E/CN.4/1990/46 page 45 aware, the police archives of Western countries as well as those of INTERPOL are full of material on these sects, particularly in relation to abduction of minors, unlawful currency movements and drugs. The situation in Spain is a special one. The massive invasion of Spanish society by these groups coincided with a fundamental change in the Spanish political system from authoritarianism to democracy. That produced two consequences: on one hand, a legal vacuum in the treatment of these groups due to the rapid change in the Spanish legal order and, on the other, a general feeling among the Spanish people of permissiveness towards any kind of activities that might result from the blossoming of democratic ideals. The consequence of this was considerable social protest against any attempt on the part of the State to control the activities of these groups. As the years passed, this twofold situation has changed substantially: on the one side, the legal vacuum has been filled, in the context of a State in which the rule of law prevails, and, on the other, the criminal activities of many of these groups, as mentioned above, have brought a change of attitude in Spanish society, which is now calling on the State to take strong action against them. The outcome of this social concern has been the establishment by the Spanish Parliament of a committee to investigate the activities of the sects, which is to publish a report shortly. It should also be borne in mind that such a rapid change in the way public opinion views the activities of these groups is logical in a society like Spain's: the practice of disguising an immoderate desire for money arid the use of unlawful methods to acquire it behind religious arguments has produced some of the best passages in Spanish literature, all to be found in the genre of the picaresque novel. "3. Finally, the Spanish Government wishes to inform the Special Rapporteur on the question of religious intolerance that, as in any State subject to the rule of law, the members of the Association of Scientologists International who have alleged violations of their fundamental rights have at their disposal the appropriate machinery in the Spanish legal system, and in particular the remedy of amparo to the Constitutional Court established in our Constitution, to get these rights restored to them in full. Their lawyers in Spain have in fact utilized some of these procedures. "Finally, the Spanish State is ready to reply to the allegations made by these persons. However, we do not believe that this communication, addressed to the Special Rapporteur on the question of religious intolerance, is the proper procedure, since the allegations relate to alleged violations of civil rights and have nothing to do with the provisions of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination based on Religion or Belief. We therefore consider that there are other United Nations bodies which could more appropriately deal with these complaints and with which Spain has shown and continues to show itself fully willing to co-operate."