Kenja Communication

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Kenja Communication, or simply Kenja, is an Australian spiritual-based group. It was founded by partners Kenneth Emmanuel Dyers and Jan Hamilton in 1982.[1] It has gained media attention due to lawsuits concerning Dyer's alleged sexual assaults on young girls, and its role in the development of mental illness in several former members. Both Dyers and Hamilton have described these allegations as a "witch hunt".

Contents

[edit] About Kenja Communication

The word Kenja was derived from the first letters of the names of the two founders, Ken Dyers and Jan Hamilton. They later discovered it means wisdom in Japanese. Kenja has offices in Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and Parramatta.

Kenja describes its purpose as "to increase understanding of the spiritual nature of man and our relation to the human spirit, coupled with practical training in the basics of effective communication – time, space and energy." The site also says that Kenja Communication is "neither political nor religious".[2]

A former Liberal Party parliamentarian Stephen Mutch described Kenja as "a sinister organisation designed to fill the pockets and stroke the egos"[3][4] in the New South Wales Legislative Council in 1993, and the media attention Kenja has attracted also gives a negative description of them.[5]

[edit] About Energy Conversion

The Kenja training focuses on a form of meditation called 'Energy Conversion'. According to Kenja, it was "originally developed by Tibetan Buddhists who refer to it as 'psychic osmosis'" and was used by the North American Indians for healing purposes.[2] The technique was evolved over time by Ken Dyers into the practices used today.

Energy Conversion is described as a way to "permanently eliminate the suppressed emotion, thought or energy that can divert us from what we want to achieve",[2] though neither Dyers nor Hamilton are qualified and this practice is not recognised by professionals. Energy Conversion Sessions consist of two people sitting opposite each other and looking into each others' eyes for a reasonable period of time, and costs about $130.[3]

An "eminent academic in [the] area" who wished to be anonymous said in a letter to Stephen Mutch that the techniques Kenja uses such as Energy Conversion "appear to be designed to allow senior members to exert influence over other members of the organisation ... The use of the techniques appears to lead to a reduction in the reality testing by individuals, and a relatively uncritical acceptance of the instructions of the senior member. Moreover, the individuals appear to experience a sense of dissociation that involves an alteration in normal waking consciousness and a feeling of incapacity to respond negatively to undesired actions."[4]

[edit] Ken Dyers

Dyers served with 9th Div Pro Coy, a deployment made up of Military Policeman consistent with a Provost Coy, as shown on his service record, in both the Middle East and New Guinea for two years. Dyers served for three years in Australia as a transport driver. Mr Dyers was Court Marshalled, AWOL and his rank reduced to private. He was discharged with 10% mental instability at the wars end.[6] He is also a former Scientology member. In a list published from the 1950s onwards by Scientology, he is listed as an "SP" (a suppressive person).[7]

In 1993 Dyers was charged with 11 counts of sexual offences against two girls and two sisters of one of the girls, who were between the ages of eight and 15. After several trials and appeals, which lasted almost a decade, Dyers was found not guilty of 10 of the charges. He was found guilty of one charge (tried separately) and jailed at Long Bay Correctional Centre for two days before being released on bail. An appeal in 2000 failed, and in 2002 the charge was overturned in the High Court of Australia on the grounds that the trial judge had potentially misdirected the trial, though two of the five judges said that the "contention of the appellant that the evidence led at his trial should have left the jury with a reasonable doubt as to his guilt... should be rejected." The judges in concluding ordered a retrial. One argued that the appeal be dismissed, while one said a retrial should not be ordered due to several circumstances of the case, which included "the age of the appellant and his medical condition" and "the absence of any challenge by the prosecutor".[8]

On 28 October 2005, Dyers was charged in Sutherland Local Court with the sexual assault of two 12-year old girls, alleged to have taken place at the Kenja's Surry Hills headquarters in 2001-2002. Dyers was released on bail under the conditions that he attends Sutherland Police Station weekly and does not attend Kenja premises or events.[9] Dyers has applied for a "permanent stay" in his current court case on the grounds of ill health.

Dyers denies he is guilty of the charges against him, saying that they are a result of former members trying to destroy him as part of a witch-hunt.[10] His lawyer, Harland Koops, makes the defence that 13 year old girls "know how to say no, they get educated in school"[11] and that "there will be contrary medical evidence indicating that Mr Dyers has had erectile dysfunction for almost 15 years".[12]

[edit] Kenja and mental illness

[edit] Cornelia Rau

In 2005, a mentally ill former member, Cornelia Rau, gained widespread media attention in Australia due to being unlawfully detained for a period of 10 months by the Australian government. Before this, she had disappeared, and later turned up in North Queensland where Aborigines alert the police after being concerned about her behaviour. She told them she was Anna Brotmeyer (and later Anna Schmidt) from Germany. Immigration officials assumed she was an illegal immigrant, and failed to diagnose her schizophrenia, leading to her detention.

