Russia-commissioned
device for plutonium processing,
the Monju fast-breeder reactor in Japan, and the safety system of
Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Japanese police also discovered
that Aum software developers had been collecting information about
Japan’s nuclear power program. The cult compiled information about
nuclear fuel suppliers and the transportation of nuclear materials through
affiliated software companies that had developed computer programs
for key corporations and governmental entities in Japan. Data on
companies involved in Japan’s nuclear programs and those engaged in
nuclear research were included. Police also discovered background files on 75 researchers
working with radioactive materials and other nuclear-related studies. Other materials
found in the raids indicated that Aum members measured radioactivity levels at
a cult compound in Japan in 1988.”[11]
Evidence 2: Assassinations,
Kidnappings and Extortions
Richard Danzig, Marc Sageman, Terrance Leighton, Lloyd Hough, Hidemi Yuki,
Rui Kotani and Zachary M. Hosford: “Tsutsumi Sakamoto [legal representative of Aum
Shinrikyo] investigated the cult and discovered several cases of fraud,
including the fact that Kyoto University had never tested Asahara’s blood.
Sakamoto denounced Aum on a radio show. In response, Aum followers spread
leaflets near his home accusing him of religious persecution. It appears,
however, that Sakamoto simply wanted Aum to abandon some of its more harmful
practices and to conform to those of more traditional religious orders. Hoping
to reach an agreement with Aum, he invited its representatives to a meeting on
the evening of October 31, 1989. The
meeting was intensely antagonistic. Sakamoto ended it by saying that he was
about to air his charges in public. Asahara told
Murai, Hayakawa, Satoru Hashimoto (Asahara’s bodyguard and martial arts
expert), Okasaki, Niimi and Tomomasa Nakagawa that “there was no choice but to poa him,” and the senior members subsequently started
planning Sakamoto’s death. (…)The group planned to make Sakamoto’s murder
appear as though he died from natural causes. Nakagawa – who presumably was
included in this secret mission because he had medical training, even though he
had been a monk for only three months – recalls that it was the first time he
heard botulinum toxin discussed. The
conspirators, however, settled on killing Sakamoto during an ambush on his way
home from work with an injection of potassium chloride. Murai prepared the
syringe and gave it to Nakagawa, who was supposed to perform the
injection. The scheduled day of the
assassination, November 3, 1989, turned out to be a holiday, so Sakamoto spent
the day at home with his wife and one-year old son. The conspirators then
decided to break into Sakamoto’s home in the early hours of November 4. They
made such a mess of the attempt that they decided that killing all three
members of the family would be necessary to avoid detection. The killings,
however, prevented them from being able to conceal the deaths as natural. The
Aum members gathered the remains of the victims and secretly buried them in
different prefectures. When they reported back to Asahara, he was pleased.
Asahara assured them that they had done the family a favor; their souls would
be born again in a higher world.”[12]
Morris M: “The resulting cloud
of nerve gas killed 12 people and injured as many as 5,500. The entire city was
paralyzed. Hospitals overflowed. Subway stations resembled battlefields. It was
the worst terror attack in Japanese history. By summer, it was clear that Aum
Shinrikyo was responsible. An apocalyptic cult (…), the group had convinced its
members that they needed to trigger an apocalypse as soon as possible. But the
subway attack wasn’t just a random one-off. It was the culmination of years of
creepy incidents involving Aum, each one scarier than the last. In 1989,
Tsutsumi Sakamoto had every reason to be cheerful. His wife had just given
birth to a baby boy, his legal career was taking off, and the young lawyer was
making a name for himself taking on the new Aum cult in Tokyo. Then, in
November, Tsutsumi and his family vanished. There was no note, no explanation,
and no evidence. Japan’s police groped blindly in the dark, unsure if the
Sakamotos had simply cut and run or if something darker was at work.
Fast-forward to 1996. As part of the marathon series of trials following the
subway gas attack, Aum member Tomomasa Nakagawa was cross-examined about the
cult’s past crimes. The disappearance of the Sakamoto family came up.
