Aum Shinrikyo Terrorist Group

Introduction The Aum Shinrikyo is a Japanese New Religious Movement Organisation but they are too labelled as a terrorist organisation in many countries across the world. The group originated in 1984, in Japan. It started as a cult where the founder and leader, Shoko Asahara, promised chase that they would have the power to hoer or levitate if they joined. Since its establishment in 1984, it has committed at least 2 terrorist attacks.The group was popular in the 1990s and had many particles (10,000 in Japan and approximately 30,000 in Russia) but following the Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, the numbers diminished imput fitted to the group being targeted by the police. They changed the fix of the organisation from Aum Shinrikyo to Aleph. History The infamous Cult began in 1987 and was founded by Shoko Asahara. Aum Shinrikyo has elements of Buddhism and Christianity although Christians and Buddhists have no association to the group.The founder, Shoko Asahara, was born in 19 57 and is partially blind. He spent his life studying acupuncture which is a common career in Japan for the blind. He was arrested by the Japanese governing and held in prison for a short period for selling useless medicines to cure diseases, with the claim that they give the user special powers. He later traveled in the Himalayas where he supposedly learnt his divine powers and was teleported to the year 2006 where he spoke to soldiers who had survived World War III.Asahara formed the Cult in 1987 in a down in the mouth yoga studio and convinced(p) people that if they joined they would have special powers much(prenominal) as the ability to levitate and they would fight in World War III, which was to legislate at the end of the millennium. Asahara grew a beard when he started the Cult as a way of appearing as a mystic. The reason the Cult was able to recruit so many members was that the vulnerable sought the belief that they could posse supernatural powers and could achieve a different life to the busy, non-stop working life of close people in Japan.The Cult members were loyal to Asahara and treated him as a type of Christ. He brainwashed his followers and taught a range of original theories such as the doomsday and apocalypse that was his World War III. He brainwashed people into thinking that if they left they would die in the apocalypse and in that respect were cases of members leaving and being depleteed by other members, acting on Asaharas orders. In 2000, the name of the organisation was changed from Aum Shinrikyo to Aleph. Aleph is the first letter of the Jewish alphabet.It is somewhat of an enigma that they changed the name to Aleph as the group is strongly opposed to Judaism. The reason for the change of name served to prove to the public they had changed and were no longer Anti-Semitic and to recruit new members that were unaware of the Cults previous history. The Cult still exists today, although many countries such as Australia and the U SA have placed Aleph and Aum Shinrikyo on terrorist alert lists. Interestingly, Japan has not classed Aleph as a terrorist organisation, yet and current worldwide membership as of 2005 is 1,650 according to Japanese government records.Chemical Weapons The Aum Shinrikyo made sarin using over the counter products purchased at a chemist and processed themselves. The Aum Shinrikyo maintained large warehouses where they would develop boldness agents and other chemical weapons. The Cult even had a headquarter in Western Australia that was closed at the end of 1993. In Western Australian it is asserted they studyed chemical weapons (Sarin gas and VX which is the closely toxic nerve agent created and is classed as a Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD) by the United States) on 29 sheep.The Cult also maintained chemical warehouses end-to-end Japan but in many cases, local residents petitioned for them to move away. Tokyo Subway Sarin Gas Attacks In 1995 the Aum Shinrikyo committed the first , and worst, of their terrorist attacks. In the early first light rush hour on the Tokyo subway, five Aum Shinrikyo members each released two bags of the lethal chemical, Sarin and the attack was carried out at peak hour in the subway steads where there was the largest number of people and greatest potential impact. The perpetrators were driven to the designated subway stations carrying 2 bags of liquid Sarin wrapped in newspaper.Some wore disguises while others had medical masks (which are quite common in Japan). All boarded the subway carriages and placed the bags on the floor, puncturing them with umbrellas before hopping off at the adjoining stop. The liquid evaporated and commuters began to feel light headed and nauseas. The subway carriages were forced to stop and were then evacuated. At one station a commuter told a staff member of a leaking bag which the staff member immediately picked up with her hands and then placed in a bin the staff member died currently after.Chao s followed outside the subway stations as Tokyos road systems were already congested with traffic and emergency services found it severe to reach victims. In total, 12 people died, 50 were severely injured and possibly 1000 more had temporary blindness and vision loss. The attack trunk to this day the worst terrorist attack committed in Japan. Aums Other Illegal Activities Although the 1995 Tokyo Subway Sarin Gas attacks received the most publicity, it is sure enough not the only terrorist and illegal act.The second most notorious and infamous reason for the Cults media insurance coverage were the Sakamoto murders. Sakamoto was an anti-cult lawyer who was working against the Aum Shinrikyo in 1989. Sakamoto convinced Asahara to take a blood test to see if there was anything unusual in his body that would give him his supernatural powers. The test came back normal aiming suggest that Asahara was a fraud and had no supernatural powers. This would have been devastating for recruitme nt into the Aum Shinrikyo and embarrassing to Asahara.This was the reason Asahara sent his loyal followers to kill Sakamoto and his family. The method they chose to kill Sakamoto and his family was with 14 hypodermic syringes filled with potassium chloride and their bodies were mutilated to hinder identification. The perpetrators were only arrested and prosecuted because other members of the Cult were linked to the sarin gas attacks gave reason. There has also been evidence and accusations that the Aum Shinrikyo had torture chambers at some of the warehouses and headquarters.It is asserted that they placed members who tried to leave the Cult in large shipping containers where they deprived them of sleep along with committing other tortures before then killing them. Shoko Asahara A very famous photo of Asahara on trial in Japan. This photo has had a lot of coverage and even taking the cover of Time Magazine. Source www. my. dek-d. com The clean up after the Sarin Gas attacks on th e subway. Source www. angelingo. usc. edu Large containers of Chemical weapons such as Sarin and VX were found in an Aum Shinrikyo warehouse throughout Japan and one in Western Australia.Source http//www. semp. us This image shows many test tubes filled with the deadly gas used in the Tokyo Subway attacks, Sarin. Source jafproject. net/images3/sarin. jpg This photo was taken outside a subway station after the Sarin was released. The gas made people feel nauseas and sick and they can often loose their sight or even die. These victims are most likely only suffering from temporary blindness. Sourcehttp//www. semp. us/_images/biots/Biot171PhotoA. jpg Tsutsumi Sakamoto, his wife and one year old son.This photo was taken shortly before they were viciously murdered by members of Aum Shinrikyo under Shoko Asaharas orders. Source http//japanfocus. org A wanted photo that has been stuck on a wall outside a subway station where two sarin bags were released. The photos are of the perpetrators, Ikuo Hayashi, Kenichi Hirose, Toru Toyoda, Masato Yokoyama and Yasuo Hayashi. Sourcehttp//content. answers. com Bibliography http//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Aum_Shinrikyo1995_Tokyo_sarin_gas_attacks_and_related_incidents http//www. religioustolerance. org/dc_aumsh. htm www. angelingo. usc. edu