Crónica Global
Los Testigos de Jehová ordenan resolver los casos de abusos a niños
internamente
El culto evita la intervención policial directa pese a los escándalos en todo el mundo y las demandas de las víctimas
Miembros de los Testigos de Jehová, en una
asamblea en Madrid / CG
Ignasi Jorro @IgnasiJorro
11.01.2017 00:00 h.is Sharing Buttons
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Los Testigos de Jehová instan a resolver los casos de abusos a menores de forma interna.
Google Translation into English
Jehovah's Witnesses order cases of abuse of
children internally
The cult avoids direct police intervention
despite worldwide scandals and the demands of victims
Jehovah's Witnesses urge the resolving of child abuse cases internally. The cult leadership avoids direct police intervention despite scandals that have sprung up in congregations around the world. A new revision of the child protection policy urges the elderly to inform, and gives them the ultimate responsibility of informing law enforcement if they see it as necessary.
According to an internal
document accessible to Crónica Global, the leadership of the Witnesses in the
United Kingdom has reported a reform of child protection procedures.
This
text has been communicated to congregations in the United Kingdom and Ireland,
and will be effective in Spain in the near future
ELDERS REPORT ...
The updating incorporates some news. If any member of the congregation is aware of abusive behavior, they should inform the elders (pastors). These, in turn, will bring it to the attention of the legal department of the structure.
According to the new internal instruction, the communication must be made "regardless of the age of the victim or alleged perpetrator at the time of the attack, or of the one they have now, and whether or not the allegations are well founded."
... AND THE LEGAL SUMMIT
DECIDES
Once the situation is
transmitted, two things must happen, according to the dome of the Witnesses.
"An elder prepared from the legal department will provide a sense in which
to act and spiritual support to the congregation," added the document.
Afterwards, the management
will launch a Scriptural investigation of the case. The polls include
controversial parades or judicial committees of the congregation, in which
elders question the infant about the alleged abuse episode.
With the current reform, minors may declare
without their alleged assailant being present.
THE POLICE DEPEND
Although renewed
guidelines call for the protection of minors in congregations, updating them
remains timid as regards police intervention.
The dome of the Witnesses leaves to the discretion of the elders the complaint to the non-religious authorities "if the minor is at risk". Both parents of children allegedly assaulted as any member of the congregation are authorized by the cult to report.
At no point do the guidelines cite the
obligation to go to the security forces. Nor does it detail what will happen if
the Watchtower legal department demonstrates the abuse, what the outcome of the
domestic courts or investigations is, or whether its findings will be referred
to law enforcement.
SHORT
Updating the guidelines against child abuse within Jehovah's Witnesses is far from what the victims have requested.
The group has launched the support telephone 91.489.09.83 and has requested access to the secret archives of the cult at the national headquarters of Ajalvir (Madrid). Soon he prepares more actions