The world remains in one piece as the millennium draws to an end.

This must come as a great disappointment to cult leaders who repeatedly warned of a doomsday and committed a series of atrocious crimes against their followers.

The past decade has seen a number of mass suicides masterminded by cult leaders.

The latest occurred in March when more than 500 people, including 78 children, all members of the Movement for the Restoration of Ten Commandments of God, died in a blaze in Uganda. After the fire, mass graves were discovered on the properties of the cult leaders, bringing the total number of dead to more than 1,000.

The series of tragedies shocked the people of Uganda and the international community, arousing fresh concerns over threats posed by cults.

Condemning the fire as a "horrific, senseless and tragic act," Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said: "We are not going to allow anyone to use religion to disturb the peace we have brought about."

The leading Ugandan newspaper, the New Vision and the Monitor, said, "It is a big challenge, especially in a country that cherishes freedom of worship as enshrined in the Constitution. "There can be a fine line between genuine religious worship and the eccentricities that characterize cults."

Uganda has alerted Interpol and asked it to hunt for the cult's leaders. "No matter which corner they hide themselves in, they should be brought to court," said Uganda Road Court Chief Magistrate Andrew Bashaija.

Events like this should never be forgotten or repeated. With growing concerns over the activities of cults, the international community has stepped up a crackdown on these dangerous organizations.

Many countries, including developed ones, have suffered from the activities of cults. In the United States, there are 2,000 to 5,000 cults involving 10 million to 20 million people. France has 172 cults with 160,000 followers. The Japanese Aum Supreme Truth has lured 14,000 members in Japan and 35,000 in Russia.

Almost all cults fabricate evil theories, collect funds from their followers and exercise spiritual control over their members.

They threaten the function of the government and the stability of society.

Few governments have shown tolerance towards cult activities. Seven Aum members have been sentenced to death this year. Among the seven, four were for involvement in the notorious sarin nerve-gas attack on the Tokyo subway system in 1995, in which 12 people were killed and thousands of others were injured. The other three were involved in the brutal murder of an anti-sect lawyer and his family in 1989.

Aum guru Shoko Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, is standing on trial for 17 charges including murder and the masterminding of the subway gas attack.

In South Korea, three leaders of the "Chonjonhoe" doomsday cult were put in prison this year for their role in the country's biggest cult fraud. Mo Haeng-ryong and his wife Park Kui-dal received eight and seven-year prison terms respectively, and Lee Nak-woo, the cult's general secretary, was jailed for five years.

According to prosecutors, Mo and Park set up the cult in 1985, and quickly gathered disciples after "deifying" themselves. In 1990, they began preaching that the end of the world was at hand and strengthened their influence through 20 churches across the country. They secured credit loans in their followers' names from about 5,000 financial institutions and used the cash to finance a luxurious lifestyle.

Prosecutors accused 40 other cult members of fraud amounting to 38 billion won (US$34 million) and put another 113 cult members on a wanted list.

To combat cults, the French National Assembly unanimously passed a law in June that makes "mental manipulation" a crime.

Under the law, people can be sentenced to three years in prison for acts of "serious and repeated pressure or the use of techniques to alter the mind of a person, leading him or her to commit a harmful act."

Another clause authorizes the court to dissolve sects that have been convicted twice on charges, such as endangering lives, illegal use of medicine or duplicitous advertising.

But some cults have staged counterattacks against the French Government on the pretext of protecting human rights. These cult groups, especially the Church of Scientology, a cult seen as dangerous and undesirable by the French and German governments, condemned the anti-sect law as an assault on free speech and an infringement of the Declaration of Human Rights.

The Church of Scientology is listed by a French anti-sect committee, set up two years ago and headed by French deputy Alain Vivien, as a dangerous organization that "threatens public order" and "human dignity." Vivien has called for its dissolution.

On October 23, several thousand Scientologists from the United States, Canada and other European countries gathered in Paris to protest against the anti-sect law, which was the largest Scientology gathering in France for several years. Vivien criticized the United States for supporting the cult and causing problems in France.

(Xinhua 2000/12/28)