Baxter V Scientology: Valeska Paris Declaration
Baxter V Scientology: Valeska Paris Declaration
EXHIBIT 3
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forcing me to write up false confessions of Scientology “crimes” that were later used
against me.
the Scientology base in the United Kingdom, where I was enrolled in Cadet Org and
parents.
Scientology-run school where the curriculum was a Scientology check sheet used to
was given promoted rote memorization and blind compliance, rather than critical
thinking or analysis.
5. After school each day, I was required to devote around two hours a day
to the study of Scientology. The cost of each of these Scientology courses was
recorded as a debt that I was told I would owe. In addition to studying Scientology, I
and the other Cadet Org children were forced to perform hours of unpaid work for
  Scientology-affiliated entities.
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learned that reporting abuse and mistreatment I experienced from others was futile.
When I was around 11-12 years old, I was interrogated, forced to admit things I
never did, and was punished for reporting abuse or resisting mistreatment by adults.
and it was held over my head. When I was around 13, a commanding officer told
me that I would be kicked out of the dormitory and put out on the street unless I
joined Sea Org. This was a terrifying thought. I had been told stories of terrible
things that happened to people who left or were kicked out and had to fend for
themselves. I felt I had no choice but to sign a contract to join Sea Org, regardless of
When I arrived, I was told that I first had to join the Estates Project Force (EPF). I
did not want to join the EPF, but I knew if I resisted, I would be punished with
9. After I joined EPF, I did not receive any education. Instead, I was
required to clean the premises for as long as eighteen hours per day.
10. At around age fourteen, I was transferred from the Sea Org EPF to the
Commodore’s Messenger Org (CMO) EPF, where for around six months I worked
around sixteen-hour days preparing food, doing laundry, cleaning offices, and
  Miscavige.
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even though I had nothing to do with it, I was punished for her actions. I was kicked
out of CMO, labelled a Potential Trouble Source, and placed under full time
surveillance. I was assigned lower conditions and put to work in the crew dining
room for up to twenty-one hours a day, seven days a week for the next six months.
13. When I was around 18, I was informed that David Miscavige had
ordered me to be sent to the Freewinds. At 6:30 a.m., someone came into the room
where I was sleeping, ordered me to throw my things in a bag, and placed me in the
custody of a Sea Org member, who took me against my will to the airport, boarded a
flight with me to Curacao, escorted me onto the ship, and handed the ship’s security
identification. At no time was I given a choice about living and working on the
Freewinds.
14. At around the time I was transferred to the Freewinds, I was presented
with a document to sign. At this point, I was already habituated to being given forms
15. As usual with the documents I was ordered to sign during my time with
Sea Org, I was not given a chance to read the document or told anything about its
contents. Instead, the usual practice was for the person ordering me to sign the
document to quickly flip the pages, point to where to initial and sign, and I would do
  so.
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16. I felt I had no choice but to sign without asking any questions. If I even
17. When I was presented with a document, I had to sign it right away and
could not ask for more time to read it or ask questions. I do not recall any instance
during my time in Cadet Org or Sea Org in which I was given a chance to fully read
18. Based on the date of May 1996, I now believe that the document I was
ordered to sign was the agreement attached as Exhibit A to the Declaration of Sarah
Heller.
19. On the Freewinds, I told ship officials that I wanted to return to Flag
Base. As punishment, I was sent to the engine room, where I was required to climb
under the deck plates into a claustrophobic space between the pipes and clean them
with a rag. After cleaning those areas, I was covered in grease, and the only cleaning
agent I was given to remove the grease was diesel fuel. I was permitted only about
20. I was punished many times during my years on the ship, including
being sent to the engine room. I was always fearful that anything I said might be
21. For all of my labor on the ship, I was supposed to be paid fifty dollars
per week, but I was rarely given full pay, at times going weeks without
compensation. Because I barely had enough money to afford basic necessities, I was
not able to save any money. I knew that if I left the ship I would have no money to
pay for food or shelter. I also knew that I owed significant “freeloader debt” that I
documents had been taken from me, I knew it would be impossible to travel back to
Europe.
describing the severe mistreatment I was experiencing and telling her that I wanted
to leave the Freewinds, Sharron Weber, President of FSSO, found the letter, tore it
punishments, even when I was not at fault. For example, when CMO officers found
out I was in a romantic relationship with the Security Chief, they forced me to
which meant that I was close to being declared a Suppressive Person that was then
posted on the ship’s notice board for the entire crew to read, humiliating me and
24. Around February 2003, I and other Freewinds staff were sent one at a
  who would be visiting the ship. We were not told that the documents contained an
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were told to hurry and sign where they indicated so the next person could sign.
