The Guatemalan authorities announced this Friday the rescue of 160 minors in a community of the Orthodox Jewish group Lev Tahor, in addition to the discovery of several bones in a box.
“(An) operation allowed the rescue of 160 minors who were allegedly abused by a member of the Lev Tahor sect,” said the Guatemalan Minister of the Interior, Francisco Jiménez, on his account on the social network X.
The minors were rescued after police officers raided a property in San Rosa, about 90 kilometers from Guatemala City, following several reports of alleged abuse.
The Guatemalan Police has highlighted that the operation has been carried out in collaboration with the United States Department of Homeland Security and other institutions of the Central American country. The Human Rights Ombudsman (PDH), Red Cross and Volunteer Firefighters have also participated.
The minors were transferred to facilities of the Attorney General’s Office (PNG) in the Guatemalan capital where an evaluation process began by a multidisciplinary team.
The specialists examined each case individually to determine the necessary protection measures and, if required, make the corresponding referrals in accordance with Article 108 of the Law on the Comprehensive Protection of Children and Adolescents.
“The actions in question are due to the receipt of complaints that refer to the possible mistreatment that girls, boys and adolescents in the community receive, related to sexual abuse and forced marriage between people under 18 years of age,” noted the PNG. in a statement.
The acting general secretary of the Public Ministry (Prosecutor’s Office), Erick Eduardo Schaeffer Cabrera, has stressed that “at no time is this an action against a religious community or a particular sector,” according to the newspaper ‘Prensa’. Free’.
Nancy Paiz, from the Prosecutor’s Office against Human Trafficking, has indicated that there were previous complaints. On November 11, he reported, four minors escaped from the community and came to the Public Ministry to report. The accusations include sexual abuse and forced marriages among minors under 18 years of age, forced pregnancy, abuse of minors and rape.
Paiz has also said that bones have been located in some boxes, although they have not yet provided more information in this regard. On September 25, 2016, a group of Orthodox Jews left Guatemala City and moved to Oratorio, Santa Rosa, after a series of raids where they resided in Zone 9 for alleged abuses against minors.
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