E/CN.4/1990/46 page 44 "(a) The case put forward by the defence, whether by Professor Luis Rodriguez Ramos or by the lawyer Jose Manuel Gomez Benitez, refers repeatedly to alleged violations of civil rights, but at no time uses arguments concerning religious intolerance nor does it refer to any supposed attack by the Spanish State on the right of the individuals being held in detention to the religious freedom established in the Spanish Constitution as a fundamental right. "(b) The Association of Scientologists International has been entered in the Spanish Registry of Associations since 21 May 1981 but not in the Registry of Religious Entities. On 6 December 1983, representatives of the Association submitted a communication to the Ministry of Justice applying for registration, but the application was rejected in a decision of 22 April 1985 on the grounds that it is not a strictly religious body. The finding is based on the fact that the statutes submitted by the Association of Scientologists International with a view to registration make no reference to the existence or attributes of a Divine Being or to the relationship of the human being with the Divine, whereas Spanish legislation deems that these considerations are prerequisites for recognizing any association as a religious one. Moreover, it should be noted that - unlike entry in the Registry of Associations, which under article 22 of the Spanish Constitution, is solely for the purposes of public notification, entry in the Registry of Religious Entities is of importance in establishing civil legal personality and means that the entity is governed by a specific legal regime different from the ordinary law on associations. Hence, if the necessary qualifications were not required, any citizen would be free to contract out of the general legal regime and claim rights which the law envisages for situations that must be clearly defined and protected by the Registry of Religious Entities. "In addition, the Association of Scientologists International appealed against the ruling rejecting registration, and the High Court, an organ of the judiciary and thus independent of the Government which had given the ruling, confirmed the rejection by its verdict of 23 June 1988. Other European countries have followed the same policy with regard to the Association of Scientologists International. A case in point is that of Denmark, whose Ministry of Religious Affairs also denied the religious character of the Association. John Agaard, the doctor of theology from whom the Spanish Government requested a report on the question stated: "Scientology is nothing more than a multinational business whose objective is to make money and which has disguised itself as a religious organization the better to achieve this end. "2. The Spanish Government also wishes to draw the attention of the Special Rapporteur on the question of religious intolerance to a matter which is difficult to define precisely, but which is undoubtedly present in Spanish society, namely, the social concern caused in Spain, as in many other democratic countries, by the activities of the many sects, associations and groups purporting to be religious in nature which have appeared in recent years. As the Special Rapporteur is undoubtedly