wfn.org | Zaire-Rwanda conflict

[smm@wcc-coe.org]

World Council of Churches
Press Release
For Immediate Use
31 October 1996

               INTERNATIONAL ACTION NEEDED IN ZAIRE-RWANDA
                            CONFLICT SAYS WCC

International action is needed to restore order in the Great
Lakes region says the World Council of Churches (WCC) in a
statement sent today to WCC member churches and their relief
agencies.

The statement makes the following points:

The current situation in the region is complex to an
extraordinary degree.

New forms of concerted international action are necessary to
address the basic causes of the current conflict.  These include
the fact that no effective system of impartial justice is in
place, the truth about past crimes has yet to be told, impunity
is freely granted, and effective protection of human rights is
lacking.

An international policing body may necessary to restore order. 
If so, it must be under UN Security Council authority,
international in composition and command, and neutral.

African regional approaches are also needed to resolve the
immediate crisis and deal with its root causes.  The OAU has a
central role to play in this process.

Mediation efforts currently being undertaken by former Tanzanian
President Julius Nyerere deserve international support.
Currently, this offers the best possibility of finding a solution
on African terms.

There can be no final resolution of the current political and
humanitarian crisis without the repatriation of Rwandan refugees. 
However, all repatriation must be voluntary.

Threatened populations have a right to emergency aid in terms of
food, medicine, shelter.  The WCC appeals for humanitarian
organisations to be allowed to operate freely in and out of areas
of conflict.

Church and secular relief agencies are working courageously in
the dangerous situation.  (Note for editors: Action by Churches
Together - ACT, a joint venture of the WCC and Lutheran World
Federation, is coordinating the response by ecumenical relief
agencies to the crisis and is in daily touch with church workers
in the region.)

Solidarity, material assistance and prayer are needed from
congregations around the world who have already taken the
situation to heart.

A copy of the full statement (English only) is available on
request.

Contacts: (+41.22 for all numbers except mobile)
Dwain Epps, Coordinator International Affairs  791.6220/776.1513
Sam Kobia, Executive Director, Unit III 791.6113/788.8322
Nils Carstensen, ACT  791.6039/Mobile +41.89.203.6055
John Newbury, Press Officer 791.6152/369.3726

**********
The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now
330, in more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually
all Christian traditions.  The Roman Catholic Church is not a
member church but works cooperatively with the WCC.  The highest
governing body is the Assembly, which meets approximately every
seven years.  The WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in
Amsterdam, Netherlands.  Its staff is headed by general secretary
Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.

World Council of Churches
Press and Information Office
Tel:  (41.22) 791.61.52/51
Fax:  (41.22) 798 13 46
E-Mail: jwn@wcc-coe.org

P.O. Box 2100
CH-1211 Geneva 2