Her family accused Kenja of contributing to her declining mental health,[13] although Rau had not been involved since 1998. She had developed schizophrenia while a member of the group.[14][15]

Hamilton denied any wrongdoing, saying: "We are not responsible for Cornelia's condition ... we are not a cult. It's a witch-hunt." The sister and family of Cornelia Rau, as well as several members of Kenja present at the time formed a different opinion while observing Rau's involvement in the group.[13][16] Hamilton also claimed, retrospectively, Rau was "scattered, disassociated" as a member of the group, and that she was asked to leave because she needed help and the group "couldn't help her".[17] However, witnesses quoted in the media say she was humiliated and expelled.[15][18]

[edit] Others

In a similar case to Cornelia Rau's, a man named Richard Leape who was being treated for schizophrenia disappeared while a member of Kenja and has not been seen since around 1993. His sister, Annette, says she found him in the street "totally paranoid and irrational, saying Nazis were going to get him". She was concerned that many other people had "developed very serious mental illnesses" from time in Kenja, and said she was "appalled" to know Kenja still exists.[13]

A young man who was a Kenja member of 2 years, Michael Beaver, was also diagnosed with and hospitalised for chronic schizophrenia. He blamed Kenja, and said he had heard of four other people who had severe problems since leaving Kenja. Beaver later killed himself, writing that Kenja was "partly to blame" in his suicide note.[4]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Secrets of sect in sex case. The Daily Telegraph, The Rick A. Ross Institute of New Jersey (May 25, 2006). Retrieved on 2007-02-08.
  2. ^ a b c Kenja Communication. Kenja Communication.
  3. ^ a b Robert Manne. The Unknown Story of Cornelia Rau.
  4. ^ a b c Legislative Council Hansard. Parliament of New South Wales (22 April 1993). Retrieved on 2007-01-22.
  5. ^ religionnewsblog.com archive of Kenja related media. Retrieved on 2007-02-08.
  6. ^ Kenja Communication. The Rick A. Ross Institute of New Jersey (February 12, 2005). Retrieved on 2007-01-22. (full army record)
  7. ^ Suppressive persons and suppressive groups list. Church of Scientology, whyaretheydead.net. Retrieved on 2007-01-22.
  8. ^ Dyers v The Queen (2002). High Court of Australia (October 9, 2002). Retrieved on 2006-12-12.
  9. ^ Cult leader to stand trial on sex charges. ABC News and Current Affairs, The Rick A. Ross Institute of New Jersey (May 26, 2006). Retrieved on 2007-01-22.
  10. ^ Cult leader says sex charges part of witch-hunt. AAP, The Rick A. Ross Institute of New Jersey (October 28, 2005). Retrieved on 2007-02-08.
  11. ^ Cult head's 'No means no' defence. The Daily Telegraph, The Rick A. Ross Institute of New Jersey (October 28, 2005). Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
  12. ^ Kennedy, Les (February 12, 2005). Cult boss impotent, says lawyer. The Sydney Morning Herald, The Rick A. Ross Institute of New Jersey. Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
  13. ^ a b c Lisa Davies (February 10, 2005). This is the face behind a cult. originally published in the Daily Telegraph (Australia). The Rick A. Ross Institute.
  14. ^ Cult linked to Cornelia. Herald Sun, The Rick A. Ross Institute of New Jersey (February 8, 2005). Retrieved on 2007-02-08.
  15. ^ a b Rau angry at sister's visit. The Sunday Mail, The Rick A. Ross Institute of New Jersey (February 2005). Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
  16. ^ Daniel Ziffer. "Rau's sister blames cult", Immigration features, The Age, February 8, 2005.
  17. ^ Wainwright, Robert (February 12, 2005). Dance photos reminder of a troubled trainee. The Sydney Morning Herald, The Rick A. Ross Institute of New Jersey. Retrieved on 2007-01-22.
  18. ^ The humiliation of Cornelia Rau. The Daily Telegraph, The Rick A. Ross Institute of New Jersey (February 2005). Retrieved on 2007-02-21.

[edit] References

  • Jones, Cindy. "Kenja group 'destructive' and 'sinister' claims MP." Sun-Herald 13 December 1992 p. 7
  • Mostyn, Suzanne. "MPs told of cult leader's sexual and mental abuse." Sydney Morning Herald 27 April 1993 p.6
  • Papadopoulos, Nick. "Founder of Kenja to seek no-bill after partial acquittal on sex charges." Sydney Morning Herald 16 April 1996 p.10

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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