wfn.org | WCC general secretary meets Rwanda genocide suspects in

["Sheila Mesa" <smm@wcc-coe.org>]

Tanzania

World Council of Churches
Update, Up-02-19
For Immediate Use
10 July 2002

Horn of Africa visit:
WCC general secretary meets Rwanda genocide suspects in
Tanzania

cf. WCC Press Update, Up-02-18, of 8 July 2002 
cf. WCC Press Release, PR-02-17, of 28 June 2002

On the second leg of a 1-16 July five-country visit to the
Greater Horn of Africa, World Council of Churches (WCC) general
secretary Rev. Dr Konrad  Raiser met with Rwanda genocide
suspects at a detention camp in Arusha, Tanzania.  

The 4 July visit to the camp was authorized by the International
Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda; Raiser's exchange with the
detainees focused on the meaning of reconciliation. Addressing a
gathering of some 30 of the 52 suspects held in the camp, the WCC
general secretary explained that the WCC's visit to the Horn of
Africa was an effort to learn more about the ongoing conflicts in
the region and the peace-building role churches could play.   

In response to a request from one of the suspects, Raiser
defined reconciliation as "having to do with healing broken
relationships. It is a process which needs time. You can't
declare it. It takes time to reach genuine reconciliation".  

The suspects expressed their appreciation for what they said was
the first-ever visit by a high-ranking official of an
international organization to the camp. At the end of the
exchange, they all joined hands and said the Lord's prayer in
their respective languages.  

Earlier in the day, the WCC delegation met with the registrar of
the International Tribunal, Mr Adama Dieng from Senegal. Dieng is
also United Nations assistant secretary-general. In their
discussion, Raiser noted that establishing justice through courts
is important in order to rectify wrongs. "But," he pointed out,
"by focusing on sentence and punishment, [the procedure] tends to
isolate perpetrators from their communities. As such, the system
cannot heal the victims' wounds."   

In response, the registrar said that the Rwandan traditional
court - the Gachacha - offers space for dialogue, helps establish
truth, and promotes a healing process. He noted that although the
Gachacha process is lacking in some aspects of adjudication of
justice, "it is necessary as there are large numbers of suspects
awaiting trial, some of whom are dying before their trial".  

On arriving in Arusha, the WCC delegation was received by the
Arusha regional commissioner Daniel ole Njoolay. The commissioner
expressed concern that following an influx of refugees into his
country from the Great Lakes, the crime rate had shot up in
several once-peaceful provinces and that, as a result, residents
were becoming hostile to refugees and members of parliament were
putting pressure on the government to reject refugees.  

Raiser also met with church leaders and theological students of
Tumaini University, and expressed the WCC's condolences to the
Tanzanian government and the relatives of the 281 victims of a
tragic railway accident that took place two weeks ago near
Dodoma, the administrative capital of Tanzania.  

In Nairobi, Kenya, on the next leg of its tour, the WCC
delegation was briefed (9 July) by a high-ranking official of the
Sudanese Peoples Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), Commander
Salva Kiir Mayadit, on Sudanese peace talks, under the aegis of
the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD),
currently in their second week at a secret location in Kenya.
Commander Mayadit said that the delegation from Khartoum lacks
the authority to make concessions that could pave way for peace
settlement, and predicted that the talks would collapse.  
________________

The WCC delegation is visiting northern and southern Sudan,
Ethiopia and Eritrea, Tanzania and Kenya during its 1-16 July
tour. Members of the WCC delegation are Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser,
WCC general secretary, Dr Agnes Abuom, WCC president (Sudan,
Kenya, Eritrea portions of visit), Ms Karimi Kinoti, former
coordinator of FECCLAHA, All Africa Conference of Churches, Mr
Stein Villumstad, East Africa regional representative, Norwegian
Church Aid, (Sudan-Khartoum, Ethiopia, Eritrea), Mr William Temu,
WCC regional secretary for Africa, Mr Mitch Odero, head of
Information & Communication Department, All Africa Conference of
Churches, Mr Peter Williams, WCC photographer and videographer
(Southern Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea). The delegation is being 
accompanied by Rev. Haruun Ruun, New Sudan Council of Churches
(NSCC) executive secretary.  

Photos of the visit are available on our website at
http://www.photooikoumene.org/events/events.html 

For further information, please contact Media Relations Office, 
tel: +41.(0)22 791.61.53

**********
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a fellowship of churches,
now 342, 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, The Netherlands. Its staff is headed by general
secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.

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