wfn.org | Episcopalians: News Briefs

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November 20, 2002

2002-264

Episcopalians: News Briefs

Human rights organizations criticize Palestinians and Israelis 
for violence

(ENS) Two international human rights organizations have strongly 
criticized the use of violence on both sides of the 
Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch charged that 
Palestinians who order and dispatch suicide bombers are guilty 
of war crimes and should be brought to justice. At the same 
time, a report from Amnesty International charged that Israel 
committed war crimes during a military offensive in the West 
Bank cities of Jenin and Nablus earlier this year.

The Human Rights Watch report said that Palestinian Authority 
(PA) leader Yasser Arafat bears "significant political 
responsibility" for the "repeated deliberate killing" of Israeli 
civilians in the last two years of the current intifada. "The 
scale and systematic nature of these attacks in 2001 and 2002 
meet the definition of a crime against humanity," the report 
said. "When these suicide bombings take place in the context of 
violence that amounts to armed conflict, they are also war 
crimes."

The report also charges that Arafat and the PA leadership 
have failed to prevent the suicide bombings, or arrest 
terrorists, and have not worked to defuse the elements that 
encourage attacks on Israeli civilians.

Amnesty International's report says that Israel carried out 
"unlawful killings, torture and ill-treatment of prisoners, 
wanton destruction of hundreds of homes," adding that "Israeli 
authorities have failed in their responsibility to bring to 
justice the perpetrators of serious human rights violations." 
The organization has also accused Palestinian suicide bombers of 
crimes against humanity.

Israel launched its offensive on the West Bank March 29 after 
a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 29 Israelis. Jenin was the 
site of heavy fighting with the death of 52 Palestinians and 23 
Israeli soldiers. Amnesty also said that the Israeli army had 
failed to "impartially and thoroughly" investigate events at the 
Jenin refugee camp. The United Nations, which did conduct an 
investigation, ruled that there was no evidence of a massacre at 
the camp.

World Council announces plans for reorganization and staff 
cuts

(WCC) The World Council of Churches has announced plans to 
reorganize and reduce staff in its Geneva and New York offices.

"The council, through this reorganization, has manifested its 
will and its ability to respond constructively to a critical 
situation," said General Secretary Konrad Raiser. "The 
adjustment of the internal organization and leadership structure 
will result in a clearer profile of the WCC's programs and 
strengthen its cooperation with ecumenical partners."

The budget for 2003 has been reduced by 7.4 million Swiss 
francs (almost $6 million) and staff will be reduced by 16 
full-time equivalent positions to a level of 141, achieved 
through retirements, relocation of some activities in 
cooperation with regional partners, and termination of some 
contracts. The reductions will be accompanied by an 
income-generating strategy that will focus on assuring the 
on-going support of current donors while seeking new donors.

The reorganization will sharpen the council's focus on five 
themes: faith and order; mission and ecumenical formation; 
justice, peace and creation; international affairs, peace and 
security; and diakonia and solidarity.

"We hope that these changes in the organization will lead to 
a period of stability in which the staff, members churches and 
other supporters of the WCC are able to devote themselves to 
meeting the global ecumenical challenges before us," said 
vice-moderator Marion Best after a mid-November meeting of 
officers and Central Committee members that adopted the changes.

South African leader urges churches to monitor African 
politicians

(ENI) Speaking at an interfaith peace summit, South African 
Deputy President Jacob Zuma has invited Africa's religious 
leaders to play a "key role" in monitoring efforts by political 
leaders seeking to bring peace to the strife-torn continent. 

The mid-October summit brought together leaders from the 
major religions--Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, 
Judaism and African traditional religions--from 21 African 
countries, according to summit coordinator Ishmael Noko of the 
Lutheran World Federation.

Zuma said that he hoped the summit would mark "the beginning 
of a stronger and more effective intervention by the faith 
community in conflicts plaguing Africa." He noted that the 
summit convened just three months after the launch of the 
African Union, an attempt by political leaders to abolish 
conflicts and wars. He also cited the New Partnership for 
Africa's Development, a major economic initiative aimed at 
lifting Africa out of poverty. 

"It is important that you also play a key role in monitoring 
the performance of leaders to ensure that the undertakings they 
make are implemented for the common good of the continent and 
all its peoples," Zuma told the religious leaders.

Noko noted the "tragic irony" that religious beliefs had not 
only failed to prevent violence in Africa but sometimes had been 
manipulated to stoke violence. He said that the first 
responsibility of religious leaders "must be to work together to 
prevent conflict in the name of religion."

