wfn.org | CWS Unit Committee calls on

["Wilma Shuffitt"<wshuffit@oc.disciples.org>]

NATO to cease bombing in Kosovo
Date: March 30, 1999
Disciples News Service
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Contact: Clifford L. Willis
Email: CWillis@oc.disciples.org
on the Web: http://www.disciples.org

99b-21

	ATLANTA -- Addressing the dual moral 
dilemma of a state attacking its own 
people and international NATO forces 
attacking that state, the Church World 
Service Unit Committee of the National 
Council of Churches called on NATO to 
cease the bombing in Kosovo. The 
committee also urged the United Nations 
Security Council to pursue a peaceful 
settlement to the longstanding 
conflict.

	The statement on Kosovo was adopted 
unanimously by the CWS Unit Committee 
March 25 during its meeting here. In 
presenting the proposed communique‚ Mia 
Adjali, a United Methodist who chairs 
the NCC's International Justice and 
Human Rights Committee, emphasized the 
importance of bringing the UN Security 
Council into the search for a 
nonmilitary solution to the conflict in 
the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. 
Adjali also is a member of  the CWS 
Unit Committee.

	Unit Committee members noted their 
disgust with the repeated bragging of 
many in the U.S. about the capacities 
of the new trillion-dollar bomber, 
especially in light of the $1.6 billion 
owed by the U.S. to the United 
Nations.

	"To show that airplane over and over 
and say that it's a weapon for peace, 
for Clinton to say that it's a bombing 
for peace, is something we as 
Christians can't accept," Adjali said.  
"I feel like they are just testing 
weaponry."

	Church World Service is the 
humanitarian assistance ministry of the 
National Council of Churches, working 
in more than 80 countries around the 
world in disaster relief, human 
development, and refugee assistance. 
The Christian Church (Disciples of 
Christ) supports CWS ministries through 
Week of Compassion.  

	-- end -- 

Editor's note: The text of the full 
statement is attached.Statement on 
Kosovo
By the NCC's Church World Service and 
Witness Unit Committee
Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia
March 25, 1999

	"Blessed are the peacemakers; for they 
shall be called the children of God." 
(Matthew 5:9)

	The Unit Committee of Church World 
Service and Witness of the National 
Council of the Churches of Christ, 
meeting on March 25, 1999, witnesses 
with horror the attacks by the 
Government of the Federal Republic of 
Yugoslavia on its own people and 
villages and the bombing in the Federal 
Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) by NATO 
forces involving sizable contingents of 
United States and British military 
personnel and equipment. The member 
communions of the National Council of 
the Churches of Christ in the USA 
(NCCC) seek to be faithful to the call 
of God through Jesus Christ to struggle 
for peace with justice. The Church 
World Service and Witness (CWSW) Unit 
Committee asks the General Secretary of 
the NCCC to convey the following 
concerns to the appropriate bodies.

	The path to a negotiated, peaceful 
settlement of the conflict has failed 
to this point due to a number of 
circumstances including the following:

	-- Escalation of the level of violence 
and other violations of human rights 
during this period;

	-- Failure to respect the role and 
involve the United Nations in the 
negotiations; and

	-- Demands for an agreement to a peace 
settlement not reached by consensus nor 
adequate representation of the parties 
and peoples involved.

	Peace in Kosovo and the FRY will be 
realized as the residents are given the 
opportunity to engage in the resolution 
of the issues which have become 
barriers to peace with justice. We 
stand with the people of good will in 
the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia who 
seek peace and reconciliation. No true 
resolution of the issues can be 
achieved by the application of force.

	We find hope in past meetings of 
representatives of the religious bodies 
in Kosovo and urge continued support of 
the efforts of religious leaders to 
seek reconciliation in Kosovo.

	We call upon CWSW and the NCCC through 
the office of the General Secretary to 
communicate with the appropriate bodies 
the following concerns: 

	* that NATO cease the bombing 
immediately;

	* that the United Nations Security 
Council pursue vigorously a peaceful 
settlement of the conflict and call for 
a cease fire by all parties to the 
conflict to provide time to search for 
such a settlement;

	* that all humanitarian agencies, 
including Action by Churches Together, 
increase efforts to meet the emergency 
needs of all victims of the conflict 
and of the latest attacks;

	* that the NCCC member communions seek 
additional funding for the humanitarian 
needs of all of the people in the 
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia;

	* that the member communions continue 
their efforts to address the moral and 
ethical imperatives of a comprehensive 
common global security for the 21st 
century, in cooperation with regional 
and international ecumenical bodies, 
and

	* that all people of faith pray for 
God's guidance and forgiveness for all 
violence done, for all missed 
opportunities to seek peace and for 
those persons who face these days with 
fear.

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