Nakagawa’s response was chilling. Fed up with the hotshot lawyer interfering in
their business, Aum had decided to have Tsutsumi brutally murdered. (…) At
3:00 AM, they entered the house. Tsutsumi and his wife were asleep in bed. One
member strangled Tsutsumi, while another kicked his wife half to death before
strangling her, too. Her last words were, Please
save the child, at least. Instead, the sect members located the baby and
suffocated him with his bedding. They then drove the three bodies out into
Japan’s remote countryside and buried them in metal drums. Although Aum was
suspected of being involved, the authorities failed to investigate properly. It
wasn’t the only time that the police let Aum get away with their crimes. (…)
For a newly emerged cult, Aum was surprisingly sophisticated about funding
itself. Members would have to pay to reach enlightenment, and special seminars
costing tens of thousands of dollars were regularly held. At one point, the
group even began operating its own restaurant chain and selling computers.
However, by far, the most common means of funding came from extortion. At its most harmless, this involved blackmail
on an industrial scale. Towns and cities across Japan would be contacted and
told that Aum planned to open a compound there. They were then given the option
to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep the cult away. Most of them
coughed up. More harmfully, the group entered into business with the Yakuza to
manufacture and help sell illegal drugs. Worst of all were the kidnappings.
Cult members would be quizzed over their families’ earnings. If it turned out
that they were related to someone wealthy, they would frequently be ordered to
kidnap that relative. One innkeeper was taken hostage by his own daughters,
tortured, and forced to hand over 60 million yen. The tactic was scarily
effective. By 1995, the cult was estimated to have a net worth of around $1.5
billion. (…) In 1994, Tadahiro Hamaguchi became one of history’s most gruesome
firsts. On a late-night walk through Osaka, he became possibly the first person
in history to be killed by VX. A nerve agent
developed by the British after World War II, VX is so deadly that it
makes sarin look like laughing gas. A single drop absorbed through the skin can
kill you so fast that there would be no time to inject an antidote. For a brief
period in the mid-1990s, Aum used it to murder their enemies. From 1994–95,
more than 10 VX assassinations were carried out by the cult, usually by
injection. The one man lucky enough to survive a spray attack was hospitalized
for 45 days and left in a coma. As bad as that was, it was just the start of
Aum’s long list of terrifying assassinations. Others were kidnapped and hanged on Aum property,
their bodies incinerated in purpose-built microwaves. One such victim was
Kiyoshi Kariya, a 68-year-old man whose brother was trying to quit the group.
Kariya was kidnapped, drugged, held hostage, murdered, and then finally burned
in one of Aum’s incinerators. His ashes were scattered in a lake, so no trace of him would ever be found. When Aum’s compounds were
finally raided after the Tokyo subway attack, police discovered that at least
eight other people had met the same hideous fate. They also discovered an
assassination list. Had the cult not blown their cover with the 1995 sarin
attack, the number of people incinerated in Aum’s ovens would have likely been
much, much higher.”[13]
Jackie Fowler: “On June 27, 1994, clouds of sarin
engulfed the Kita-Fukashi district of Matsumoto (central Japan). Seven people
died and hundreds were injured. Initially, a local gardener was falsely accused
and was cleared only after many months of investigation. Testimony revealed Asahara ordered the attack in the vicinity of
three judges set to hear a case against the group. The refrigerated trucks were
equipped with spraying mechanisms and driven from Aum’s main facility to Matsumoto.
This gassing successfully injured the judges. (…)
Various violent incidents followed. On March 30, 1995, there was an attempted assassination of police Chief Kunimatsu, the head of the National Police Agency, and subsequent gas attacks occurred on trains in the Tokyo-Yokohama area. In these cases there were deaths or serious injuries. (…) Asahara and 104 followers have been indicted on various charges. Asahara himself has been indicted for: murder in relation to the Tokyo sarin gas attack on March 20, 1995 (twelve dead and 5,500 injured); murder in relation to Matsumoto Nagano Prefecture sarin gas attack in June 1994 (seven killed and 600 injured); kidnapping and murder of Tsutsumi Sakamoto (Lawyer representing Aum member parents) and his wife and infant son; kidnapping and death of Kiyoshi Kariya (Tokyo notary public) in February 1995; lynching of Kotata Ochida ("’uncooperative’" Aum member) in February 1994; illegal production of various drugs. Though Asahara maintains his innocence, many followers have confessed their involvement in these crimes and have claimed they acted under Asahara’s direct orders.[14] The first attacks targeted wavering members, or those about to leave the group. Police reported thirty-three Aum followers are believed to have been killed between October 1988 and March 1995. Further police speculation includes several lynching, eight deaths from intense ascetic training, two suicides, and twenty-one missing people who are presumed dead.”
