Thousands of Confidential Documents Released

To further its goal of full transparency within Jehovah’s Witnesses, AvoidJW.org has released thousands of confidential documents.

In an unprecedented move aimed at fostering transparency, ensuring accountability, and protecting vulnerable individuals, thousands of confidential documents detailing the inner workings of Jehovah’s Witnesses have been made publicly accessible. This release represents the most comprehensive disclosure to date, revealing extensive information on the group’s policies, procedures, and doctrinal enforcement mechanisms.

For years, former members and concerned activists have voiced allegations about the manipulative and coercive tactics employed by the organization behind Jehovah’s Witnesses. However, the sporadic and unreliable release of documentation often allowed these claims to be dismissed or downplayed. This release changes that narrative. The documents (in over 60 languages) have been placed in a centralized archive that includes internal memos, leadership directives, training manuals, disciplinary records, financial documentation, and correspondence that paint a clearer picture of the religious group’s operations.

Our Purpose for this Release

This release is essential because members’ and former members’ right to know and the imperative to protect individuals from harm.

Our hope is that by making these documents public, experts can examine the material for potential evidence of human rights violations and maybe even financial misconduct. For many former members, this release will help validate their experiences and provide critical evidence to support legal actions and advocacy efforts.

The release of these documents is also a call to action for governments, legal institutions, and civil society to hold such organizations accountable and support those who only ask that their rights are respected.

This is a religious group that is quick to cry out “persecution” when governments restrict their rights, but it has no regard for the rights of those who no longer believe its tenets and are critical of its more harmful practices such as its extreme form of shunning and its misguided prohibition of blood transfusions. Instead, it is quick to call these vocal critics, “disgruntled former members”.

This is a group that claims their religious propaganda is “accurate information,” and labels critics’ views as “apostate driven lies”, but fails to identify any of the lies. Ironically, the documentation released, helps to present the facts so that there is no doubt as to what is true and what is false.

If the organization is concerned about information being accurate, it should have no concern with the publishing of this information.

We urge the public, journalists, and policymakers to examine these documents critically and join the broader effort to expose and prevent the exploitation of faith for power, control, and profit.

For access to the full archive of documents and resources for those affected by high-control groups, please visit our Documents Library.