Klassen, Franz (d. 2009)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2009 Oct 5 p. 6

Birth date:

text of obituary:

Bolivian colonist, accused of rape, dies

By Celeste Kennel-Shank

Mennonite Weekly Review

An Old Colony Mennonite man in Bolivia accused of rape died Sept. 16 after being punished.

Nearly two weeks before his death, neighbors had tied Franz Klassen of Tres Cruces colony to a tree by his arms with his feet dangling for nine hours, according to reports.

George Reimer, who edits Kurze Nachrichten (Brief news), an Internet newsfeed for Low German-speaking Mennonites, talked Sept. 24 with people in Bolivia about Klassen's death.

Klassen's punishers did not hit him or refuse him water, neighbors told Reimer, who previously worked for Mennonite Central Committee in Bolivia.

"But it is a very big punishment if you have your arms behind your back," Reimer said. "Nobody has denied that."

After his release from being tied, Klassen couldn't move his arms and didn't recover his health, a relative told Bolivian newspaper El Deber. He was taken to a hospital, where he died, the relative said. Bolivian police are investigating the incident.

Colony members to whom Reimer spoke said there was circumstantial evidence against Klassen.

"He was caught in a house not his own late at night," Reimer said. "As far as I could find out, no one could say on this occasion that he had actually violated somebody."

Klassen was alcoholic and abused his wife, neighbors told Reimer. colony members had punished him before, as they punish others with the idea that they can change the person's behavior, said Reimer.

"The Mennonites have a lot of liberty to use their own system of justice," Reimer said. "The law is often ignored by means of bribes."

Colony members told Reimer that bribery is affecting the accuracy of accounts of what happened to Klassen, as well as who is being charged with rape in the colonies.

Bolivian authorities charged eight men in June, and more since, with raping more than 100 colony girls and women during several years.

"It's difficult to pinpoint how many people were involved, because so much bribery is involved" Reimer said.

Sexual abuse is a major problem in the colonies, Reimer said.

"People try to keep everything a secret," he said.

Klassen's punishment and death is a small part of "a big tragedy," Reimer said.

There are 11,675 Old Colony Mennonites in Bolivia, according to 2006 Mennonite World Conference figures. Their ancestors went to Bolivia in the 1950s.