Guatemalan authorities rescue 160 children from Jewish Lev Tahor sect
World
The Lev Tahor community, founded in 1988 in Israel, practices an austere form of Judaism
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Guatemalan authorities rescued 160 children and adolescents from the fundamentalist Jewish sect Lev Tahor in southeastern Guatemala on Friday following allegations of child abuse, including rape, prosecutors said.
WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
The rescue operation in the agricultural municipality of Oratorio, 78 kilometers (48.47 miles) southeast of Guatemala City, highlights ongoing concerns over the controversial practices of the Lev Tahor sect, which has faced similar allegations in the past.
KEY QUOTE
"Based on the statements of the complainants, the evidence obtained, and the medical examinations, it was possible to establish that there are forms of human trafficking against these minors, such as forced marriage, abuse, and related crimes," Nancy Lorena Paiz Garcia, a prosecutor at Guatemala's Prosecutor's Office Against Human Trafficking, said at a press conference.
CONTEXT
The Lev Tahor community, founded in 1988 in Israel, practice an austere 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 allegations 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 Guatemalan border rescued a group of children and adolescents from a Lev Tahor camp, whose members were arrested on suspicions of participating in abuses against minors.
WOMEN RECOVERED
The prosecution said during the raid, 40 women were also taken by the authorities, who believe they were victims of severe abuse by the cult leaders and their followers.
According to the prosecution, the raid involved 480 police officers, soldiers, legal prosecution staff, and psychologists. During the raid, children's bodies were found buried in the ground, and the police are investigating if they died as a result of abuse by the cult members.
Regional prosecutor Dimas Jimenez said that the prosecution is considering filing charges for human trafficking, child abuse, and rape. "We suspect that these crimes were committed by a community member," he added.
Garcia said that police found bodies, suspected to be those of children and minors, buried in the area where the cult operates. "We have no information that the cult used local cemeteries, but we must investigate these potential child deaths," said the prosecutor.
The raid was carried out after four children managed to escape last month and informed the authorities about what was happening within the cult.
"Based on the statements, the obtained evidence, and medical examinations, it could be determined that forms of human trafficking against these minors exist, such as forced marriages, abuse, and other related crimes," said prosecutor Garcia
