-
Defending Religious Freedom in Indigenous CommunitiesHow Your Donations Are Used
-
-
“So Much for So Few”
Meanwhile, our brothers in San Juan de Ilumán, a village in Ecuador that is home to many indigenous people of the Otavalo Valley, faced similar opposition. In 2014, after obtaining all the necessary permits, they began to build a Kingdom Hall. However, a priest led a mob of over 100 and forcibly stopped construction. The community then ordered Jehovah’s Witnesses to stop meeting together for worship.
The legal departments at the Ecuador branch and at world headquarters collaborated to defend the congregation from this violation of their freedom of worship. Our brothers took the matter to court. This prompted the community to withdraw its opposition and to allow the congregation to resume their meetings and finish building their Kingdom Hall. But to protect our brothers’ rights in the future, our representatives asked the higher courts to rule on a fundamental issue: Must indigenous communities respect international human rights?
On July 16, 2020, the Constitutional Court of Ecuador, the highest court in the land, heard the case. Brothers who are lawyers in Ecuador represented the congregation. In addition, four of our brothers who are experienced international lawyers addressed the court. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, they spoke from various countries via videoconference. This is the first time any court has allowed a legal team that represents Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide to present arguments in this way.c The team cited international legal authorities to confirm that indigenous persons do not give up their individual human rights simply because they are part of an indigenous community.
Our brothers in the Otavalo Valley eagerly await the Constitutional Court’s decision. In the meantime, they are touched by the help they have received. César, who serves as an elder in the Ilumán Quichua Congregation, says: “Only Jehovah, through his organization, would do so much for so few.”
The lawyers involved in the litigation are all Jehovah’s Witnesses, and they are happy to share their legal expertise at no charge. Still, filing these cases, preparing for them, and arguing them in court cost time and money.
-
-
Defending Religious Freedom in Indigenous CommunitiesHow Your Donations Are Used
-
-
Almost 40 lawyers from around the world spent hundreds of hours on the Ecuador case.
-