Various violent incidents followed. On March 30, 1995, there was an attempted assassination of police Chief Kunimatsu, the head of the National Police Agency, and subsequent gas attacks occurred on trains in the Tokyo-Yokohama area. In these cases there were deaths or serious injuries. (…) Asahara and 104 followers have been indicted on various charges. Asahara himself has been indicted for: murder in relation to the Tokyo sarin gas attack on March 20, 1995 (twelve dead and 5,500 injured); murder in relation to Matsumoto Nagano Prefecture sarin gas attack in June 1994 (seven killed and 600 injured); kidnapping and murder of Tsutsumi Sakamoto (Lawyer representing Aum member parents) and his wife and infant son; kidnapping and death of Kiyoshi Kariya (Tokyo notary public) in February 1995; lynching of Kotata Ochida ("’uncooperative’" Aum member) in February 1994; illegal production of various drugs. Though Asahara maintains his innocence, many followers have confessed their involvement in these crimes and have claimed they acted under Asahara’s direct orders.[14] The first attacks targeted wavering members, or those about to leave the group. Police reported thirty-three Aum followers are believed to have been killed between October 1988 and March 1995. Further police speculation includes several lynching, eight deaths from intense ascetic training, two suicides, and twenty-one missing people who are presumed dead.”
EVIDENCE 3: TORTURE, MIND CONTROL & FALSE SPIRITUALITY
Morris M: “One of Aum’s central
tenets was that followers had to gain enlightenment through suffering. Although
that sounds like the sort of meaningless platitude that any religious sect
might come out with, Aum took it very seriously. When no suffering was forthcoming,
they tortured their own followers to create it. Most famously, this involved
their “thermotherapy” ritual. Followers would be dipped in scalding hot water
to purify themselves, a practice that led to burns and at least one death. When
physical pain wasn’t enough, the cult turned to the mental realm. Multiple
initiation ceremonies involved the forced ingestion of narcotics and hallucinogens,
followed by public emotional humiliation. Followers were frequently fed LSD,
often without their even knowing they had taken the drug. For those who tried
to escape the cult, things were even worse. Aum operated its own prisons and torture chambers, hidden
inside giant shipping containers. Suspected dissidents could face all manner of
brutal interrogation methods, if they weren’t simply killed outright. Yet, none
of this seemed to even dent their popularity . . . For a doomsday cult that was suspected of
murder and tortured its own followers, Aum sure didn’t have any problems
attracting new converts. At its height in 1995, the sect had an estimated
50,000 members, most living in Russia. This significant
following translated into something tangible—power. Aum’s foothold in Russia
was nothing if not terrifying. In less than half a decade, the group had
managed to set up its own university in Moscow and had begun targeting disaffected
students for recruitment. They even tried to set up their own company in the
hopes of brainwashing the employees that would flock to them during the next
economic downturn. By the mid-1990s, they were even controlling radio
transmissions out of Vladivostok, broadcasting nightly television programs on
Russia’s popular 2X2 channel and having their Japanese members trained for violence by
Russian special forces. All of this influence paid off. The group began
actively courting Russian nuclear scientists and even purchased a military attack helicopter. Money
rolled in, and Aum grew increasingly bold.”[15]
Alexander E. Raevskiy: “Another reason for Aum’s popularity (especially among
young Japanese) was that the founder of the cult, Shoko Asahara, understood
what people needed at that moment, and used it in the promotion of his
religion. Levitation and supernatural abilities were introduced in the form of
manga and anime, beloved by all Japanese, so that people could quickly catch
the main idea: living in society is boring, but joining Aum helps in making new
friends, developing one’s skills, and reaching enlightenment. (…) Every guru
should have his own legend, and Asahara created one after his trip to India in
1987. He told his disciples about a meeting with the god Shiva, that the Dalai
Lama gave to him a special mission, and from now on he was guru (in Japanese - sonshi) Shoko Asahara. The Dalai Lama came to visit Japan in
1995, several months after the sarin attack. When asked about his meeting with
Asahara, the Dalai Lama said that he remembered a strange Japanese man coming
to visit him, but that he did not give any special mission to him. (…) [In
1988], the first death occurred in Aum: 21-year-old disciple Majima Terayuki
died from a heart-attack during a 24-hour meditation session in a dark room.
