At the OSCE Warsaw Human Dimension Conference, ALLATRA Warns of the Hidden Threat of the Anti-Cult Movement to Freedom and Pluralism

Warsaw, October 2025 — During the Warsaw Human Dimension Conference organized under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the ALLATRA International Public Movement held a side event titled “The Anti-Cult Movement: A Hidden Threat to Freedom and Pluralism.” 

The discussion brought together diplomats, human rights defenders, journalists, and representatives of international organizations to expose the growing danger posed by pseudo-expert organizations that stigmatize religious and civic groups under the label of “sects or cults,” thereby violating fundamental human rights and freedoms.

“Such stigmatization turns individuals and groups into targets, deliberately dehumanizing them in the eyes of society in order to justify violence and unlawful actions against them,” said Veronika Leštáchová, Climate and Human Rights Ambassador of ALLATRA IPM.

As the organizer of the side event, ALLATRA presented an evidence-based overview of how certain anti-cult organizations — particularly the Russian Association of Centers for the Study of Religions and Sects (RACIRS), led by Alexander Dvorkin —  serve as the central coordinating hub of the global anti-cult network, organizing and directing activities from Russia across Europe and worldwide. According to open sources, RACIRS operates with full institutional support from the Russian Orthodox Church and the Federal Security Service (FSB). 

Participants emphasized the coordination between RACIRS and the European organization FECRIS (European Federation of Centres of Research and Information on Sectarianism), where Dvorkin was its vice president for over a decade, showing how Russian-led anti-cult strategies are implemented and reinforced within European structures.

The ALLATRA Case – Hybrid Persecution

At the side event, participants were presented with the ALLATRA case as a clear example of how the anti-cult network operates.

“Despite this international activity and positive recognition, ALLATRA became the target of an organized campaign of discrediting,” emphasized Katarina Mikitova, official representative of  ALLATRA IPM in Slovakia.

Former members of ALLATRA have faced persecution ranging from arrests in Russia to media harassment and job loss across Europe. This hybrid repression, organized and coordinated from Russia and spread through its affiliated networks across Europe, combines stigmatization, disinformation, institutional capture, and coordinated persecution, posing a transnational threat to freedom and democracy.

“The ALLATRA case serves as a warning: when such mechanisms converge, the threat becomes transnational and tangible,” Mikitova noted.

Speakers also presented documented cases of defamation campaigns and media manipulation, carried out in a coordinated and synchronized manner across multiple countries, with the aim of discrediting peaceful civic and religious movements.

They warned that what once began as marginal discrimination against minorities has evolved into a broader suppression of freedom and the rise of totalitarian tendencies in Europe and beyond.

“Today information has turned from a tool for reporting events into an independent and powerful weapon. Anti-cult networks pose a hybrid threat, using fabricated criminal charges and legal bans to suppress entire organizations — religious, social, or political,” emphasized participants of the side event held within the OSCE Conference.

From Disinformation to Human Rights Violations

This OSCE Conference side event also highlighted disturbing evidence of how anti-cult networks protect individuals accused of severe crimes — including sexual violence, exploitation, and human trafficking — by manipulating media narratives and influencing institutions to obstruct investigations.

Speakers noted that such impunity demonstrates the dangerous reach of this network, where disinformation translates into legislative and political influence, resulting in the denial of justice.

As a primary example, speakers presented the case of Jakub Jahl, a Czech citizen accused of allegedly serious crimes against children in Tanzania, illustrating the system of impunity. 

“We cannot remain silent when the lives and future of children are at stake. This is not a fight against one person. This is the defense of fundamental human rights, the protection of democracy and the rule of law from hidden, subversive attacks,” emphasized Monika Svajčíková, ALLATRA analyst and independent journalist

ALLATRA representatives emphasized that these practices constitute clear violations of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, as well as of the Lanzarote Convention, which obliges states to investigate and prosecute sexual exploitation and abuse of children.

Participants of the conference warned that what began as marginal discrimination against religious and civic minorities has developed into a global system of ideological control — one that undermines human rights, freedom of conscience, and democratic accountability.

“If people are persecuted solely for their faith, this is a violation of Articles 18 and 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and each such case requires the attention of the international community.”  stated Dušan Valeček, Chairman of the ALLATRA International Public Movement in the Czech Republic.

“We are convinced that in a democratic society there can be no ‘higher’ and ‘lower’ religions, no ‘acceptable’ and ‘unacceptable’ beliefs. Every person has the right to faith, freedom of speech, and freedom of opinion — and no one has the right to take these rights away,” Valeček said.

Call to Action

Participants urged the OSCE and its participating States to initiate an independent investigation into the activities of the transnational anti-cult network, in line with the appeal made at the IRF Forum in Washington, stressing that growing expert evidence identifies the actions of the anti-cult movement as a hybrid form of terrorism — one that weaponizes information, law, and institutions to undermine human rights and democratic stability.

“If this network continues to act with impunity, true freedom will remain an illusion. Stopping these practices — including through legal mechanisms — is not only a matter of justice, but of preserving democracy itself,” stated participants.

At the conclusion of the event, Roman Gural, representative of the ALLATRA IPM in Poland, emphasized:

“The OSCE must act decisively — for justice, for pluralism, and for the protection of all vulnerable groups. It must stand against anti-cult movements and their disinformation networks. Ensure that in our common space, freedom prevails over attempts to establish totalitarianism.”

About ALLATRA International Public Movement

ALLATRA International Public Movement (IPM) is an independent, volunteer-based organization engaged in extensive research on geodynamics and environmental issues. ALLATRA IPM is recognized for its interdisciplinary approach to studying natural disasters, fostering international scientific collaboration, and advocating for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

For its contribution to environmental protection and the preservation of the created world, ALLATRA IPM received the Apostolic Blessing from His Holiness Pope Francis in 2024. In 2025, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV also granted the Apostolic Blessing to the President of ALLATRA and all its volunteers.

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