wfn.org | Ramos-Horta focus of US Lutheran Peace Prize forum

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

GENEVA/CHICAGO, March 10, 1998 (elca\lwi) - For 23 years, Jose Ramos-Horta
has fought a bloodless battle to free East Timor from the "occupying forces
of Indonesia". Speaking to more than 1,300 Lutheran students at the Peace
Prize Forum of Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, USA, Feb. 13-14,
the 1996 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize said: "No amount of force or
violence will ever be sufficient to resolve an ethnic, political, social
and economic problem." Concordia is a college of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA).

This year's Peace Prize Forum theme, "Striving for Peace: Visions of
Authentic Development," focused on development in Asia and the Pacific Rim,
and the struggle many nations face as they deal with issues such as peace
and self-determination. Lutheran World Federation (LWF) general secretary,
Ishmael Noko, was invited to address the forum.

Ramos-Horta, who received the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent efforts
for a just and peaceful resolution to the conflict in East Timor, told
students: "Empires do not last forever. Regimes do not last forever.
Through the power of ideas - our convictions - you, each of us, all of us,
can make the changes."

In 1975, Indonesia invaded the tiny country of East Timor and killed
200,000 of its citizens, nearly a third of the total population. Since
then, Ramos-Horta, who was born in Dili, East Timor, has campaigned for
human rights and self-determination for the former Portuguese colony. "With
economic chaos buffeting Asia, now may be the time for countries like the
United States to pressure Indonesia into giving East Timor the right to
self-determination," Ramos-Horta said.

Ramos-Horta met with ELCA presiding bishop, Rev. H. George Anderson, Feb.
18 to discuss the issue of East Timor. "My conversation with Jose
Ramos-Horta spotlighted the precarious political situation in Indonesia. We
are in one of those critical periods when prayer and courage are required,
so that we do not miss the possibility for a lasting peace in East Timor,"
Anderson said.

A statement adopted by the LWF Ninth Assembly in Hong Kong, last July,
says: "The Assembly is concerned about the issue of East Timor, and
strongly supports the ongoing peace talks between all parties. We expect
and pray that in the not too distant future a solution which is agreed
[upon] by all parties will be reached."

The Peace Prize Forum rotates annually among the five midwestern colleges
of the ELCA of Norwegian heritage: Augsburg College, Minneapolis; Augustana
College, Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Concordia College; Luther College,
Decorah, Iowa; and St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota.

Held in cooperation with the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, this series
of forums was created to offer an opportunity for Nobel Peace Prize
laureates, diplomats, scholars and the general public to share in a
dialogue on the underlying causes of conflict in modern society and on the
dynamics of peacemaking.

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Lutheran World Information
Editorial Assistant: Janet Bond-Nash
E-mail: jbn@lutheranworld.org
http://www.lutheranworld.org/