25. Given the recent punishment I had been subject to and that I had
already been warned that I was close to being declared a Suppressive person, I felt I
had no choice but to sign the documents even though I was not given a chance to
read them.
26. Based on the date, I now believe that the document I was forced to sign
27. Around 2007, I was confined in the extreme heat of the engine room for
about forty-eight hours. I suffered a panic attack, went numb, and was unable to
move or call for help. When an engineer discovered me, he carried me to the control
room where I was denied medical treatment. I was berated for overreacting and sent
back to the engine room. About two weeks later, when I was again confined to the
engine room as punishment and lost consciousness due to the heat and enclosed
conditions, I did not seek medical care because I was afraid of being punished.
28. I tried again to leave the ship. Upon learning that I wanted to leave, the
Suppressive for being “uncooperative,” and she removed me from my dorm and
escorted me to a cabin monitored by a camera, where I was placed under around the
  clock surveillance. I was then forced to go back to work in the hot confines of the
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engine room and be interrogated daily for the next three months. At that point, I
29. Unfortunately, I was sent somewhere worse. I was sent to an RPF site
in Australia to be “rehabilitated.”
30. I was prohibited from bringing most of my belongings, and they made
me pack a bag in the hallway in front of a camera to make sure I did not take more
than they permitted. While packing, I was approached by a security officer and an
FSSO official, who told me that I needed to come with them. I was also instructed
to put on makeup.
31. We went to a room where there was a video camera and a total of four
people, including Security, an Ethics Officer, and FSSO representatives. They told
me that I had to sign the documents in front of me. I was not given sufficient time to
read through the documents, nor was I permitted to take the documents to review or
have someone like an attorney help me understand them. And I was afraid that
32. Due to the December 2007 date on the document, I now believe that
the documents I was forced to sign was the agreement attached as Exhibit H to the
33. Aside from under the circumstances described above, I was not asked to
34. At the RPF, I was put to work preforming hard manual labor for many
  hours a day. I slept in a crowded dorm and shared a bunk with others working
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different shifts. There was no cooling or heating. We were only permitted limited
time for brushing teeth and hygiene. The food was inadequate.
would finally be allowed to leave. I was denied any prenatal care and was required to
work long hours and subsist on the squash pies, cereal, stale bread and other poor-
quality food. After about six weeks of pregnancy, I had a miscarriage. I feared that
losing the baby put me at risk of being prevented from leaving Sea Org, so I did not
37. I was finally informed that I would be permitted to leave Sea Org, but
two senior officers were sent by David Miscavige from the United States to Australia
to put me through a second, even more harsh round of security checks and ethics
handlings. At the end of August 2009, I was finally informed that I had been granted
permission to leave Sea Org because they still thought I was pregnant.
documents returned, I was told I had to sign more documents. I was told that, if I left
Sea Org without signing the documents, my visa would no longer be valid, and they
would report me to the immigration authorities. But if I signed the documents, they
retaliation against people who did not leave under Scientology’s terms, or who were
40. Once again, I was brought into a room, not given an opportunity to
read the documents presented to me or find anyone to help me understand them, and
was instead just instructed to initial and sign where they indicated. No one told me
41. Had I read the documents, I would not have understood them because,
42. I felt that I had no choice but to sign the documents to finally be free of
Sea Org, get my passport and identification documents back, and not suffer severe
43. Based on the date of August 19, 2009, I now believe that one of the
documents I was asked to sign was the agreement attached as Exhibit I to the
44. I did not sign the agreement in exchange for any cash payment. I
45. I have not believed in Scientology as a religion for quite some time,
  which is not surprising given the abuse I suffered. Being forced to participate in a
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religious beliefs.
I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.
         September__,
                  13 2022                         _____________________
                                                  Valeska Paris