That death was a great psychological blow to Asahara: it meant that his
religion brought people not to salvation, but to death. It became necessary to
change the Aum doctrine in such a way as to justify murder, and Asahara took
from Vajrayana, a branch of Tibetan Buddhism, the idea of poa. Poa means sacred killing in the name of
the guru: people can be killed, if they accumulate bad karma, and in this case poa helps them to be reborn with better karma in the next
life. From 1989, every person who did
wrong from Asahara’s point of view could be killed for their bad karma. Aum had
planned several (both successful and unsuccessful) murders, and when in 1992
the Japanese people didn’t vote for Aum Shinrito (Aum’s political party) in the
parliamentary elections, Asahara announced that society (except Aum members)
was filled with bad karma and needed poa.”[16]
BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, JAKE ADELSTEIN: "At the height of its
popularity Aum Shinrikyo had around 40,000 active followers who took part in
bizarre rituals orchestrated by cult leader Asahara, who is partially blind.
Their rites mixed elements of Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism with
brainwashing to convince followers Asahara had supernatural powers. According
to an article marking the anniversary of the attacks in Tokyo Weekender last
year, the group’s initiation ceremonies consisted of hallucinogenic binges on
LSD during which Asahara made members reject materialism by handing over their
wealth to him. (…)Asahara supposedly gave followers “superhuman powers” in
exchange for their material wealth. Asahara also saw himself as something of a
prophet, famously predicting a third world war instigated by the United States.
As details emerged of Aum Shinrikyo’s operation in the 1990s, it came to appear
less a religion than a criminal enterprise, manufacturing its own line of
computers and making meth-amphetamines that was sold wholesale to the
Yamaguchi-gumi Goto-Gumi, a faction of Japan’s largest yakuza, or organized
crime, group."[17]
Brendan Cole: "A 2011 report carried out by
the US-based Center for a New American Security (CNAS) reported how Matsumoto
became an acupuncturist in the city of Kumamoto, but moved to Tokyo in 1977 to
further his education. He developed an interest in New Age religions and turned
to yoga, mysticism, Buddhist texts and the writings of Nostradamus. He opened a
yoga school in Tokyo in 1984 called Aum Inc where he lectured how he was a
source of spiritual power. By 1985, he would make public pronouncements that he
was a sacred warrior charged with saving the world and how he would restore
"original Buddhism" to the world. He changed the group's name to Aum
Shinsen no Kai which means "Aum Mountain Wizards". CNAS reported how
Matsumoto would use the theme of Armageddon to urge people to join his
organisation which he said needed to acquire at least 30,000 members. In July
1987, he changed the name again, this time to Aum Shinrikyo (Aum Teaching of
Truth) and he himself took on the moniker of Shoko Asahara. What does it believe?
The focal point of the group is its reverence for Shoko Asahara who claims he
is the first enlightened one since Buddha, although their beliefs are a
hotchpotch of musings from Hinduism and Buddhism with a few apocalyptic
Christian prophecies thrown in. His claim that only his acolytes would survive
the apocalypse which he predicted would occur in 1996 or between 1999 and 2003
attracted many who were young smart university graduates, often from well-to-do
families looking for meaning in life. The Council on Foreign Relations stated
he claimed the US would be behind the end of the world by starting World War 3
with Japan. (...) Sarin is a nerve agent developed by Nazi scientists in the
1930s and is said to be 500 times more toxic than cyanide gas. On 20 March
1995, cult members put a liquid form of sarin into packages that resembled
lunch boxes. They were then placed on five cars that converged at Kasumigaseki
station, which is near government offices. The Japan Times reported Asahara as
giving the reason for the attack as being a "holy attempt to elevate the
doomed souls of this world to a higher spiritual stage". They punctured
the packages with umbrellas, leaving commuters gasping on the ground with blood
pouring from their noses and mouths. (...)
