Testimonies

“I certify everything I’ve read about the practices of this group. All what is said and they go even further.” (Abou)

“Until now complaints on the Internet against CREA were of low-quality and closed to senseless injuries. That’s why I didn’t believe in them. However I identified part of the information with some of the things I went through” (Lawal).

“First,I thought they were everything I wanted, but later I realised that being member of the group would mean devoting my whole life just to one cause that wouldn’t meet other sides and needs in my life” (Thile).

“It’s harmful to have trusted blindly in someone who actually is a complete faker. People around him say that he is a very good person, but in fact he only seeks power, recognition and success with girls. He achieves these goals by saying certain things and doing exactly the opposite. He bombards others with a lot of information in order to persuade them about something, so he gets what he wants. He says that others are cheaters but he is the first one who is actually cheating to the people around him”. (Thile).

“… it’s weird that they are continuously saying how open they are because of the fact of holding people of different races, religions and sexual orientations. That means that diversity doesn’t exist out of CREA. Are we living in the same world? Surprisingly people supporting that not only use the same grammatical structures but internalized that the best and most correct way of expression is the leader’s one.” (Thile).

“One of the requirements he fixed me to be part of CREA was to participate in the group of women. The meetings in this group were about explaining your private life. With the argument that for contributing to social transformation first it is necessary your personal transformation. They based on the assumption that socialization made us feel attraction towards bad guys, so they allowed themselves to advise me about the kind of guys who were adequate for me and the ones who didn’t. I remember that they proposed me to meet up in a bar with the guy I liked outside the group in order to observe him from an adjacent table” (Netsal).

“In summer they offered us the possibility of living a transforming holidays (going to Boston and Harvard), in order to advance in some research project or take part of volunteer work. They explained us that people going there shouldn’t accept invitations coming from strangers. If someone invited us to drink coffee we should inform the group about that and other members of the group would accompanied us.” (Pape).

“…What makes me jump was the behaviour they have towards a girl of the group due to the fact of having sexual relationships with a guy external to the group, who was considered by many members (or a part of the group) as not appropriate for her” (Lawal).

“In the flat where I lived, we held a weekly sentimental meeting. In these meetings I had to explain my previous love relationships in order to allow the group to help me seeing how bad these were, since I felt attraction for girls that didn’t care much about me. They made me believe that thanks to them I could change my feelings to get in real love and have the best sex ever. According to the group, these dialogical meetings in which I should reflect about my previous relationships in group, were recognided by the International Scientific Comunity as the best way to succed in love and frienship.” (Djal)

“In the first assembly I had in the flat they told me I should have no doubts about my partner, that if I have doubts this was a very bad sign. They told me not to worry because they would help me. In case of having doubts about my partner, I should go to a quiet place and phone them to ask for help. In fact, in this first meeting they ask me for the phone number of my partner, they wanted to call her to give her some advises about how to treat me.” (Djal)

“Internal meetings were useful to foster group cohesion and to correct those who diverted from the group way of thinking. Criticism wasn’t allowed. If someone was critical then that person received a corrective talk afterwards”. (Pape)

…”I would like to stress the lack of spontaneity in the group dynamics. In the group or assembly meetings the leader usually talks and the others seem to be scared to talk and raise their head. Most of the times he talks and the others have a submission attitude. They don’t initiate conversations about daily life issues because they have to listen to him, like if he is superior or has the absolute truth”. (Thile).

“They assert they are democratic and egalitarian but they are exactly the opposite”. (Thile).

“Thinking about it I can say that everything is very well planned: long and exhausting working days, shared flats, the few moment of leisure with the members of the group, as a result, isolation” (Seyni)

“He tricks you as much as he can. Finally, I became aware of all lies and mechanisms they use to constrain you. What make me angry is that they say you they’re on your side in a society where you can trust no one but in fact it’s just him who you cannot trust.” (Thile)

“We always remarked how much attractive we were due to our values and our hope to transform the world. In all the events we organised we selected attractive people as speakers or for carrying the microphone among the audience. According to they, people were more interested in our physical apparence than in our speech.” (Djal)

“It’s difficult to describe the discomfort I felt within a group of people that seem to be ready to make you fell good. It was bizarre. I rejected this feeling, as they smiled they seemed to be good people fighting for difficult causes, I thought even that there was something evil in me or that I wasn’t as good person as they” (Thile)

“One of the most difficult things to bear was the daily pressure to join the group outside the work. These activities disguised of an academic appearance, were in many cases carried out in their homes and implied to talk about your personal life. They invite me (force me) in a way that was very difficult to say no. It was a subtle and continuous pressure which arrive at strangling me.” (Kouma)

“From time to time, people with certain status within CREA invited me to an ‘academic’ activity and in these occasions of friendly environment they started to talk about their personal life, in a way that I was pushed to explain also certain aspects of my personal life. With the pass of time, I have realized that these talks had an enlightening objective (styles of life, loyalty to the group…). It is very hard to describe the subtlety with which they did it.” (Kouma)

”I saw tremendously unfair practices in the group like mixing everybody’s work and distribute the authorships of publications without justice and equity, which contradicts the values they say to defend” (Thile)

“Everything, everything I’ve read (editor’s note: about CREA on the Internet)… was getting into practice in our school…” (Afi).

“… in the conducted library class (…) children end up talking about their personal problems. We don’t like it. Don’t like it at all.” (Afi).

“They achieved that the principal of the school bring for 6th grade a teacher who surprisingly was also a member of CREA.” (Afi).

“…members of CREA (…) are members of the AMPA (editor’s note: the Students Parents’ Association). They acted as if they didn’t know each other, as if they were parents who had never seen each other before. Now we are able to understand why all the votes of the AMPA assemblies were in favor of the Learning Communities. They were majority”. (Afi).

“The AMPA assembly (editor’s note: being CREA in charge of it) went to the Ensenyament (editor’s note: the regional education administrative department) to support the candidature of a Valencian principal without having consulted the parents before. (Afi).

“…when they secretly wanted to support after the deadline the candidature (because they all were members of the AMPA) of a new Valencian principal who, surprisingly, was member of CREA too” (Afi).

“X (editor’s note: member of CREA) was also a member of the FAPAC (editor’s note: the Federation of Associations of the Students’ Parents in Catalonia). They have said us (…) that they asked her to quit… They weren’t able to stand her obsession for trying no matter what to achieve that all schools belonging to the FAPAC became Learning Communities” (Afi).

“I’ve read today the article of the Ara newspaper and ghosts from the past have reappeared. (…) I collaborated (several years ago) with this group and I suffered so much. As much as to the point of not being able to get over it”. (Abou).

“Reading everything I’ve found on the Internet related with the case cheered me up because I overlooked the existence of other victims and I had already internalised that I was the one who was crazy”. (Abou).

“Many doubts I had have been confirmed this week. Being aware that I’m not the only one is worrying, of course, but it comforts me at the same time.” (Lawal)