MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Guatemalan authorities rescued 160 children and teenagers from the Lev Tahor fundamentalist Jewish sect in southeastern Guatemala on Friday after allegations of child abuse, including rape, prosecutors said.
BECAUSE IT’S IMPORTANT
The rescue operation in the rural municipality of Oratorio, 78 kilometers (48.47 miles) southeast of Guatemala City, underscores ongoing concerns about the controversial practices of the Lev Tahor sect, which has faced similar allegations in the past.
EXCERPT KEY
“Based on the statements of the complainants, the evidence obtained and the medical examinations, it was possible to determine that there are forms of human trafficking against these minors, such as forced marriages, abuse and related crimes,” said Nancy Paiz, said in an interview press the prosecutor of the Guatemalan Office against human trafficking.
CONTEXT
The Lev Tahor community, founded in 1988 in Israel, practices a strict form of Judaism with interpretations of Jewish law that includes long prayer sessions and arranged marriages.
Lev Tahor (“Pure Heart” in Hebrew) has faced multiple charges of kidnapping, child marriage and physical abuse since it was founded in the 1980s.
The community settled in Mexico and Guatemala between 2014 and 2017. In 2022, a Mexican police operation in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas on the border with Guatemala rescued a group of children and teenagers from a Lev Tahor camp whose members were arrested with suspected involvement in abuses against minors.
The Jewish Community of Guatemala said in a statement that the sect is foreign to its own organization and expressed its support for the Guatemalan authorities in conducting the necessary investigations “to protect the life and integrity of minors and other vulnerable groups that may to be in danger”.
He called on “the government and diplomatic corps of countries whose nationalities are members of Lev Tahor to join forces to protect those whose rights may be violated.”
WHAT IS CONTINUITY?
The minors are now under government protection and investigations are ongoing.