Prosecutors believe that the cult has been actively recruiting new
members and soliciting donations in Russia, where it already has an estimated
30,000 members."[18]
BBC: “Aum Shinrikyo is designated
as a terrorist organisation in the US and many other countries, but Aleph and
Hikari no Wa are both legal in Japan, albeit designated as "dangerous
religions" subject to heightened surveillance.”[19]
Jackie Fowler: “Asahara claimed
that tests conducted at Kyoto University revealed his blood contained unique DNA. This "finding"
constituted the blood initiation that was believed to enhance "spiritual
power enhancement." No such tests were run. (…) In July 1989, Asahara professed political action was
necessary to save the world and hence the
Shinrito ("Supreme
Truth party") political party emerged. Their purpose was to publicize
Aum’s teachings, offer salvation to a wider audience, and provide Aum with access to publicity (means to
aforementioned ends). All twenty five candidates from the party lost, and
because they had truly expected to win, this served a great blow. The election
led to more legal problems as accusations arose that several hundred followers
falsified their legal residence so they could vote within Asahara’s
constituency. (…) This period marked a major shift in Aum ideology. A group that initially
sought to prevent an apocalypse now realized a new goal; they had to limit the
number of deaths through religious activities and preparations (Mullins: 316).
They could no longer save the world but needed to protect themselves. (…) In the summer of 1994, Aum established its own
"government" in opposition to the Japanese government (Reader: 81).
Similar in organization to that of the Japanese nation, Aum’s governmental
structure promoted Asahara’s
personal "imperial aspirations". (…) Aum Shinrikyo has no specific
sacred text. Asahara has published a number of works, and most are drawn from
his sermons. (…) as 1995 approached, his sermons and publications had a
stronger Apocalyptic focus
drawn from Christian thought, specifically Revelation. (…) Under the leadership of Fumihiro Joyu, Aum Shinrikyo is now seeking to regroup and rebuild.
In an effort to change its image, Aum,
has changed
its name to Aleph, (…) It is not clear just how much
distance the renewed Aleph has placed between itself and Shoko Asahara. They have not renounced the founding leader
Asahara. In an interview with the New York Times Joyu stated Just like you wouldn’t stop your connection with
physical fathers and mothers who commit a crime, we will not sever our
connection with our spiritual father. (…)
Full of Hindu motifs and practices, the primary
deity in Aum is Shiva, the god of destruction. This deity embodies Aum’s
main focus, the creation and destruction of the universe. (…) Asahara’s interest in the Book of Revelation and Prophecy of Nostradamus is
reflected in his predictions for 1999. He initially taught that members must
work to transfer evil energy into positive energy and avoid mass destruction
via nuclear war. To be specific, 30,000 had to achieve liberation through Asahara’s teachings to save the
world from such a fate. His theory of prevention shifted dramatically, and by
1990 he focused on mere survival (Mullins: 316). (…) Richard Young, through his connections with a
young member, was able to attend a sermon in the early 1990’s. (…) The problem,
he says, was that "[Asahara]
became so obsessed with what was wrong with Japan that he lost confidence even
in the power of Buddhism" (Young: 235).[20]
His early focus on the decay of spirituality and denounced materialism faded
into the background and Aum’s leader failed to grasp the ethical fundamentals
of Buddhism. (…) He failed to emphasize the importance of ethical training and
a life of virtue. (…) Asahara focused on ascetic practice
(discipline) and yogic technique (mind over body empowerment) (Young: 237). Asahara stressed isolation as crucial in
serious training as the impure outside world only contaminated members -- tight
bonds kept all those involved pure (Young: 241). Young states this isolationism and apocalyptism is nothing more than a "symbolic
projection" of Asahara’s
anxiety and vulnerability of his achievements in a hostile world (Young: 241).
The leader himself was a guru with a very
nasty persecution complex and delusory notions of grandeur (Young: 244). He
convinced his followers that such solitude was for their own welfare, and used drugs to keep them docile (Young: 242). The Master was more of a controller than a guide, as he used his
influential powers to dominate Aum members. The traditional Indian guru
would place the needs of his followers before his own (Young: 243). His
constant creation of more complicated levels of ranking and definitions of
enlightenment suggests that Asahara created such obstacles out of fear his
followers would surpass him in their dedication and practice (Young: 243). Aum
Shinrikyo’s belief system began as a mixture of traditional religious
thought but continuously shifted towards a more apocalyptic movement.”
