Mission Interministérielle pour la Lutte contre les Sectes

MIVILUDES (an acronym for the French-language phrase Mission interministérielle de vigilance et de lutte contre les dérives sectaires, i.e. "Interministerial Mission for Monitoring and Combatting Cultic Deviances") is a French government agency, with responsibility for monitoring groups perceived to constitute a threat to public order or that violate French law, coordinating the government response, informing the public about potential risks, and assisting victims. The agency was created in 2002.

The mission of MIVILUDES involves analysing "the phenomenon of movements with a cultic character whose actions affront the rights of man and fundamental liberties, or which constitute a threat to public order or which are contrary to the laws and regulations".

MIVILUDES provides information related to "cultic deviances" to the media, the French government, and individual members of the public. It recommends contacts and other organizations, and produces and archives documentation and discussion papers on groups considered cults.

The French authorities created MIVILUDES as the successor to MILS (Mission interministérielle de lutte contre les sectes; English: "Interministerial Mission in the Fight Against Cults"), which itself functioned from 7 October 1998 as the successor to the Observatoire interministériel sur les sectes established on 9 May 1996. These organisations were in charge of co-ordinating government monitoring of cults.

In February 1998, MILS, headed by Alain Vivien, released its annual report on their monitoring of cults in France. The operations of MILS, and Alain Vivien's background as the head of an anti-cult organization (he had served as President of the Centre Roger Ikor from 1997 to 1998), had occasionally received criticism from several human-rights organizations, such as the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, as well as the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, a US government agency. (See also About-Picard law#Reactions). In January 1999 Vivien requested and received police protection following threats and the burglary of his home. Vivien resigned in June 2002 under criticism.

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