{"id":13097,"date":"2013-02-17T21:49:29","date_gmt":"2013-02-17T21:49:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alternativejonestown.com\/?page_id=13097"},"modified":"2026-04-04T16:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T23:30:11","slug":"pttoconcernedrelatives","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=13097","title":{"rendered":"Peoples Temple responses to Concerned Relatives Accusation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Throughout the spring of 1978, shortly after the Concerned Relatives issued its Accusation of Human Rights Violations<\/a>, Peoples Temple launched a series of attacks against its critics and warnings directed at those who would interfere with the Jonestown community.<\/p>\n

Press Release of April 18, 1978<\/b><\/p>\n

On April 18, one week after the Accusation was published, Peoples Temple issued a press release of a transcribed statement of defiance by Harriet Sarah Tropp. The original statement was read during a press conference during which Temple leaders in Jonestown \u2013 led by Tropp \u2013 answered questions from reporters gathered in the offices of Temple attorney Charles Garry. The statement some time in describing the beauty of Jonestown, but opens \u2013 and focuses \u2013\u00a0on the \u201cself-styled group of \u2018Concerned Relatives\u2019 [that] have now threatened publicly to hire mercenaries \u2026 to capture relatives in the Peoples Temple community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The final section of the press release asserts Jonestown\u2019s position that \u201cIt is\u00a0 not our intention to die,\u201d but it reiterates earlier pledges that members will \u201cresist this harassment and persecution even if it means death\u201d and describes the community\u2019s willingness to die as \u201cthe ultimate commitment.\u201d The statement ends, \u201cWe make no apologies for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Press Release of April 18, 1978, <\/b>RYMUR 89-4286-I-1, pp. 230-234; also at RYMUR 89-4286-HH-1-L1 \u2013 L4, P8, pp. 98-101, 120
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<\/a>Open Statement by Members of Peoples Temple, May 10, 1978<\/b><\/p>\n

On May 10, Peoples Temple issued two more substantive attacks on the Concerned Relatives. The first was in the form of an “open statement” released to the press which described the Concerned Relatives organization as \u201conly the latest ploy\u2026 [in] a series of elaborate charades that only imperfectly masks a politically motivated conspiracy.\u201d The statement details a \u201chost of schemes \u2026 and \u2018dirty trick\u2019 methods of Cointelpro\u201d which the group has used against the Temple, including sabotage, lies, attempts to cut off pensions, and attempted kidnappings. \u201cIt is all documented fact,\u201d the statement emphasizes.<\/p>\n

The statement refutes the Accusation\u2019s charges against Jim Jones and mounts a counterattack against the relatives. After describing Jonestown in glowing terms, it adds that the critics cannot comprehend the principles and beliefs that would convince a group of sincere believers that they could find a better life elsewhere. \u201cThey are unable to understand the ultimate commitment of people to a cause that transcends their own personal self-interests.\u201d<\/p>\n

Open Statement by Members of Peoples Temple, May 10, 1978<\/b>, RYMUR 89-4286-I-1, pp. 239-242; also,\u00a0RYMUR 89-4286-BB-22-d-15 \u2013 d-18; also,\u00a0RYMUR 89-4286-FF-1-109a \u2013 109d; also,\u00a0RYMUR 89-4286-II-107 \u2013 112; also, RYMUR 89-4286-HH-1-P31A \u2013 P31D; also, California Historical Society, MS 3800, Box 77, Folder 1208
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Fact sheet on Jonestown, May 10, 1978<\/b><\/p>\n

The second document dated May 10, 1978 included additional characterizations of the Concerned Relatives organization as “an elaborate hoax,” “a right-wing McCarthy-like attack,” and a “lunatic outfit,” but it spent more space describing the programs that the oppositional organization would destroy. The two-page flyer also reprints a number of glowing comments which visitors to Jonestown \u2013 principally Guyanese government officials \u2013 have written in its guestbook.<\/p>\n

Fact sheet on Jonestown, May 10, 1978<\/b>, RYMUR 89-4286-II-113 \u2013 114; also,\u00a0California Historical Society, MS 3800, Box 77, Folder 1208
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<\/a>U.S. Government Refutes Charges Against Peoples Temple, May 12, 1978<\/b><\/p>\n

Two days later, on May 12, Peoples Temple released a press statement promoting \u201can official State Department report [which] officially refuted the charges\u201d raised in the Concerned Relatives Accusation. The report was based on on-site visits made by Embassy personnel who \u201cperiodically visit\u201d Jonestown. The three-page press release is preceded by a \u201cDear Friends\u201d cover letter.<\/p>\n

U.S. Government Refutes Charges Against Peoples Temple, May 12, 1978<\/b>, RYMUR 89-4286-I-1, pp. 146-149; also at RYMUR 89-4286-HH-1-P30A \u2013 P30B, pp. 143-144
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Peoples Temple Petitions United Nations Agency for Assistance<\/b> \"NEW\"<\/p>\n

Beyond appealing to the public and government agencies for assistance in its campaign against the Concerned Relatives and the allegations in its “Accusation,” Peoples Temple approached the United Nations Human Rights Commission twice in the spring of 1978, once requesting assistance in a general letter of April 15, 1978, and once with a point-by-point discussion \u2013 and dismissal \u2013 of the charges brought against the Temple.<\/p>\n

Letter to United Nations Human Rights Commission, April 15, 1978<\/b>, RYMUR 89-4286-II-80 \u2013 II-89
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Refutation of Concerned Relatives Accusation, May 17, 1978<\/b>, RYMUR 89-4286-II-90 \u2013 II105
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