Neal A. Clinehens,
Major, USAF: “This research project examines the Japanese religious cult Aum
Shinrikyo and its attacks against Japanese citizens using chemical and
biological weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The cult’s attacks demonstrate that
hostile groups are willing to strike their host country and cause harm to their
fellow citizens. (…)Aum Shinrikyo not only harmed its own members, it reached
out and affected all of Japanese society. The cults aggressive mentality can be
traced to the founder — Shoko Asahara. In the mid-1980’s, Asahara, who owned a
massage and acupuncture clinic in Tokyo, developed a spiritual message based on
attainment of total spiritual consciousness. Asahara based his spiritual
authority on his having achieved total enlightenment — “holy vibration—while
meditating in the Himalayas. This total enlightenment enabled him to have a
series of visions. Most of these revelations were benign and involved ways that
he could help others also attain total enlightenment. However, some of the
visions had other meanings. Asahara’s other visions were a series of
apocalyptic revelations that convinced him he would lead God’s army to victory
against the United States in an end-of-the-world battle. Based on his authority
of total enlightenment, his apocalyptic visions and a lifelong desire for
power, Asahara began an effort to increase cult membership. Aum Shinrikyo grew
into a cult of tens of thousands who believed Asahara would show them the key
to happiness. He recruited members from Japanese society by emphasizing the
positive aspects of his spiritual message. (…)
Laymember commitments ran from the merely interested to the fanatical.
Many of the more fanatical laymembers decided to move into cult compounds. When
they did, Asahara demanded they abandon all ties with the outside world,
including communication with their families. Within the compounds, laymembers
lived under regimented, “spiritually cleansing” conditions. Subjected to
physical and psychological torture, punished members provided unskilled labor
and kept the cult working on a routine, inexpensive basis. More importantly,
they did not interact with outsiders and provided unquestioning physical labor
that supported the cult’s extensive WMD construction and production programs. Laymembers
were supervised by the second category of cult members, the true-believers.
(…)From the ranks of the technical and scientific true-believers, Asahara chose
a select few to help him implement an important decision he had kept secret
from other cult members. In the late 1980’s, he had decided to somehow hasten
the apocalyptic battle he had foreseen in his visions. Asahara chose three
scientists to supervise the effort to help speed the arrival of his apocalypse.
(…)The three were Hideo Murai, an astrophysicist who headed Aum Shinrikyo’s
so-called Science and Technology Ministry, Seiichi Endo, who held a Ph.D. in
molecular biology and Masami Tsuchiya, the cult’s top chemist. This
trio enthusiastically agreed with Asahara’s goal of hastening the end of the
world. Together, they possessed the technical knowledge suited for the
production and use of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons. (…)Aum
Shinrikyo was a cult of personality. (…) Without internal checks and balances,
and the added element of spirituality, the result may be a circular pattern of
reinforcing behavior between the leader and followers that can become more
bizarre at every turn. (…)Aum Shinrikyo was not motivated by politics. The
cult’s motivating ideas were founded in religion. Some analysts have contended
that the cult was a political organization because it planned to take over
Japan after the apocalyptic battle with the United States. This
conclusion misses the crucial point about the cult. Aum Shinrikyo was a
religious cult with aspirations to power, but it was never defined by political
thought. (…)Even though the outcome of Aum Shinrikyo’s WMD efforts would have
had political ramifications, the cult’s driving motives and goals were
religious, not political. (…) the cult was independent. Aum
Shinrikyo’s only long term, interactive relationship with another group was its
association with the Yakuza, the Japanese Mafia, and these dealings never
involved WMD. Instead, the cult labs produced illegal drugs and sold them to
the Yakuza to get cash, which leads us to another point. Aum
Shinrikyo was a self-financed organization. The cult gathered huge amounts of
money though its own initiative to conduct extensive WMD research and
development.”[21]
Tommy Kullberg: "The Tokyo District Court
ordered Aum Shinrikyo to disband as a religious cooperation and the Japanese
government attempted to apply the Antisubversive Activities Law, which is a
process that continues today. Today, many of the Aum leaders have been