WCC delegation learns of pressure on Christians in 
Pakistan

(WCC) On a pastoral visit to Pakistan, a delegation from the 
World Council of Churches listened to chilling stories 
describing the recent spate of violence against Christians in 
that heavily Islamic nation. The delegation visited Karachi and 
Lahore to express solidarity with the frightened Christian 
community and meet with church leaders, lawyers, leaders of the 
non-governmental and Islamic organizations, politicians, as well 
as victims of the violence.

A former officer of Pakistan's air force described a recent 
attack on the offices of a Christian institution in Karachi as 
"an extreme kind of terrorism never witnessed before--an 
execution carried out by professionals." Seven young Christian 
workers were killed.

The overall message the delegation heard was that Pakistan is 
going through a grave crisis. Feudalism, corrupt politics and 
repeated military interventions in civil and political life have 
destroyed democratic institutions and systems of governance. 
According to members of Pakistan's human rights commission, 
injustice, poverty, illiteracy and rapid population growth are 
preventing progress and development. These factors are 
responsible for the current climate of religious intolerance, 
hatred and sectarian strife in which human rights violations by 
both the state and private sector are rampant.

Others pointed out that corrupt and inefficient law 
enforcement, a complacent judicial system, and lack of 
accountability have encouraged a climate of violence and 
impunity. What some observers called a "military tyranny" is 
driving Pakistan towards further divisions, while the 
government's preoccupation with military and political matters 
leaves it little time to address the concerns of ordinary 
people. Christians, as well as other minorities, are trapped in 
this situation and subject to discrimination and attacks.

Conference on child abuse and neglect scheduled December 11 
in Maryland

(ENS) "The Faith Community's Response to Child Abuse and 
Neglect" is the focus for a major interfaith conference 
scheduled for December 11 at the Wilde Lake Interfaith Center in 
Columbia, Maryland.

The conference is sponsored by the non-profit organization, 
Prevent Child Abuse Maryland, based in Annapolis, as well as 
representatives of various faith groups. A slate of speakers 
from professional and religious ranks will explore the many 
aspects of the issue, attempting to educate participants about 
the nature and complexity of the problem. The conference will 
also discuss current laws on reporting instances of abuse and 
create a report to be shared with others.

Commenting on the importance and value of the conference, 
Sherry McCall Ross, youth missioner in the Diocese of Maryland, 
said, "Issues of child abuse are a reality in our world and must 
be acknowledged and understood in order for us to be intentional 
about generating a response. This conference will not only offer 
an understanding of the issues, but also provide resources to 
assist those designing and delivering program for children and 
youth in responding to their needs."

Child abuse is a national problem. Each day in America, an 
average of 7,883 children are abused or neglected--and five of 
them die as a result. In the year 2000 three million referrals 
were made to the Children's Protective Services agencies 
throughout the country. Almost a third of investigations 
resulted in a finding that the child had been mistreated or 
faced a risk of being mistreated. 

For more information contact Ross at 800-793-1687 or by 
e-mail at smccallross@ang-md.org.

Archbishop in Zimbabwe calls on churches to pray for 
change

(ENI) Roman Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube of Zimbabwe has 
appealed to churches in neighboring South Africa to pray for 
change and to put pressure on President Robert Mugabe to end his 
onslaught against opponents.

"We appeal to you for prayers to change the situation. We ask 
you to lobby wherever possible, to apply pressure on Mugabe and 
his followers to change," the archbishop said in a November 7 
lecture at the Durban Catholic Center in South Africa.

An outspoken critic of Mugabe's administration, Ncube has 
been openly castigated by the president who once accused him of 
leading the people in the province of Matabeleland to vote for 
the opposition in the 2000 parliamentary election.

Like much of southern Africa, Zimbabwe has experienced a 
sever drought and Ncube accused Mugabe of starving opposition 
supporters to maintain his hold on power. "Men, women and 
children were and are still being deliberately starved," Ncube 
said. The government has been accused of politicizing food 
distribution, favoring card-holding members of the ruling 
political party.

Many non-governmental organizations in Zimbabwe and abroad 
have warned that the country is on the verge of a humanitarian 
crisis. The famine has been exacerbated by government-backed 
invasions of farms, sabotaging food production and undermining 
what was once a thriving agricultural industry. The country has 
slowly been sliding towards anarchy since February 2000 when 
bands of veterans from the 1970s liberation war launched 
widespread farm invasions, evicting white commercial farmers.

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