sentenced to death due to their religious activities. The Tokyo District Court
has taken the matter of Aum seriously. (...) Destructive cults also violate
human rights by abusive techniques or unethical mind control. (...) Kullberg
considers that some cults can directly tell its members to cut his or her
relations with family members or from those who have no interest in joining
their organization. Aum Shinrikyo recommended their members to disband all
contact with their relatives, who did not have any interest in joining Aum
(...) Even though we tend to focus on physical damages, these are not always
the issues of biggest concern for a victim in a cult. Many former members in
destructive cults have described their involvement as followed: Spiritual rape
was more painful in my cult than sexual and physical abuse. (...) In Lifton’s
criteria for mind control there is, mystical manipulation, where people who are
converted into cults strive to work for a higher purpose. Kullberg states that
some activities in cults can be service-work that is against the law, such as
producing the sarin gas or M-16 gun rifles in Aum Shinrikyo. Why members in Aum
did these activities could be since, they were told that they would reach a
higher spiritual level by participating in these activities. ”[22]
Evidence 4: Attacks against Buddhism
Tommy Kullberg: "Asahara called Ikeda who is
the leader of Soka Gakkai (Buddhism), the sixth devil, who brainwashed their
members. (...) Asahara said, when Aum
was accused of brainwashing his members: "Japanese people are already brainwashed by the media, our brainwashing
is the best, go and brainwash one after another." (...) In Russia, an
Orthodox priest had quite an odd method to rescue members in Aum. He started
taking Yoga lessons from Aum and started to have discussion groups with their
leaders. He proved to members in Aum how little the leaders knew about Buddhism
and Christianity, thus gained so much respect that 50 members decided to leave.
He became a threat for leaders in Aum and they tried to therefore kidnap him
but failed. (...) Therefore problems may arise if cult members would hear
religions’ original teachings as the case above in Aum Shinrikyo. (...) In Aum
Shinrikyo, Asahara had the absolute power, since he was said to be God. (...)
Asahara was not satisfied just being a sonshinn (a guru in Japanese). He
additionally claimed to be Shiva, Buddha and the reincarnation of Jesus
Christ.”[23]
Richard Danzig, Marc Sageman, Terrance Leighton, Lloyd Hough, Hidemi
Yuki, Rui Kotani and Zachary M. Hosford:
[November 18, 1993 Sarin attack against Daisaku Ikeda (botulinum at the same
time) ~December 20, 1993 Sarin attack against Daisaku Ikeda] “By mid-November 1993, Tsuchiya
managed to produce 600 grams of sarin, and by December 1993, he accumulated
three kilograms with a purity of approximately 90 percent. Although Tsuchiya
states that he did not know how this material was used, Nakagawa says that it
was used in an attack on November 18 against Daisaku Ikeda, the leader of Soka
Gakkai (Buddhism) – a popular religious competitor of Aum. The attack was ineffectual, but Aum made another
attempt about 30 days later using a truck to disperse the sarin (…). In a
letter to the authors of this report, Nakagawa described what ensued: In
December 1993, Takizawa and several workers customized a truck ([two ton,] with
cloth hood) into one for sarin evaporation by order of Murai.”[24]
[1] Monterey Institute of International
Studies, Cronology of Aum Shinrikyo’s CBW
activities
[2] Aum Shinrikyo: Japan’s Death Cult
Is Hiding In Europe,
https://www.thedailybeast.com/aum-shinrikyo-japans-death-cult-is-hiding-in-europe
[3] Japan Times, Cult attraction: Aum Shinrikyo’s power of persuasion,
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/03/14/national/history/cult-attraction-aum-shinrikyos-power-persuasion/
[5] Japan Times, High court upholds life sentence for Aum member Katsuya Takahashi for
role in subway sarin attack
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/09/07/national/crime-legal/high-court-set-rule-ex-aum-fugitive-takahashis-appeal-life-term/#.WfGTKO7bvIU
of Strategic Security 5: 55 (2012), http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1193&context=jss
Weapons
Development Efforts
[11] Sara Daly,
John Parachini, William Rosenau, Aum Shinrikyo, Al Qaeda, and the
Kinshasa Reactor Implications of Three Case Studies for Combating Nuclear
Terrorism
[12] Richard Danzig, Marc Sageman, Terrance Leighton, Lloyd
Hough, Hidemi Yuki, Rui Kotaniand Zachary M. Hosford, Aum Shinrikyo: Insights Into How Terrorists Develop Biological and
Chemical Weapons
[14] Mullins,
Mark R. 1997. "Aum Shinrikyo
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[18] Why have 30,000 Russians joined
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